[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 99 (Wednesday, July 20, 2005)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D784-D786]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
FOOD AND AGRICULTURE SECURITY
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine biosecurity preparedness and efforts to address 
agroterrorism threats, after receiving testimony from Charles F. 
Conner, Deputy Secretary of Agriculture; Maureen I. McCarthy, Director, 
Office of Research and Development, Science and Technology Directorate, 
Department of Homeland Security; John E. Lewis, Deputy Assistant 
Director, Counterterrorism Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
Department of Justice; Robert E. Brackett, Director, Center for Food 
Safety

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and Applied Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, Department of 
Health and Human Services; John L. Sherwood, University of Georgia 
Department of Plant Pathology, Athens; James A. Roth, Iowa State 
University Center for Food Security and Public Health, Ames; James 
Lane, Ford County Undersheriff, Dodge City, Kansas; and Mark J. 
Cheviron, Archer Daniels Midland Company, Decatur, Illinois.
HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the 
Federal role and budget implications relating to health information 
technology, which integrates the disciplines of medicine, computer 
technology, and business management, focusing on preventing medical 
errors, providing clinicians with better clinical decision-making 
tools, the treatment of patients, tracking health outcomes, and 
coordinating public health activities, after receiving testimony from 
Michael O. Leavitt, Secretary of Health and Human Services.
CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Global Climate Change and Impacts concluded a hearing to examine the 
climate policy of the United States, focusing on the climate-related 
science and technology budget request for fiscal year 2006, after 
receiving testimony from James R. Mahoney, Assistant Secretary of 
Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere; Daniel Reifsnyder, Director, Office 
of Global Climate Change, Department of State; David W. Conover, 
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Policy and 
International Affairs, Department of Energy; and Ralph J. Cicerone, 
President, National Academy of Sciences.
LANDS BILLS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Public Lands 
and Forests concluded a hearing to examine S. 703, to provide for the 
conveyance of certain Bureau of Land Management land in the State of 
Nevada to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway, S. 997, to direct the Secretary 
of Agriculture to convey certain land in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge 
Forest, Montana, to Jefferson County, Montana, for use as a cemetery, 
S. 1131, to authorize the exchange of certain Federal land within the 
State of Idaho, S. 1170, to establish the Fort Stanton-Snowy River 
National Cave Conservation Area, S. 1238, to amend the Public Lands 
Corps Act of 1993 to provide for the conduct of projects that protect 
forests, and H.R. 1101, to revoke a Public Land Order with respect to 
certain lands erroneously included in the Cibola National Wildlife 
Refuge, California, after receiving testimony from Senator Ensign; Joel 
Holtrop, Deputy Chief, National Forest System, U.S. Forest Service, 
Department of Agriculture; Lawrence E. Benna, Deputy Director, 
Operations, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior; 
Idaho State Controller Keith L. Johnson, Boise; and Penelope J. Boston, 
New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following business items:
  H.R. 1428, to authorize appropriations for the National Fish and 
Wildlife Foundation;
  S. 1250, to reauthorize the Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000, with 
an amendment;
  S. 1409, to amend the Safe Drinking Water Act Amendments of 1996 to 
modify the grant program to improve sanitation in rural and Native 
villages in the State of Alaska, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 1265, to make grants and loans available to States and other 
organizations to strengthen the economy, public health, and environment 
of the United States by reducing emissions from diesel engines, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1400, to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act and the 
Safe Drinking Water Act to improve water and wastewater infrastructure 
in the United States, with amendments;
  S. 1339, to reauthorize the Junior Duck Stamp Conservation and Design 
Program Act of 1994;
  S. 1340, to amend the Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restoration Act to 
extend the date after which surplus funds in the wildlife restoration 
fund become available for apportionment;
  S. 158, to establish the Long Island Sound Stewardship Initiative;
  S. 1410, to reauthorize the Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation 
Act;
  S. 1415, to amend the Lacey Act Amendments of 1981 to protect captive 
wildlife and make technical corrections;
  The nominations of Marcus C. Peacock, of Minnesota, to be Deputy 
Administrator, Granta Y. Nakayama, of Virginia, to be an Assistant 
Administrator, and Susan P. Bodine, of Maryland, to be Assistant 
Administrator, Office of Solid Waste, all of the Environmental 
Protection Agency.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the 
nominations of Robert M. Kimmitt, of Virginia, to be Deputy Secretary 
of the Treasury, Randal Quarles, of Utah, to be Under Secretary of the 
Treasury for Domestic Finance, Sandra L. Pack,

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of Maryland, to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Management, 
and Kevin I. Fromer, of Virginia, to be Deputy Under Secretary of the 
Treasury for Legislative Affairs, after the nominees testified and 
answered questions in their own behalf.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of Charles E. Johnson, of Utah, and Suzanne C. DeFrancis, 
of Maryland, both to be an Assistant Secretary of Health and Human 
Services, and Alex Azar II, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary of 
Health and Human Services.
IRAQ ECONOMIC PROGRESS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine economic progress in Iraq, focusing on oil production and 
distribution infrastructure and combating corruption in the Iraqi oil 
industry, after receiving testimony from Keith Crane, RAND Corporation, 
Arlington, Virginia; and Fareed Mohamedi, PFC Energy, and Frederick D. 
Barton, Center for Strategic and International Studies, both of 
Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 1420, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with 
respect to medical device user fees, with an amendment in the nature of 
a substitute; and
  S. 1418, to enhance the adoption of a nationwide interoperable health 
information technology system and to improve the quality and reduce the 
costs of health care in the United States, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute; and
  The nomination of Kathie L. Olsen, of Oregon, to be Deputy Director 
of the National Science Foundation.
REPORTERS' PRIVILEGE LEGISLATION
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
issues and implications relating to proposed reporters' shield 
legislation, focusing on freedom of the press, the use of confidential 
sources by journalists, and state laws that recognize the rights of 
reporters to those sources, after receiving testimony from Senators 
Lugar and Dodd; Representative Pence; Matthew Cooper, Time Magazine, 
Inc., and Lee Levine, Levine, Sullivan, Koch, and Schulz, LLP, both of 
Washington, D.C.; Norman Pearlstine, Time Inc., William Safire, New 
York Times Company, and Floyd Abrams, Cahill Gordon and Reindel, LLP, 
all of New York, New York; and Geoffrey R. Stone, University of Chicago 
Law School, Chicago, Illinois.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee met in closed session to 
receive a briefing on certain intelligence matters from officials of 
the intelligence community.
MEDICAID
Special Committee on Aging: Committee held a hearing to examine 
solutions to save money in Medicaid, focusing on the government's 
system for purchasing prescription drugs under the Medicaid program, 
features of the process by which Medicaid purchases prescription drugs 
in the fee-for-service sector of the program, including the way it 
reimburses pharmacies for drug purchases and the rebate it receives 
from drug manufacturers, and how prices that Medicaid pays for drugs 
compare with the prices paid by other purchasers, receiving testimony 
from Douglas Holtz-Eakin, Director, Congressional Budget Office; Julie 
Stone-Axelrad, Analyst in Social Legislation, Domestic Social Policy 
Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress; Vincent 
J. Russo, Vincent J. Russo and Associates, PC, Westbury, New York, on 
behalf of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys; Mark Gibson, 
Oregon Health and Science University Center for Evidence-based Policy, 
Portland; and Margaret A. Murray, Association for Community Affiliated 
Plans, Washington, D.C.
  Hearings recessed subject to the call.