[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 75 (Wednesday, June 8, 2005)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D576-D577]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
MANUFACTURING COMPETITIVENESS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Technology, Innovation, and Competitiveness concluded a hearing to 
examine manufacturing competitiveness in a high-tech era, focusing on 
current challenges that confront American manufacturers, how 
manufacturers have responded to these challenges, discuss how recent 
technological innovations have impacted the manufacturing industry, and 
explore what government should do to help American manufacturers remain 
competitive in today's global economy, after receiving testimony from 
Albert A. Frink, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing and 
Services of the International Trade Administration; G. Wayne Clough, 
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta; Sebastian Murray, FPI 
Thermoplastic Technologies, Morristown, New Jersey; and Thomas R. 
Howell, Dewey Ballantine, LLP, Washington, D.C.
DISASTER PROTECTION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Disaster Prevention and Prediction concluded a hearing to examine 
research and development to protect America's communities from 
disaster, focusing on National Institute of Standards and Technology 
recent World Trade Center report, as well as computer security, and 
chemical, biological, radiological detection standards, National 
Science Foundation scientific research in areas such as computer 
security and data mining, and NOAA's work developing atmospheric models 
to aid in prediction of the transport and dispersion of chemical and 
biological releases, including the hazards alert system, after 
receiving testimony from Hratch G. Semerjian, Acting Director, National 
Institute of Standards and Technology, Technology Administration, and 
Conrad Lautenbacher, Jr., Under Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, both of the Department 
of Commerce; and Arden L. Bement, Jr., Director, National Science 
Foundation.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following bills:
  H.R. 483, to designate a United States courthouse in Brownsville, 
Texas, as the ``Reynaldo G. Garza and Filemon B. Vela United States 
Courthouse'';
  S. 260, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide 
technical and financial assistance to private landowners to restore, 
enhance, and manage private land to improve fish and wildlife habitats 
through the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program, with an amendment;
  S. 864, to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to modify provisions 
relating to nuclear safety and security, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 865, to amend the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 to reauthorize the 
Price-Anderson provisions, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 858, to reauthorize Nuclear Regulatory Commission user fees, with 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1017, to reauthorize grants for the water resources research and 
technology institutes established under the Water Resources Research 
Act of 1984, and;
  S. 1140, to designate the State Route 1 Bridge in the State of 
Delaware as the ``Senator William V. Roth, Jr. Bridge''.
LAND CONSERVATION TAX POLICY
Committee on Finance: Committee held a hearing to examine proposals to 
reform the tax code relating to land conservation, focusing on legal 
requirements for deductions for conservation easements, and governance, 
accountability, and transparency reforms, receiving testimony from 
Jonathan Selib, Tax Counsel, and Dean Zerbe, Tax Counsel and Senior 
Counsel to the Chairman, both of the Committee on Finance; Earl E. 
Devaney, Inspector General, Department of the Interior; Steven T. 
Miller, Commissioner, Tax Exempt and Government Entities Division, 
Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury; Burnet R. 
Maybank, III, South Carolina Department of Revenue, Columbia; Steven J. 
McCormick, Nature

[[Page D577]]

Conservancy, Arlington, Virginia; Rand Wentworth, Land Trust Alliance, 
Washington, D.C.; and Timothy Lindstrom, Jackson Hole Land Trust, 
Jackson, Wyoming.
  Hearing recessed subject to the call.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Pamela E. Bridgewater, of Virginia, to be 
Ambassador to the Republic of Ghana, Donald E. Booth, of Virginia, to 
be Ambassador to the Republic of Liberia, Terence Patrick McCulley, of 
Oregon, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Mali, and Roger Dwayne 
Pierce, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Cape Verde, 
after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own 
behalf.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee met in closed session to 
receive a briefing on certain intelligence matters from officials of 
the intelligence community.
EMBRYONIC STEM CELL RESEARCH
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
exploring the promise of embryonic stem cell research, focusing on 
Alzheimer's Disease, Huntington's Disease, diabetes, and Parkinson's 
Disease, after receiving testimony from Lawrence S. Goldstein, 
University of California, San Diego School of Medicine; Douglas A. 
Doerfler, MaxCyte, Inc., Gaithersburg, Maryland, on behalf of the 
Biotechnology Industry Organization; John D. Gearhart, Johns Hopkins 
University Department of Medicine Institute for Cell Engineering, 
Baltimore, Maryland; Su-Chun Zhang, University of Wisconsin-Madison 
Waisman Mental Retardation Center; and Chris Dudley, Portland, Oregon.