[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 49 (Thursday, April 21, 2005)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D384-D386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: OMB
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, 
The Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies 
concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
year 2006, after receiving testimony in behalf of funds for the 
respective activities of Joshua B. Bolten, Director, Office of 
Management and Budget.
METHAMPHETAMINE ABUSE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, Education, and Related Agencies concluded a hearing to 
examine methamphetamine abuse, focusing on behavioral and health 
effects of the drug, and prevention and treatment strategies, after 
receiving testimony from Charles G. Curie, Administrator, Substance 
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, and Nora D. Volkow, 
Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of 
Health, both of the Department of Health and Human Services; Vicki 
Sickels, Iowa Lutheran Hospital, Des Moines; and Richard E. Steinberg, 
WestCare Foundation, Inc., Sylva, North Carolina.
Nominations:
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nomination of Lieutenant General Michael V. Hayden, United States Air 
Force, for appointment to the grade of general.
  Prior to this action, committee concluded a hearing to examine the 
nominations of Kenneth J. Krieg, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary of 
Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, who was introduced 
by Senator Sununu; and Lieutenant General Michael V. Hayden (listed 
above), who was introduced by Senators Roberts and Collins, after each 
nominee testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
DOD HEALTH CARE COSTS
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Personnel concluded a 
hearing to examine present and future costs of Department of Defense 
health care, and national health care trends in the civilian sector, 
after receiving testimony from Senator Coburn; David S.C. Chu, Under 
Secretary for Personnel and Readiness, and William Winkenwerder, Jr., 
Assistant Secretary for Health Affairs, both of the Department of 
Defense; David Blumenthal, Massachusetts General Hospital Institute for 
Health Policy, and Harvard Medical School, Boston; Robert S. Galvin,

[[Page D385]]

General Electric Company, Stamford, Connecticut; and Susan D. Hosek, 
Rand Corporation, Santa Monica, California.
HOUSING GOVERNMENT-SPONSORED ENTERPRISES
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded 
hearings to examine proposals to improve the regulation of Housing 
Government-Sponsored Enterprises, focusing on proposed policies to 
improve the balance of federal costs and benefits from the operations 
of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the Federal Home Loan Banks, after 
receiving testimony from Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director, Congressional 
Budget Office; David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United 
States, Government Accountability Office; Armando Falcon, Jr., 
Director, Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, Department of 
Housing and Urban Development; and Ronald A. Rosenfeld, Chairman, 
Federal Housing Finance Board.
HUD: BUDGET
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on 
Housing and Transportation concluded a hearing to examine the 
President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2006 for the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, after receiving testimony 
from Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.
BUDGET PROCESS REFORM
Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
structural deficits and federal budget process reform, focusing on the 
United States economy, procedural restraints on budget-making 
mechanisms, the aging U.S. population, and medical care costs, after 
receiving testimony from Alan Greenspan, Chairman, Board of Governors 
of the Federal Reserve System.
AMTRAK REAUTHORIZATION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine concluded a hearing to 
examine the proposed reauthorization of Amtrak, focusing on intercity 
passenger rail service reform, after receiving testimony from Jeffrey 
A. Rosen, General Counsel, and Kenneth M. Mead, Inspector General, both 
of the Department of Transportation; and David M. Laney and David L. 
Gunn, both of the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak).
NOMINATION
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the 
nomination of Robert J. Portman, of Ohio, to be United States Trade 
Representative, with the rank of Ambassador, after the nominee, who was 
introduced by Senators DeWine, Voinovich, and Bunning, testified and 
answered questions in his own behalf.
DEVELOPMENT BANK ANTI-CORRUPTION
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine anti-corruption strategies of the African Development Bank, 
Asian Development Bank and European Bank on Reconstruction and 
Development, focusing on corporate culture and environment that 
features enhanced corporate governance, internal controls and 
compliance that promotes good governance in its countries of operation, 
after receiving testimony from Paul W. Speltz, Asian Development Bank, 
Manila, Philippines; Mark Sullivan, III, European Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development, London, United Kingdom; Hemantha 
Withanage, Center for Environmental Justice, and Sri Lankan Working 
Group on Trade and International Financial Institutions, Colombo, Sri 
Lanka; and Ted Devine, Government Accountability Project, Washington, 
D.C.
FEDERAL WORKFORCE FLEXIBILITIES
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the 
District of Columbia concluded an oversight hearing to examine 
governmentwide workforce flexibilities available to federal agencies 
including the implementation, use by agencies, and training and 
education related to using the new flexibilities, after receiving 
testimony from Marta Brito Perez, Associate Director for Human Capital 
Leadership and Merit System Accountability, Office of Personnel 
Management; Eileen R. Larence, Director, Strategic Issues, Government 
Accountability Office; Jeffery K. Nulf, Deputy Assistant Secretary of 
Commerce for Administration; Evelyn M. White, Acting Assistant 
Secretary of Health and Human Services for Administration and 
Management; Rafael DeLeon, Director, Office of Human Resources, 
Environmental Protection Agency; and Vicki A. Novak, Assistant 
Administrator for Human Capital Management and Chief Human Capital 
Officer, National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
PRESIDENT'S MANAGEMENT AGENDA
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and 
International Security concluded a hearing to examine the President's 
Management Agenda, including Federal financial performance, best 
practices, and program accountability, after receiving testimony from 
David M. Walker, Comptroller General of the United

[[Page D386]]

States, Government Accountability Office; and Clay Johnson, III, Deputy 
Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget.
EARLY EDUCATION
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: On Wednesday, 
April 20, 2005, Subcommittee on Education and Early Childhood 
Development held a hearing to examine the Federal role to improve the 
effectiveness and coordination of early childhood education programs, 
including the Head Start program, the Child Care and Development Fund 
(CCDF), and increasing food security and reducing hunger, receiving 
testimony from Wade F. Horn, Assistant Secretary of Health and Human 
Services for Children and Families; Raymond Simon, Assistant Secretary 
of Education for Elementary and Secondary Education; and Kate Coler, 
Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer 
Services.
  Hearing recessed subject to the call.
SMALL BUSINESS HEALTH FAIRNESS ACT
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine easing costs and expanding access 
relating to small businesses and health insurance, focusing on S. 406, 
to amend title I of the Employee Retirement Security Act of 1974 to 
improve access and choice for entrepreneurs with small businesses with 
respect to medical care for their employees, after receiving testimony 
from Sandy Praeger, Commissioner of Insurance, Topeka, Kansas, on 
behalf of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners; Mitchell 
Blake, Ward & Blake Architects, Jackson, Wyoming, on behalf of the 
National Federation of Independent Business; Joseph E. Rossmann, 
Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., Arlington, Virginia, on 
behalf of the Association Health Plan Coalition; Karen Ignagni, 
America's Health Insurance Plans, Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 378, to make it a criminal act to willfully use a weapon with the 
intent to cause death or serious bodily injury to any person while on 
board a passenger vessel, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 629, to amend chapter 97 of title 18, United States Code, relating 
to protecting against attacks on railroads and other mass 
transportation systems, with an amendment;
  S. 339, to reaffirm the authority of States to regulate certain 
hunting and fishing activities; and
  The nominations of Priscilla Richman Owen, of Texas, to be United 
States Circuit Judge for the Fifth Circuit, and Janice R. Brown, of 
California, to be United States Circuit Judge for the District of 
Columbia Circuit.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on 
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the 
intelligence community.
  Committee recessed subject to call.