[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 37 (Wednesday, March 29, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D290-D292]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE (AIR FORCE)
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense concluded a 
hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2007 for 
the Air Force, after receiving testimony from Michael W. Wynne, 
Secretary, and General T. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff, both of the 
United States Air Force, Department of Defense.
APPROPRIATIONS: VA
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Military Construction and 
Veterans' Affairs, and Related Agencies concluded a hearing to examine 
proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2007 for Department of 
Veterans Affairs, after receiving testimony from R. James Nicholson, 
Secretary, Jonathan B. Perlin, Under Secretary for Health, Daniel L. 
Cooper, Under Secretary for Benefits, and William F. Tuerk, Under 
Secretary for Memorial Affairs, all of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and 
Capabilities concluded a hearing to examine the proposed defense 
authorization request for fiscal year 2007 and the future years defense 
program, focusing on the U.S. nonproliferation strategy and the roles 
and missions of the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy 
in nonproliferation, after receiving testimony from Peter C.W. Flory, 
Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy; 
General James E. Cartwright, USMC, Commander, U.S. Strategic Command; 
and Jerald S. Paul, Deputy Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security and 
Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces concluded 
a hearing to examine the proposed defense authorization request for 
fiscal year, focusing on the Global Strike Plans and Programs, after 
receiving testimony from Peter C.W. Flory, Assistant Secretary of 
Defense for International Security Policy; General James E. Cartwright, 
USMC, Commander, U.S. Strategic Command; Rear Admiral Charles B. Young, 
USN, Director, Strategic Systems Programs, Department of the Navy; and 
Major General Stanley Gorenc, USAF, Director, Operational Capability 
Requirements, Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, 
Headquarters, U.S. Air Force.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Seapower concluded a 
hearing to examine the proposed defense authorization request for 
fiscal year 2007 and the future years defense program, focusing on the 
Navy/Marine Corps force structure and future capabilities, after 
receiving testimony from Vice Admiral Lewis W. Crenshaw, Jr., USN, 
Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Resources, Requirements and 
Assessments; Lieutenant General Emerson N. Gardner., Jr., USMC, Deputy 
Commandant of the Marine Corps for Programs and Resources; Lieutenant 
General James N. Mattis, USMC, Deputy Commandant of the Marine Corps 
for Combat Development and Integration; and Rear Admiral Mark J. 
Edwards, USN, Director, Warfare Integration (N8F), Office of the Chief 
of Naval Operations.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK REAUTHORIZATION
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on 
International Trade and Finance concluded a hearing to examine the 
reauthorization of the U.S. Export-Import Bank, focusing on ways to 
improve the Bank's economic impact procedures, after receiving 
testimony from James H. Lambright, Acting President and Chairman, 
Export-Import Bank of the United States; Steven R. Appleton, Micron 
Technology, Inc., Boise, Idaho; and Thomas M. Sneeringer, United States 
Steel Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
BASIC RESEARCH IN COMPETITIVENESS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Technology, Innovation, and Competitiveness concluded a hearing to 
examine the importance of basic research to United States' 
competitiveness, focusing on the importance and priority of Federally-
funded basic research, after receiving testimony from John Marburger 
III, Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy; Arden L. 
Bement, Jr., Director, National Science Foundation; William Jeffrey, 
Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Technology 
Administration, Department of Commerce; Steven Knapp, Johns Hopkins 
University, Baltimore, Maryland; Leonard J. Pietrafesa, North Carolina 
State University, Raleigh,

[[Page D291]]

