[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 76 (Thursday, June 9, 2005)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D584-D586]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the nominations of Walter Lukken, of Indiana, to 
be a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, and 
Reuben Jeffery III, of the District of Columbia, to be a Commissioner 
and Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, after the 
nominees, who were both introduced by Senator Lugar, testified and 
answered questions in their own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Appropriations: Committee ordered favorably reported H.R. 
2361, making appropriations for the Department of the Interior, 
environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 
30, 2006, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
  Also, completed its review of 302(b) subcommittee allocations of 
budget outlays and new budget authority allocated to the committee in 
H. Con. Res. 95, establishing the congressional budget for the United 
States Government for fiscal year 2006, revising appropriate budgetary 
levels for fiscal year 2005, and setting forth appropriate budgetary 
levels for fiscal years 2007 through 2010.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 582, to require the Secretary of the Treasury to mint coins in 
commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the desegregation of the 
Little Rock Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute; and
  The nominations of Ben S. Bernanke, of New Jersey, to be a Member of 
the Council of Economic Advisers, and Brian D. Montgomery, of Texas, to 
be Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and Federal 
Housing Commissioner.
GENERAL AVIATION SECURITY
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine general aviation (GA) security, the Transportation 
Security Administration's proposed plan to reopen Ronald Reagan 
Washington National Airport to GA operations, and the security 
procedures followed during the recent air incursion that caused the 
emergency evacuation of the White House and the U.S. Capitol buildings, 
after receiving testimony from Michael A.

[[Page D585]]

Cirillo, Vice President, System Operations Services, Air Traffic 
Organization, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of 
Transportation; Jonathan Fleming, Chief Operating Officer, 
Transportation Security Administration, Department of Homeland 
Security; Ed Bolen, National Business Aviation Association, Washington, 
D.C.; James K. Coyne, National Air Transportation Association, 
Alexandria, Virginia; and Andrew V. Cebula, Aircraft Owners and Pilots 
Association, Frederick, Maryland.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Richard J. Griffin, of Virginia, to be 
Director of the Office of Foreign Missions, and to have the rank of 
Ambassador, and to be an Assistant Secretary of State for Diplomatic 
Security, and Henrietta Holsman Fore, of Nevada, to be Under Secretary 
of State for Management, who was introduced by Senator Hutchison, after 
the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
CROSS-BORDER TRAVEL
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, 
Peace Corps and Narcotics Affairs concluded a hearing to examine the 
Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI), focusing on plans to 
augment United States border security and facilitate international 
travel by establishing new documentary standards, and regarding safety 
and convenience in cross-border travel, after receiving testimony from 
Frank E. Moss, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Consular 
Affairs; Elaine Dezenski, Acting Assistant Secretary of Homeland 
Security for Policy and Planning, Border and Transportation 
Directorate; Paul M. Ruden, American Society of Travel Agents, Inc., 
Alexandria, Virginia; and Robert A. Pastor, American University Center 
for North American Studies, Washington, D.C.
PENSION PLAN FRAUD
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine protecting America's pensions plans from 
fraud, focusing on the Department of Labor's Employee Benefits Security 
Administration's enforcement strategy, efforts to address weakness in 
its enforcement program along with the challenges that remain, after 
receiving testimony from Alan D. Lebowitz, Deputy Assistant Secretary 
of Labor for the Employee Benefit Security Administration; Barbara D. 
Bovbjerg, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues, 
Government Accountability Office; John Endicott, Local Union 290 
Plumbers, Steamfitters and Marine Fitters, Tualatin, Oregon; Barclay 
Grayson, BDC Advisors, LLC, and Stephen F. English, Bullivant Houser 
Bailey, PC, both of Portland, Oregon; and James S. Ray, Law Offices of 
James S. Ray, Alexandria, Virginia.
BIOSHIELD
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Subcommittee on 
Bioterrorism and Public Health Preparedness concluded a hearing to 
examine promising medical countermeasures to bioshield, focusing on the 
Project BioShield Act of 2004, and the Administration's priority to 
have an appropriate armamentarium of medical countermeasures as a 
critical aspect of the response and recovery component of the 
President's strategy ``Biodefense for the 21st Century'', after 
receiving testimony from John Vitko, Jr., Director, Biological 
Countermeasures Portfolio, Science and Technology Directorate, 
Department of Homeland Security; William F. Raub, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary for Public Health Emergency Preparedness, and Carol Heilman, 
Director, Infectious Diseases, National Institute of Allergy and 
Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health, both of the 
Department of Health and Human Services; Colonel Joseph Palma, Medical 
Director, Office of the Deputy Assistant to the Secretary of Defense, 
Chemical and Biological Defense, Department of Defense; Alan P. 
Timmins, AVI BioPharma, Inc., Portland, Oregon; Richard Frothingham, 
Duke University Medical Center and Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 
Durham, North Carolina; David P. Wright, PharmAthene, Inc., Annapolis, 
Maryland; Scott Magids, University of Maryland Technology Advancement 
Program, College Park; and Philip K. Russell, Potomac, Maryland.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported S. 
1181, to ensure an open and deliberate process in Congress by providing 
that any future legislation to establish a new exemption to section 552 
of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of 
Information Act) be stated explicitly within the text of the bill.
VETERANS' HEALTHCARE
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine S. 1182, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve 
health care for veterans, S. 481, to amend title 38, United States 
Code, to extend the period of eligibility for health care for combat 
service in the Persian Gulf War or future hostilities from two years to 
five years after discharge or release, S. 716, to amend title 38, 
United States Code, to enhance services provided by vet centers, to 
clarify and improve the provision of bereavement counseling by the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, S. 1176, to improve the provision of 
health care and

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services to veterans in Hawaii, S. 1177, to improve mental health 
services at all facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, S. 
614, to amend title 38, United States Code, to permit Medicare-eligible 
veterans to receive an out-patient medication benefit, to provide that 
certain veterans who receive such benefit are not otherwise eligible 
for medical care and services from the Department of Veterans Affairs, 
S. 1180, to amend title 38, United States Code, to reauthorize various 
programs servicing the needs of homeless veterans for fiscal years 2007 
through 2011, S. 1189, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 
publish a strategic plan for long-term care, S. 1190, to provide 
sufficient blind rehabilitation outpatient specialists at medical 
centers of the Department of Veterans Affairs, and S. 1191, to 
establish a grant program to provide innovative transportation options 
to veterans in remote rural areas, after receiving testimony from R. 
James Nicholson, Secretary of Veterans Affairs; Donald Mooney, The 
American Legion, Dennis M. Cullinan, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the 
United States, Adrian Atizado, Disabled American Veterans, and Carl 
Blake, Paralyzed Veterans of America, all of Washington, D.C.; and 
Richard Jones, AMVETS, Lanham, Maryland.