[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 120 (Thursday, September 22, 2005)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D954-D956]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
IDENTITY THEFT
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the financial services industry's responsibilities 
and role in preventing identity theft and protecting sensitive 
financial information, after receiving testimony from Senator Pryor; 
Stuart K. Pratt, Consumer Data Industry Association, Edmund 
Mierzwinski, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Ira D. Hammerman, 
Securities Industry Association, Gilbert T. Schwartz, Schwartz and 
Ballen LLP, on behalf of the American Council of Life Insurers, and 
Oliver I. Ireland, Morrison and Foerster, on behalf of the American 
Bankers Association, all of Washington, D.C.
COMMUNICATIONS IN DISASTER
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee held a 
hearing to examine the protection of critical communications 
infrastructure during a disaster, focusing on the impact on 
communications services in the area effected by Hurricane Katrina, a 
status report on the extent to which services have been restored, and 
steps the Federal Communications Commission has taken to facilitate the 
restoration of service and to provide support for evacuees, receiving 
testimony from Kevin J. Martin, Chairman, Federal Communications 
Commission; William L. Smith, BellSouth, and Paul Roth, Cingular 
Wireless, both of Atlanta, Georgia; Jeffrey A. Citron, Vonage Holdings 
Corporation, Edison, New Jersey; and Hossein Eslambolchi, AT&T Global 
Networking Technology Services and AT&T Labs, Bedminster, New Jersey.
  Hearings will continue on Thursday, September 29.
LAND BILLS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on National 
Parks concluded a hearing to examine S. 435, to amend the Wild and 
Scenic Rivers Act to designate a segment of the Farmington River and 
Salmon Brook in the State of Connecticut for study for potential 
addition to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, S. 1096, to 
amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate portions of the 
Musconetcong River in the State of New Jersey as a component of the 
National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, S. 1310, to authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to allow the Columbia Gas Transmission 
Corporation to increase the diameter of a natural gas

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pipeline located in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, S. 
1378, to amend the National Historic Preservation Act to provide 
appropriation authorization and improve the operations of the Advisory 
Council on Historic Preservation, and S. 1627, to authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resources study to 
evaluate resources along the coastal region of the State of Delaware 
and to determine the suitability and feasibility of establishing a unit 
of the National Park System in Delaware, after receiving testimony from 
Senator Dodd and Carper; Janet Snyder Matthews, Associate Director for 
Cultural Resources, National Park Service, Department of the Interior; 
Timothy Slavin, State of Delaware Historical and Cultural Affairs, 
Dover; Eric Hammerling, Farmington River Watershed Association, Inc., 
Simsbury, Connecticut; Beth Anne Styler Barry, Musconetcong Watershed 
Association, Asbury, New Jersey; Michael W. Roberts, Columbia Gas 
Transmission Corporation, Chester Springs, Pennsylvania; and John 
Fowler, Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Washington, D.C.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nominations of Santanu K. Baruah, of Oregon, to 
be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, who was 
introduced by Senator Smith; George M. Gray, of Massachusetts, to be an 
Assistant Administrator, and Lyons Gray, of North Carolina, to be Chief 
Financial Officer, who was introduced by Senator Burr, both of the 
Environmental Protection Agency; H. Dale Hall, of New Mexico, to be 
Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of 
the Interior, who was introduced by Senator Domenici; and Edward 
McGaffigan, Jr., of Virginia, to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission, after the nominees testified and answered questions in 
their own behalf.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Alexander R. Vershbow, of the District of 
Columbia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, Patricia Louise 
Herbold, of Washington, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Singapore, 
who was introduced by Senators Murray and Cantwell, and William Paul 
McCormick, of Oregon, to be Ambassador to New Zealand, and serve 
concurrently as Ambassador to Samoa, who was introduced by Senators 
Wyden and Smith, after the nominees testified and answered questions in 
their own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
ordered favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 1725, to strengthen Federal leadership, provide grants, enhance 
outreach and guidance, and provide other support to State and local 
officials to enhance emergency communications capabilities, to achieve 
communications interoperability, to foster improved regional 
collaboration and coordination, to promote more efficient utilization 