on behalf of National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration Science 
Advisory Board; Philip J. Ritter, Texas Instruments, Inc., Dallas; and 
Adam Drobot, Telcordia Technologies, Inc., Piscataway, New Jersey.
LAND BILLS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Public Lands 
and Forests concluded a hearing to examine S. 1056, to direct the 
Secretary of the Interior to convey to the City of Henderson, Nevada, 
certain Federal land located in the City, S. 1832, to authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to lease oil and gas resources underlying 
Fort Reno, Oklahoma, to establish the Fort Reno Management Fund, S. 
2150, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain Bureau 
of Land Management Land to the City of Eugene, Oregon, S. 2373, to 
provide for the sale of approximately 132 acres of public land to the 
City of Green River, Wyoming, at fair market value, and H.R. 3507, to 
transfer certain land in Riverside County, California, and San Diego 
County, California, from the Bureau of Land Management to the United 
States to be held in trust for the Pechanga Band of Luiseno Mission 
Indians, after receiving testimony from Edward B. Knipling, 
Administrator, Agricultural Research Service, Department of 
Agriculture; and Lawrence E. Benna, Deputy Director, Bureau of Land 
Management, Department of the Interior.
CLEAN AIR
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the impact of the elimination of methyl tertiary-
butyl ether (MTBE) from gasoline, including regional imbalances in 
gasoline supply and demand and temporarily increased fuel prices, 
especially in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions and Texas, after 
receiving testimony from Guy Caruso, Administrator, Energy Information 
Administration, Department of Energy; Robert J. Meyers, Associate 
Assistant Administrator, Office of Air and Radiation, Environmental 
Protection Agency; Bill Douglass, Douglass Distributing Company, 
Sherman, Texas, on behalf of the National Association of Convenience 
Stores and the Society of Independent Gasoline Marketers of America; 
and A. Blakeman Early, American Lung Association, and Bob Dinneen, 
Renewable Fuels Association, both of Washington, D.C.
U.S.-CHINA ECONOMIC RELATIONS
Committee on Finance: Committee held a hearing to examine U.S.-China 
economic relations revisited, focusing on U.S.-China trade relations 
entering a new phase in which greater accountability on China's part 
and greater enforcement on the Administration's part are needed, 
receiving testimony from Karan K. Bhatia, Deputy U.S. Trade 
Representative, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; Timothy D. 
Adams, Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs; 
Franklin L. Lavin, Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade 
Administration; Joseph S. Papovich, Recording Industry Association of 
America, John Frisbie, U.S.-China Business Council, and C. Fred 
Bergsten, Institute for International Economics, all of Washington, 
D.C.; Robert D. Hormats, Goldman Sachs International, New York, New 
York; and Gary Joachim, American Soybean Association, Owatona, 
Minnesota.
  Hearings recessed subject to the call.
INDIAN SEPARATION PLAN
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee met in closed session to 
receive a briefing to examine United States-India atomic energy 
cooperation, focusing on the Indian separation plan and the 
Administration's related legislative proposal, S. 2429, to authorize 
the President to waive the application of certain requirements under 
the Atomic Energy Act of 1954 with respect to India, from R. Nicholas 
Burns, Under Secretary for Political Affairs, and Robert Joseph, Under 
Secretary for Arms Control and International Security, both of the 
Department of State.
U.S.-BURMA RELATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific 
Affairs concluded a hearing to examine United States-Burma relations, 
focusing on the current situation in Burma, Burma-India relations, and 
how Burma represents a new, non-traditional security threat to the 
region, after receiving testimony from Senator McConnell; Eric G. John, 
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Bureau of East Asian and 
Pacific Affairs; Michael J. Green, Center for Strategic and 
International Studies, Washington, D.C.; Sean Turnell, Macquarie 
University, Sydney, Australia; and Thin Thin Aung, Women's League of 
Burma, New Delhi, India.
NATION'S CAPITAL TERRORISM PREPAREDNESS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the 
District of Columbia concluded a hearing to examine the status of 
strategic planning and readiness in the National Capital Region, 
focusing on efforts to improve and refine coordination efforts and the 
NCR strategic plan and implementation, after receiving testimony from 
Thomas Lockwood, Director, National Capital Region Coordination, 
Department of

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Homeland Security; William O. Jenkins, Jr., Director, Homeland Security 
and Justice Issues, Government Accountability Office; Edward D. 
Reiskin, Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice, District of 
Columbia; Robert P. Crouch, Jr., Assistant to the Governor of Virginia 
for Commonwealth Preparedness, Richmond; and Dennis R. Schrader, 
Director, Maryland Governor's Office of Homeland Security, Annapolis.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following bills:
  S. 2078, to amend the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act to clarify the 
authority of the National Indian Gaming Commission to regulate class 
III gaming, to limit the lands eligible for gaming, with an amendment 
in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1899, to amend the Indian Child Protection and Family Violence 
Prevention Act to identify and remove barriers to reducing child abuse, 
to provide for examinations of certain children, with an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2245, to establish an Indian youth telemental health demonstration 
project; and
  S. 1773, to resolve certain Native American claims in New Mexico, 
with an amendment.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Brian M. Cogan, to be United States District Judge 
for the Eastern District of New York, who was introduced by Senator 
Schumer, Michael Ryan Barrett, to be United States District Judge for 
the Southern District of Ohio, who was introduced by Senators DeWine 
and Voinovich, and Thomas M. Golden, to be United States District Judge 
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, who was introduced by Senator 
Santorum, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their 
own behalf.
REGULATION OF VIDEO GAMES
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil 
Rights, and Property Rights concluded a hearing to examine state 
regulation of violent video games and the first amendment, after 
receiving testimony from Minnesota Representative Jeff Johnson, 
Minnesota House of Representatives, St. Paul; Elizabeth K. Carll, 
American Psychological Association, Long Island, New York; Dmitri 
Williams, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Department of 
Speech Communication; David S. Bickham, Children's Hospital Boston and 
Harvard Medical School Center on Media and Child Health, Boston, 
Massachusetts; Patricia E. Vance, Entertainment Software Rating Board, 
New York, New York; Paul M. Smith, Jenner and Block LLP, Washington, 
D.C.; Kevin W. Saunders, Michigan State University College of Law, East 
Lansing; and Steve Strickland, Fayette, Alabama.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee met in closed session to 
receive a briefing on certain intelligence matters from officials of 
the intelligence community.
INVESTMENT FRAUD
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
how seniors can stop investment fraud, focusing on the Investor 
Education Program of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, after 
receiving testimony from Susan Ferris Wyderko, Director, Office of 
Investor Education and Assistance, Acting Director, Division of 
Investment Management, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; 
Patricia D. Struck, North American Securities Administrators 
Association, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin; Elisse B. Walter, National 
Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), Washington, D.C.; Barry 
Minkow, Fraud Discovery Institute, San Diego, California; and Ruth 
Mitchell, Columbiana, Ohio.