[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 43 (Thursday, April 6, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D353-D355]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: EPA
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Interior and Related 
Agencies concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for 
fiscal year 2007 for the Environmental Protection Agency, after 
receiving testimony from Stephen L. Johnson, Administrator, Marcus 
Peacock, Deputy Administrator, and Benjamin Grumbles, Assistant 
Administrator, Office of Water, all of the Environmental Protection 
Agency.
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Transportation, Treasury, 
the Judiciary, Housing and Urban Development, and Related Agencies 
concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
year 2007 for the Department of the Treasury, after receiving testimony 
from John Snow, Secretary, Stuart Levey, Under Secretary for Terrorism 
and Financial Intelligence, and Janice B. Gardner, Assistant Secretary 
for Intelligence and Analysis, all of the Department of the Treasury.
BORDER SECURITY
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Homeland Security 
concluded a hearing to examine the United States Coast Guard's role in 
border and maritime security, focusing on port infrastructure and ports 
of entry in the United States, and terrorist targets including ferries, 
cruise ships, and fuel vessels, after receiving testimony from Vice 
Admiral Thad Allen, Chief of Staff, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, 
Department of Homeland Security.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA HEALTHCARE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on the District of Columbia 
concluded a hearing to examine healthcare in the District of Columbia, 
focusing on access to primary care and affordable health insurance, 
after receiving testimony from Brenda Donald Walker, Deputy Mayor for 
Children, Youth, Families and Elders, Government of the District of 
Columbia; Randall R. Bovbjerg, Urban Institute, Sharon A. Baskerville, 
District of Columbia Primary Care Association, Maria Gomez, Mary's 
Center for Maternal and Child Care, Lawrence H. Mirel, Wiley Rein and 
Fielding, LLP, Edmund F. Haislmaier, Heritage Foundation, and Christine 
Reesor, DC Spanish-Catholic Center Medical Clinic of Catholic Community 
Services, all of Washington, D.C.
APPROPRIATIONS: NATIONAL NUCLEAR SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Energy and Water concluded 
a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2007 for 
the National Nuclear Security Administration, after receiving testimony 
from Linton F. Brooks, Under Secretary of Energy for Nuclear Security 
and Administrator, National Nuclear Security Administration.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on SeaPower concluded a 
hearing to examine the proposed defense authorization request for 
fiscal year 2007, focusing on navy shipbuilding, after receiving 
testimony from Delores M. Etter, Assistant Secretary for Research, 
Development, and Acquisition, Rear Admiral Mark J. Edwards, USN, 
Director for Warfare Integration, N8F, and Rear Admiral Samuel J. 
Locklear, III, USN, Director for Programming Division, N80, both of the 
Office of the Chief of Naval Operations, all of the Department of the 
Navy; Damien Bloor, First Marine International Limited, United Kingdom; 
and John F. Schank, RAND Corporation, Arlington, Virginia.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces concluded 
a hearing to examine the proposed defense authorization request for 
fiscal year 2007, focusing on military space programs, after receiving 
testimony from Ronald M. Sega, Under Secretary of the Air Force; Rear 
Admiral Kenneth W. Deutsch, USN, Director, Net-Centric Warfare 
Division, Office of the Chief of Naval Operations; Lieutenant General 
Kevin P. Chilton, USAF, Joint Functional Component Commander for Space 
and Global Strike, U.S. Strategic Command; Lieutenant General Michael 
A. Hamel, USAF, Commander, Space and Missile Systems Center, Air Force 
Space Command; and Cristina T. Chaplain, Acting Director, Acquisition 
and Sourcing Management Team, Government Accountability Office.
OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
National Ocean Policy Study concluded a hearing to examine offshore 
aquaculture, focusing on current proposals to regulate offshore 
aquaculture operations, discuss research in this field being conducted 
off the coasts of New England and Hawaii, and the impacts that expanded 
aquaculture operations would have on fishermen, seafood processors, and 
consumers, after receiving testimony from Bill Hogarth, Director, 
National Marine Fisheries

[[Page D354]]

Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of 
Commerce; Richard Langan, University of New Hampshire Open Ocean 
Aquaculture Project, Durham; John R. Cates, Cates International Inc., 
Kailua, Hawaii; Mark Vinsel, United Fishermen of Alaska, Juneau; 
Rebecca Goldburg, Environmental Defense, New York, New York; and 
Sebastian Belle, Maine Aquaculture Association, Hallowell.
LAND BILLS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on National 
Parks concluded a hearing to examine S. 1510, to designate as 
wilderness certain lands within the Rocky Mountain National Park in the 
State of Colorado, S. 1719 and H.R. 1492, bills to provide for the 
preservation of the historic confinement sites where Japanese Americans 
were detained during World War II, S. 1957, to authorize the Secretary 
of Interior to convey to the Missouri River Basin Lewis and Clark 
Interpretive Trail and Visitor Center Foundation, Inc. certain Federal 
land associated with the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail in 
Nebraska, to be used as an historical interpretive site along the 
trail, S. 2034 and H.R. 394, bills to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to conduct a study to evaluate the significance of the Colonel 
James Barrett Farm in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and assess the 
suitability and feasibility of including the farm in the National Park 
System as part of the Minute Man National Historical Park, S. 2252, to 
designate the National Museum of Wildlife Art, located at 2820 Rungius 
Road, Jackson, Wyoming, as the National Museum of Wildlife Art of the 
United States, and S. 2403, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior 
to include in the boundaries of the Grand Teton National Park land and 
interests in land of the GT Park Subdivision, after receiving testimony 
from Sue Masica, Associate Director, Park Planning, Facilities, and 
Lands, National Park Service, Department of the Interior; and Gerald H. 
Yamada, O'Connor and Hannan LLP, Washington, D.C., on behalf of the 
Japanese American National Heritage Coalition.
HEALTH CARE COVERAGE
Committee on Finance: Committee held a hearing to examine challenges 
and opportunities relating to health care coverage for small 
businesses, focusing on the employer-based system in the United States 
and the impact of health care cost growth and state regulation of 
health insurance rates, receiving testimony from Senators Durbin and 
DeMint; Joseph E. Rossman, Associated Builders and Contractors, Inc., 
Arlington, Virginia, on behalf of the Small Business Health Plan 
Coalition; and Len M. Nichols, New America Foundation, Todd O. 
McCracken, National Small Business Association, and Deborah Chollet, 
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., all of Washington, D.C.
  Hearing recessed subject to the call.
LONG-TERM ECONOMIC GROWTH
Committee on Finance: Subcommittee on Long-Term Growth and Debt 
Reduction held a hearing to examine if America is saving enough to be 
competitive in the global marketplace relating to saving for the 21st 
century, focusing on current saving decisions and their implications 
for long-term economic growth, receiving testimony from Thomas J. 
McCool, Director, Center for Economics, Applied Research and Methods, 
Government Accountability Office; Jurrien Timmer, Fidelity Investments, 
Boston, Massachusetts; Barry P. Bosworth and Lael Brainard, both of The 
Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C.
  Hearings recessed subject to the call.
NOMINATION
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nomination of Mark C. Minton, of Florida, to be Ambassador 
to Mongolia, after the nominee testified and answered questions in his 
own behalf.
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and 
International Security concluded a hearing to examine the effectiveness 
of the Small Business Administration, focusing on SBA programs and 
their financial impact on the budget and economy, after receiving 
testimony from Representative Kelly; Hector Barreto, Administrator, 
Small Business Administration; William B. Shear, Director, Financial 
Markets and Community Investment, Government Accountability Office; 
Veronique de Rugy, American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C.; 
Jonathan J. Bean, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale; David H. 
Bartram, U.S. Bank, San Diego, California, on behalf of National 
Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, Inc.; and John Pointer, 
Nashville, Tennessee.
ORPHAN WORKS
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Intellectual Property 
concluded a hearing to examine proposals for a legislative solution 
relating to orphan works, focusing on enactment of legislation as a 
catalyst necessary to prompt non-legal, marketplace reforms that will 
most efficiently address the problems identified by photographers and 
creators of visual images, after receiving testimony from Jule L. 
Sigall,

[[Page D355]]

Associate Register for Policy and International Affairs, U.S. Copyright 
Office, Library of Congress; Victor S. Perlman, American Society of 
Media Photographers, Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; June V. Cross, 
Columbia University, and Maria Pallante, Solomon R. Guggenheim 
Foundation (Guggenheim Museum), both of New York, New York; Brad 
Holland, Illustrators' Partnership of America, Marshfield, 
Massachusetts; Thomas C. Rubin, Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, 
Virginia; and Rick Prelinger, Prelinger Archives, San Francisco, 
California, on behalf of the Internet Archive.
VA'S CAPITAL PLAN
Committee on Veterans Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the Department of Veterans Affairs 5-year capital construction plan, 
focusing on the VA's portfolio management approach and how the Capital 
Asset Realignment for Enhanced Services (CARES) process and the 
Enhanced-Use Leasing program play an integral role in the management of 
VA's portfolio, after receiving testimony from Senators Allard, Nelson 
of Florida, and Martinez; Jonathan B. Perlin, Under Secretary for 
Health, James M. Sullivan, Deputy Director, Office of Asset Enterprise 
Management, and Robert L. Neary, Jr., Acting Chief and Associate Chief, 
Facilities Management Officer for Service Delivery, all of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs; and Dennis M. Cullinan, Veterans of 
Foreign Wars of the United States, Washington, D.C.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee met in closed session to 
receive a briefing on certain intelligence matters from officials of 
the intelligence community.
SENIOR EMPLOYMENT AND COMMUNITY SERVICE
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
employment and community service for low-income seniors, focusing on 
what effect the Older Americans Act Amendments have had on the 
distribution of the Senior Community Service Employment Program (SCSEP) 
funds to national and state grantees, describe the progress Labor has 
made in implementing the enhanced performance accountability system, 
and identify the challenges faced by national and state grantees in 
managing the SCSEP program, after receiving testimony from Sigurd R. 
Nilsen, Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security Issues, 
Government Accountability Office; John R. Beverly, III, Administrator, 
Office of National Programs, Employment and Training Administration, 
Department of Labor; Melinda M. Adams, Idaho Commission on Aging, 
Boise; Shauna O'Neil, Salt Lake County Aging Services, Salt Lake City, 
Utah; and Carol Salter, Easter Seals, Inc., Washington, D.C.