of funding devoted to public safety communications, to promote research 
and development by both the public and private sectors for first 
responder communications, with amendments;
  An original bill to provide relief for the victims of Hurricane 
Katrina, with amendments;
  S. 1738, to expand the responsibilities of the Special Inspector 
General for Iraq Reconstruction to provide independent and objective 
audits and investigations relating to the Federal programs for 
Hurricane Katrina, with an amendment;
  S. 939, to expedite payments of certain Federal emergency assistance 
authorized pursuant to the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act, and to direct the Secretary of Homeland 
Security to exercise certain authority provided under that Act, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1736, to provide for the participation of employees in the 
judicial branch in the Federal leave transfer program for disasters and 
emergencies;
  S. 572, to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to give additional 
biosecurity responsibilities to the Department of Homeland Security, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1700, to establish an Office of the Hurricane Katrina Recovery 
Chief Financial Officer, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute; and
  The nominations of Stewart A. Baker, of Virginia, to be an Assistant 
Secretary of Homeland Security, John R. Fisher, to be an Associate 
Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Colleen Duffy Kiko, 
of Virginia, to be General Counsel of the Federal Labor Relations 
Authority, and Juliet JoAnn McKenna, to be an Associate Judge of the 
Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
MEDICARE DRUG BENEFIT
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and 
International Security concluded a hearing to examine cost and payment 
plans for the Medicare Prescription Drug,

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Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003, focusing on access to 
outpatient prescription drug coverage under Medicare Part D, after 
receiving testimony from Leslie Norwalk, Deputy Administrator, Centers 
for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human 
Services; and Joseph R. Antos, American Enterprise Institute, Jagadeesh 
Gokhale, Cato Institute, and Marilyn Moon, American Institutes for 
Research, all of Washington, D.C.
DISPLACED SCHOOL CHILDREN
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Subcommittee on 
Education and Early Childhood Development concluded a hearing to 
examine Federal and State efforts to meet the educational needs of 
students and families displaced by Hurricane Katrina, after receiving 
testimony from Senators Lott and Landrieu; Henry L. Johnson, Assistant 
Secretary of Education for Elementary and Secondary Education; Rodney 
R. Lafon, St. Charles Parish Public School District, Luling, Louisiana; 
Sister M. Michaeline Green, Louisiana Department of Education, Baton 
Rouge; Michael Stein Margolin Hebrew Academy, Memphis, Tennessee; Daryl 
Gates, Caddo Public School District, Shreveport, Louisiana.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nomination of John G. Roberts, Jr., of Maryland, to be Chief Justice of 
the United States.
KATRINA VS. SMALL BUSINESS
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the impact of Hurricane Katrina on small businesses 
and the efforts of the Small Business Administration to provide relief 
to the victims, after receiving testimony from Hector V. Barreto, 
Administrator, and Herbert L. Mitchell, Associate Administrator, Office 
of Disaster Assistance, both of the U.S. Small Business Administration; 
John Rowland, Southern Hospitality Catering, on behalf of the National 
Federation of Independent Business, and Woodrow J. Wilson, Jr., Gulf 
South Animated Motion Technologies, Inc., both of New Orleans, 
Louisiana; Alta Baker, Safe Haven Enterprises, Jennings, Louisiana, on 
behalf of Women Impacting Public Policy; Mary Lynn Wilkerson, Louisiana 
Small Business Development Centers, Monroe; Richard Harris, Harris 
Homes, Ocean Springs, Mississippi; Timothy Swindall, SWR Inc., Troy, 
Alabama; and Michele Sutton, Fairway Ventures, Hammond, Louisiana.
NATIONAL MILITARY CEMETERIES
Committee on Veterans Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the Department of Veterans' Affairs implementation of the capital crime 
prohibition statute, intended to prohibit certain capital offenders 
from internment or memorialization in Arlington National Cemetery, 
after receiving testimony from Senator Mikulski; Richard A. 
Wannemacher, Jr., Acting Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for 
Memorial Affairs; Thurman M. Higginbotham, Deputy Superintendent, 
Arlington National Cemetery; Dennis M. Cullinan, Veterans of Foreign 
Wars of the United States, Washington, D.C., on behalf of sundry 
veterans' organizations; and Vernon G. Davis, Hagerstown, Maryland.
INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee ordered favorably reported 
an original bill authorizing funds for fiscal year 2006 for 
intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States 
Government, the Community Management Account, and the Central 
Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System.
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