[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 137 (Tuesday, October 25, 2005)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1085-D1086]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
OIL AND GAS ACTIVITIES
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Interior and Related 
Agencies concluded a hearing to examine oil and gas activities by the 
Bureau of Land Management including impact of recently passed energy 
legislation, after receiving testimony from Kathleen Clarke, Director, 
Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior; Logan Magruder, 
Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States, Denver, Colorado; 
and Paul N. Cicio, Industrial Energy Consumers of America, and Ford B. 
West, The Fertilizer Institute, both of Washington, D.C.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of John J. Young, Jr., of Virginia, to be Director of 
Defense Research and Engineering, Department of Defense, who was 
introduced by Senator Stevens and Representative Don Young, Dorrance 
Smith, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for Public 
Affairs, Delores M. Etter, of Maryland, to be Assistant Secretary of 
the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition, General Burwell B. 
Bell, III, USA, for reappointment to the grade of general and to be 
Commander, United Nations Command/Combined Forces Command, and 
Commander, United States Forces Korea, and Lieutenant General Lance L. 
Smith, USAF, for appointment to the grade of general and to be 
Commander, United States Joint Forces Command and Supreme Allied 
Commander Transformation, after the nominees testified and answered 
questions in their own behalf.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine Matthew Slaughter, of New Hampshire, and Katherine 
Baicker, of New Hampshire, each to be a Member of the Council of 
Economic Advisers, Orlando J. Cabrera, of Florida, to be an Assistant 
Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, who was introduced by 
Senator Martinez, and Gigi Hyland, of Virginia, who was introduced by 
Senator Warner, and Rodney E. Hood, of North Carolina, who was 
introduced by Senators Dole and Burr, each to be a Member of the 
National Credit Union Administration Board, after the nominees 
testified and answered questions in their own behalf.

[[Page D1086]]


TERRITORIES RELATED LEGISLATION
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine S. 1829, to repeal certain sections of the Act of 
May 26, 1936, pertaining to the Virgin Islands, S. 1830, to amend the 
Compact of Free Association Amendments Act of 2003, and S. 1831, to 
convey certain submerged land to the Commonwealth of the Northern 
Mariana Islands, after receiving testimony from Virgin Islands Delegate 
Christensen; and Nikolao I. Pula, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of 
the Interior for Insular Affairs.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of James S. Halpern, of the District of Columbia, to be a 
Judge of the United States Tax Court, Karan K. Bhatia, of Maryland, to 
be Deputy United States Trade Representative, with the Rank of 
Ambassador, Susan C. Schwab, of Maryland, to be a Deputy United States 
Trade Representative, with the rank of Ambassador, Franklin L. Lavin, 
of Ohio, to be Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade, and 
Clay Lowery, of Virginia, to be a Deputy Under Secretary of the 
Treasury.
  Also, Committee completed its review of certain spending reductions 
and revenue increases to meet reconciliation expenditures as imposed by 
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, and agreed on 
recommendations which it will make to the Committee on the Budget 
thereon.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Ellen R. Sauerbrey, of Maryland, to be 
Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, 
Jeffrey Thomas Bergner, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary of State 
for Legislative Affairs, and Anne W. Patterson, of Virginia, to be 
Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law 
Enforcement Affairs, after the nominees testified and answered 
questions in their own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
  Agreement between the United States of America and the Government of 
Canada on Pacific Hake/Whiting (Treaty Doc. 108-24);
  The Convention on the Conservation and Management of the Highly 
Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean (Treaty 
Doc. 109-1); and
  The nominations of C. Boyden Gray, of the District of Columbia, to be 
United States Representative to the European Union, with the rank and 
status of Ambassador, Jennifer L. Dorn, of Nebraska, to be United 
States Alternate Executive Director of the International Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development, David B. Dunn, of California, to be 
Ambassador to the Togolese Republic, Carmen Maria Martinez, of Florida, 
to be Ambassador to the Republic of Zambia, Michael R. Arietti, of 
Connecticut, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Rwanda, David M. Hale, 
of New Jersey, to be Ambassador to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, 
Benson K. Whitney, of Minnesota, to be Ambassador to Norway, Susan 
Rasinski McCaw, of Washington, to be Ambassador to the Republic of 
Austria, Nicholas F. Taubman, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to Romania, 
Anne W. Patterson, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of State 
for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and a Foreign 
Service Officer promotion list received in the Senate on July 14, 2005.
FEDERAL SPENDING PRIORITIES
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and 
International Security concluded a hearing to examine setting 
priorities in Federal spending in the context of natural disaster, 
deficits and war, focusing on long-term budget challenges, and a plan 
to restore fiscal discipline, after receiving testimony from 
Representative Shadegg; former Representative Stenholm; and Roger 
Pilon, Cato Institute Center for Constitutional Studies, and Daniel J. 
Mitchell, The Heritage Foundation, both of Washington, DC.