[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 115 (Wednesday, September 22, 2004)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D928-D930]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
9/11 COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the 9/11 Commission intelligence recommendations, focusing on the 
quality of analysis, effective information-sharing among agencies, 
protecting civil liberties, assuring clarity of authority for 
clandestine operations, and reforming Congressional oversight, after 
receiving testimony from Richard A. Posner, Judge of the Court of 
Appeals, 7th Circuit; John J. Hamre, Center For Strategic and 
International Studies, Washington, D.C., former Under Secretary of 
Defense; and Dale Watson, former Executive Director of Terrorism and 
Counter-Intelligence, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of 
Justice.
INSURANCE INDUSTRY
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the condition and regulation of the insurance 
industry, after receiving testimony from Gregory Serio, New York 
Department of Insurance, Albany, on behalf of the National Association 
of Insurance Commissioners; Arthur F. Ryan, Prudential Financial, 
Newark, New Jersey, on behalf of the American Council of Life Insurers; 
William H. McCartney, United Services Automobile Association Group, San 
Antonio, Texas; J. Robert Hunter, Consumer Federation of America, and 
Brian K. Atchinson, Insurance Marketplace Standards Association, both 
of Washington, D.C.; Alan F. Liebowitz, OMNIA (Bermuda), Ltd., 
Purchase, New York, on behalf of the American Bankers Insurance 
Association; Albert R. Counselman, Riggs, Counselman, Michaels, Downes, 
Inc., Baltimore, Maryland, on behalf of the Council of Insurance Agents 
and Brokers; Thomas B. Ahart, Ahart, Frinzi, and Smith Insurance, 
Phillipsburg, New Jersey, on behalf of the Independent Insurance Agents 
and Brokers of America, Inc.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 2541, to reauthorize and restructure the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration, with amendments;
  S. 2393, to improve aviation security, with an amendment;
  S. 1798, to provide for comprehensive fire safety standards for 
upholstered furniture, mattresses, bedclothing, and candles, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2820, to ensure the availability of certain spectrum for public 
safety entities by amending the Communications Act of 1934 to establish 
January 1, 2009, as the date by which the transition to digital 
television shall be completed, with amendments;
  S. 1963, to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to protect the 
privacy right of subscribers to wireless communication services, with 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1380, to distribute universal service support equitably throughout 
rural America;
  S. 2145, to regulate the unauthorized installation of computer 
software, to require clear disclosure to computer users of certain 
computer software features that may pose a threat to user privacy, with 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2647, to establish a national ocean policy, to set forth the 
missions of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to 
ensure effective interagency coordination, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 2489, to establish a program within the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration to integrate Federal coastal and ocean 
mapping activities, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 480, to provide competitive grants for training court reporters 
and closed captioners to meet requirements for realtime writers under 
the Telecommunications Act of 1996; and
  The nominations of Deborah P. Majoras, of Virginia, and Jon D. 
Leibowitz, of Maryland, both to be Federal Trade Commissioners, sundry 
nominations for promotion in the U.S. Coast Guard and the National 
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
NOMINATION
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nomination of Lloyd O. Pierson, an Assistant Administrator 
for Africa, United States Agency for International Development, and to 
be a Member of the Board of Directors of the African Development 
Foundation, after the nominee, who was introduced by Representative 
Royce, testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Governmental Affairs: Committee ordered favorably 
reported an original bill to reform the intelligence community and the 
intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States 
Government.

[[Page D929]]


BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 2686, to amend the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical 
Education Act of 1998 to improve the Act, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 518, to increase the supply of pancreatic islet cells for 
research, to provide better coordination of Federal efforts and 
information on islet cell transplantation, and to collect the data 
necessary to move islet cell transplantation from an experimental 
procedure to a standard therapy, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 2283, to extend Federal funding for operation of State high risk 
health insurance pools, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 1217, to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to 
expand and intensify programs with respect to research and related 
activities concerning elder falls, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 2815, to give a preference regarding States that require schools 
to allow students to self-administer medication to treat that student's 
asthma or anaphylaxis;
  S. 2526, to reauthorize the Children's Hospitals Graduate Medical 
Education Program, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. Res. 389, expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to 
prostate cancer information; and
  An original bill entitled ``Elder Justice Act''; and
  The nominations of Jonathan Baron, of Maryland, Elizabeth Bryan, of 
Texas, James R. Davis, of Mississippi, Frank H. Handy, of Florida, Eric 
Hanushek, of California, Caroline Hoxby, of Massachusetts, Roberto 
Lopez, of Texas, Richard Milgram, of New Mexico, Sally Shaywitz, of 
Connecticut, Joseph Torgesen, of Florida, Herbert Walberg, of Illinois, 
each to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the National Board for 
Education Sciences, Herman Belz, of Maryland, Craig Haffner, of 
California, James Hunter, of Virginia, Tamar Jacoby, of New Jersey, 
Harvey Klehr, of Georgia, Thomas Lindsay, of Texas, Iris Love, of 
Vermont, Thomas Mallon, of Connecticut, and Ricardo Quinones, of 
California, each to be a Member of the National Council on the 
Humanities, Beverly Allen, of Georgia, Gail Daly, of Texas, Donald 
Leslie, of Wisconsin, Amy Owen, of Utah, Sandra Pickett, of Texas, 
Renee Swartz of New Jersey, and Kim Wang, of California, each to be a 
Member of the National Museum and Library Services Board, James 
Ballinger, of Arizona, Gerald Schwarz, of Washington, and Terence 
Teachout, of New York, each to be a Member of the National Council on 
the Arts, Maria Otero, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of 
the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace, John 
Hager, to be an Assistant Secretary of Education for Special Education 
and Rehabilitative Services, Young Woo Kang, of Indiana, to be a Member 
of the National Council on Disability, Juan Olivarez, William Hiller, 
and Richard Wagner, of Florida, each to be a Member of the National 
Institute for Literacy Advisory Board, Arden Bement, Jr., of Indiana, 
to be Director of the National Science Foundation, and sundry 
nominations for promotion in the Public Health Service.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following bills:
  S. 556, to amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to revise and 
extend that Act, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1438, to provide for equitable compensation of the Spokane Tribe 
of Indians of the Spokane Reservation in settlement of claims of the 
Tribe concerning the contribution of the Tribe to the production of 
hydropower by the Grand Coulee Dam, with an amendment in the nature of 
a substitute; and
  S. 2605, to direct the Secretary of the Interior and the heads of 
other Federal agencies to carry out an agreement resolving major issues 
relating to the adjudication of water rights in the Snake River Basin, 
Idaho, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
  Also, Committee approved the issuance of various subpoenas pursuant 
to the In re Tribal Lobbying Matters, et al. investigation.
NATIVE AMERICAN CODE TALKERS
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight hearing 
on the contributions of Native American code talkers in American 
military history, after receiving testimony from Gordon H. Mansfield, 
Deputy Secretay of Veterans Affairs; Brigadier General John S. Brown, 
USA (Ret.), U.S. Army Center of Military History; Clarence Wolf Guts, 
and John Yellow Bird Steele, both of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, Pine 
Ridge, South Dakota; Don Loudner, American Indian Veterans of the 
United States, Mitchell, South Dakota; Robin Roberts, USMC (Ret.), Sac 
Fox Tribe, and Samson Keahna, Sac and Fox Tribe of the Mississippi in 
Iowa, both of Tama, Iowa; Gregory E. Pyle, Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma, 
Durant; Melvin Kerchee, Jr., Comanche Nation, Lawton, Oklahoma; and 
William C. Meadows, Southwest Missouri State University Department of 
Sociology and Anthropology, Springfield.

[[Page D930]]


COUNTER-TERRORISM
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
counterterrorism legislation and proposals, including the USA PATRIOT 
ACT (P.L. 107-56), and S. 1709, to amend the USA PATRIOT ACT to place 
reasonable limitations on the use of surveillance and the issuance of 
search warrants, (the SAFE Act), after receiving testimony from 
Senators Craig and Durbin; former Representative Bob Barr; James B. 
Comey, Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice; and Daniel P. 
Collins, Munger, Tolles, and Olson, LLP, Los Angeles, California, 
former Associate Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Christopher A. Boyko, to be United States District 
Judge for the Northern District of Ohio, who was introduced by Senator 
DeWine and Representative LaTourette, and Beryl A. Howell, of the 
District of Columbia, who was introduced by Senator Leahy, to be a 
Member of the United StatesSentencing Commission, after the nominees 
testified and answered questions in their own behalf.