[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 85 (Thursday, June 23, 2005)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D661-D663]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Appropriations: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following bills:
  H.R. 2744, making appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, 
Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2006, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  H.R. 2862, making appropriations for Science, the Departments of 
State, Justice, and Commerce, and related agencies for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2006, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute; and
  Proposed legislation making appropriations for the Legislative Branch 
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006.
IRAQ
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
United States military strategy and operations in Iraq, after receiving 
testimony from Donald H. Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense; General 
Richard B. Myers, USAF, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; General John 
P. Abizaid, USA, Commander, United States Central Command; and General 
George W. Casey, USA, Commanding General, Multi-National Force-Iraq.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 1281, to authorize appropriations for the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration for science, aeronautics, exploration, exploration 
capabilities, and the Inspector General, and for other purposes, for 
fiscal years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, with amendments;
  S. 1280, to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2006 and 2007 
for the United States Coast Guard, with an amendment; and
  The nominations of Edmund S. Hawley, of California, to be an 
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, Israel Hernandez, of Texas, 
to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General of the 
United States and Foreign Commercial Service, William Alan Jeffrey, of 
Virginia, to be Director of the National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, Department of Commerce, Ashok G. Kaveeshwar, of Maryland, 
to be Administrator of the Research and Innovative Technology 
Administration, Department of Transportation, David A. Sampson, of 
Texas, to be Deputy Secretary of Commerce, John J. Sullivan, of 
Maryland, to be General Counsel of the Department of Commerce, Rear 
Admiral Sally Brice-O'Hara to be Director of the Coast Guard Reserve, 
and sundry officers in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration.
U.S.-CHINA RELATIONS
Committee on Finance: Committee held a hearing to examine United 
States-China economic relations and China's role in the world economy, 
especially its currency valuation policy, and exports, and the World 
Trade Organization (WTO), receiving testimony from Senators Collins, 
Bayh, Graham, and Stabenow; Alan Greenspan, Chairman, Board of 
Governors of the Federal Reserve System; John W. Snow, Secretary of the 
Treasury; Kenneth Rogoff, Harvard University Department of Economics, 
Cambridge, Massachusetts; Neal Bredehoeft, American Soybean 
Association, Alma, Missouri; Sean Maloney, Intel Corporation, Santa 
Clara, California, on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Al 
Lubrano, Technical Materials, Inc., Lincoln, Rhode Island, on behalf of 
the National Association of Manufacturers.
  Hearing recessed subject to the call.

[[Page D662]]


