[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 89 (Wednesday, June 29, 2005)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D699-D701]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, 
and Related Programs approved for full Committee consideration proposed 
legislation making appropriations for the Department of State and 
foreign operations for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2006.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of General Peter Pace, USMC, for reappointment to the 
grade of general and to be Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was 
introduced by Senator Nelson (FL), Admiral Edmund P. Giambastiani, Jr., 
USN, for reappointment to the grade of admiral and to be Vice Chairman, 
Joint Chiefs of Staff, who was introduced by Senator Clinton, General 
T. Michael Moseley, USAF, for reappointment to the grade of general and 
to be Chief of Staff of the Air Force, who was introduced by Senator 
Cornyn, Eric S. Edelman, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary of Defense 
for Policy, who was introduced by Senator Allen, Daniel R. Stanley, of 
Kansas, to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs, 
who was introduced by Senator Roberts and former Senator Bob Dole, and 
James A. Rispoli, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary of Energy for 
Environmental Management, after the nominees testified and answered 
questions in their own behalf.
GUANTANAMO BAY
Committee on Armed Services: Committee met in closed session to receive 
a briefing regarding detention operations and interrogation procedures 
at Guantanamo Bay from Brigadier General Jay Hood, USA, Commanding 
General, Joint Task Force--Guantanamo Bay.
SEVERE WEATHER
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Disaster Prevention and Prediction concluded a hearing to examine 
national weather service issues, focusing on the Federal role in 
researching, forecasting, and warning the public about hurricanes and 
tornadoes, after receiving testimony from Max Mayfield, Director, 
Tropical Prediction Center/National Hurricane Center, and Dennis 
McCarthy, Director, Office of Climate, Water, and Weather Services, 
both of the National Weather Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, Department of Commerce; Asbury H. Sallenger, Jr., 
Oceanographer, U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior; Doug 
Ahlberg, Lancaster County Emergency Management, Lincoln, Nebraska; Bill 
Walsh, WCSC Live 5 News, Charleston, South Carolina; Marc L. Levitan, 
Louisiana State University Hurricane Center, Baton Rouge, on behalf of 
the American Association for Wind Engineering; and Timothy A. Reinhold, 
Institute for Business and Home Safety, Tampa, Florida.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following measures:
  S. 1307, to implement the Dominican Republic-Central America-United 
States Free Trade Agreement; and

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  S.J. Res. 18, approving the renewal of import restrictions contained 
in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.
MEDICAID
Committee on Finance: Committee held hearings to examine problems that 
threaten the long term sustainability of Medicaid, focusing on the 
incidence of Medicaid waste, fraud and abuse, including pharmaceutical 
pricing schemes perpetrated against state Medicaid programs, receiving 
testimony from Timothy J. Coleman, Senior Counsel to the Deputy 
Attorney General, Department of Justice; Robert A. Vito, Regional 
Inspector General for Evaluation and Inspections, Philadelphia, Office 
of the Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services; 
Patrick J. O'Connell, Texas Office of the Attorney General, Austin; 
Paul J. Pickerell, Oregon Department of Human Services, Eugene; Julie 
Stone-Axelrad, Analyst in Social Legislation, Domestic Social Policy 
Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress; Marjorie 
E. Powell, Pharmaceutical Research Manufacturers of America, and Judith 
Feder, Georgetown University Public Policy Institute, both of 
Washington, D.C.; Joyce Ruddock, MetLife Insurance, Westport, 
Connecticut, on behalf of the American Council of Life Insurers; Daniel 
K. O'Brien, Erickson Retirement Communities, and Ruth C. Pundt, both of 
Parkville, Maryland; and Beatrice Manning, Stow, Massachusetts.
  Hearings recessed subject to the call.
U.S. PASSPORT FRAUD
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine vulnerabilities in the United States 
passport system, focusing on how passport fraud is committed, what key 
fraud detection challenges the State Department faces, and what effect 
new passport examiner performance standards could have on fraud 
detection, after receiving testimony from Jess T. Ford, Director, 
International Affairs and Trade, Government Accountability Office; 
Michael L. Johnson, Former Special Agent in Charge (Miami Field 
Office), Diplomatic Security Service, and Frank E. Moss, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary for Passport Services, Bureau of Consular Affairs, 
both of the Department of State; Donna A. Bucella, Director, Terrorist 
Screening Center, Transportation Security Administration, Department of 
Homeland Security; and Thomas E. Bush III, Assistant Director, Criminal 
Justice Information Services Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
Department of Justice.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 1317, to provide for the collection and maintenance of cord blood 
units for the treatment of patients and research, and to amend the 
Public Health Service Act to authorize the Bone Marrow and Cord Blood 
Cell Transplantation Program to increase the number of transplants for 
recipients suitable matched to donors of bone marrow and cord blood, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute; and
  The nomination of Tom Luce, of Texas, to be Assistant Secretary of 
Education for Planning, Evaluation, and Policy Development.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following bills:
  S.J. Res. 15, to acknowledge a long history of official depredations 
and ill-conceived policies by the United States Government regarding 
Indian tribes and offer an apology to all Native Peoples on behalf of 
the United States;
  S. 374, to provide compensation to the Lower Brule and Crow Creek 
Sioux Tribes of South Dakota for damage to tribal land caused by Pick-
Sloan projects along the Missouri River;
  S. 113, to modify the date as of which certain tribal land of the 
Lytton Rancheria of California is deemed to be held in trust;
  S. 881, to provide for equitable compensation to the Spokane Tribe of 
Indians of the Spokane Reservation for the use of tribal land for the 
production of hydropower by the Grand Coulee Dam;
  S. 449, to facilitate shareholder consideration of proposals to make 
Settlement Common Stock under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act 
available to missed enrollees, eligible elders, and eligible persons 
born after December 18, 1971;
  H.R. 797, to amend the Native American Housing Assistance and Self-
Determination Act of 1996 and other Acts to improve housing programs 
for Indians;
  H.R. 680, to direct the Secretary of Interior to convey certain land 
held in trust for the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah to the City of 
Richfield, Utah;
  S. 598, to reauthorize provisions in the Native American Housing 
Assistance and Self-Determination Act of 1996 relating to Native 
Hawaiian low-income housing and Federal loan guarantees for Native 
Hawaiian housing;
  S. 1291, to provide for the acquisition of subsurface mineral 
interests in land owned by the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and land held in 
trust for the Tribe;

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  S. 1295, to amend the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to provide for 
accountability and funding of the National Indian Gaming Commission;
  S. 1239, to amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to permit 
the Indian Health Service, an Indian tribe, a tribal organization, or 
an urban Indian organization to pay the monthly part D premium of 
eligible Medicare beneficiaries;
  S. 1231, to amend the Indian Self-Determination and Education 
Assistance Act to modify provisions relating to the National Fund for 
Excellence in American Indian Education, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 1312, to amend a provision relating to employees of the United 
States assigned to, or employed by, an Indian tribe, and
  S. 731, to recruit and retain more qualified individuals to teach in 
Tribal Colleges or Universities, with an amendment.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee met in closed session to 
receive a briefing on certain intelligence matters from officials of 
the intelligence community.