HIV/AIDS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine issues relative to developing an HIV/AIDS vaccine, focusing on 
S. Res. 42, expressing the sense of the Senate on promoting initiatives 
to develop an HIV vaccine, after receiving testimony from 
Representative Visclosky; Anthony S. Fauci, Director, National 
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of 
Health, Department of Health and Human Services; Ashley Judd, Franklin, 
Tennessee, on behalf of YouthAIDS; Helene Gayle, Bill and Melinda Gates 
Foundation, Seattle, Washington; and Seth Berkley, International AIDS 
Vaccine Initiative, New York, New York.
HIV/AIDS CARE PROGRAMS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and 
International Security concluded a hearing to examine disparities in 
federal HIV/AIDS CARE programs, focusing on the effectiveness of CARE 
Act funding allocations in ensuring that all Americans living with HIV 
are provided access to core medical services and life-saving AIDS 
medications, after receiving testimony from Marcia G. Crosse, Director, 
Health Care, Government Accountability Office; Robert S. Janssen, 
Director, Divisions of HIV/AIDS Prevention, National Center for HIV, 
STD, and TB Prevention, Coordinating Center for Infectious Diseases, 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Deborah P. Hopson, 
Associate Administrator for HIV/AIDS, Health Resources and Services 
Administration, both of the Department of Health and Human Services; 
and Michael Montgomery, California Department of Health Services, 
Sacramento.
FAMILY MEDICAL LEAVE ACT
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee met to 
discuss the Family Medical Leave Act, receiving testimony from Jamie 
Marsden, City of Gillette Human Resources, Gillette, Wyoming; Cheryl 
Barbanel, Boston University Occupational Health Center, Boston, 
Massachusetts; Sandy Boyd, National Association of Manufacturers, 
Laurie Dohnalek, Georgetown University Hospital, Janemarie Mulvey, The 
Employment Policy Foundation, and Debra Ness, National Partnership for 
Women and Families, all of Washington, D.C.; Susan O'Flaherty, Bank 
One, Chicago, Illinois; Patrick Lancaster, American Axle and 
Manufacturing, Detroit, Michigan; Jeff Payne, Palmeto Health Hospitals, 
Columbia, South Carolina; Robert Prybutok, Polymer Technologies, 
Newark, Delaware; Sue Willman, Spencer Fane, Kansas City, Missouri; 
Ellen Bravo, Multi-state Working Families Consortium, Milwaukee, 
Wisconsin; Marie Alexander, Quova, Inc., Mountain View, California; 
Jody Heymann, Harvard Center for Society and Health, Cambridge, 
Massachusetts; and Patti Philips, Atlanta, Georgia.
ROE v. WADE/DOE v. BOLTON
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution concluded 
a hearing to examine the consequences of Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton, 
after receiving testimony from Ken Edelin, Boston University School of 
Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts; Teresa Collett, University of St. 
Thomas Law School, Minneapolis, Minnesota; M. Edward Whelan, III, 
Ethics and Public Policy Center, and Karen O'Connor, American 
University, both of Washington, D.C.; R. Alta Charo, University of 
Wisconsin Law School, Madison; Sandra Cano, Atlanta, Georgia; and Norma 
McCorvey, Dallas, Texas.
VETERANS BENEFITS
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine benefits-related legislative initiatives, focusing on S. 151, 
to amend title 38, United States Code, to require an annual plan on 
outreach activities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, S. 423, to 
amend title 38, United States Code, to make a stillborn child an 
insurable dependent for purposes of the Servicemembers' Group Life 
Insurance program, S. 551, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
to establish a national cemetery for veterans in the Colorado Springs, 
Colorado, metropolitan area, S. 552, to make technical corrections to 
the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 2004, S. 909, to expand 
eligibility for governmental markers for marked graves of veterans at 
private cemeteries, S. 917, to amend title 38, United States Code, to 
make permanent the pilot program for direct housing loans for Native 
American veterans, S. 1234, to increase, effective as of December 1, 
2005, the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected 
disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for 
the survivors of certain disabled veterans, S. 1235, to amend chapters 
19 and 37 of title 38, United States Code, to extend the availability 
of $400,000 in coverage under the servicemembers' life insurance and 
veterans' group life insurance programs, S. 1138, to authorize the 
placement of a monument in Arlington National Cemetery honoring the 
veterans who fought in World War II as members of Army Ranger 
Battalions, S. 1252, to amend section 1922A of title 38, United States 
Code, to increase the amount of supplemental insurance available for 
totally disabled veterans, S. 1259, to amend title 38, United States 
Code, to extend the requirement for reports from the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs on the disposition of

[[Page D663]]

cases recommended to the Secretary for equitable relief due to 
administrative error and to provide improved benefits and procedures 
for the transition of members of the Armed Forces from combat zones to 
noncombat zones and for the transition of veterans from service in the 
Armed Forces to civilian life, S. 1271, to amend title 38, United 
States Code, to provide improved benefits for veterans who are former 
prisoners of war, after receiving testimony from Senators Pryor and 
Allard; Daniel L. Cooper, Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for 
Benefits; Steve Smithson, The American Legion, Quentin Kinderman, 
Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Rick Surratt, Disabled 
American Veterans, and Carl Blake, Paralyzed Veterans of America, all 
of Washington, D.C.; and Richard Jones, AMVETS, Lanham, Maryland.
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.