[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 61 (Wednesday, May 17, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D498-D499]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
RURAL UTILITIES SERVICE BROADBAND LOAN PROGRAM
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the United States Department of Agriculture Rural 
Utilities Service Broadband Loan and Loan Guarantee Program, after 
receiving testimony from Jim Andrew, Administrator, Rural Utilities 
Service, Department of Agriculture; Larry Sevier, Rural Telephone 
Service Company, Lenora, Kansas; Mark Pagon, Pegasus Communications 
Corporation, Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania; and Tom Simmons, Midcontinent 
Communications, Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense concluded a 
hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2007 for 
the Department of Defense, after receiving testimony from Donald H. 
Rumsfeld, Secretary of Defense; and General Peter Pace, USMC, Chairman 
of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.
NATIONAL GUARD
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the roles and missions of the National Guard in support of the Bureau 
of Customs and Border Protection, after receiving testimony from Paul 
McHale, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense; Lieutenant 
General James T. Conway, USMC, Director of Operations, J-3, The Joint 
Staff; Lieutenant General H. Steven Blum, USA, Chief, National Guard 
Bureau; and Chief David V. Aguilar, Office of Border Patrol, U.S. 
Customs and Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nominations of Dale Klein, of Texas, to be 
Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, who was introduced by 
Senator Hutchison, and Molly A. O'Neill, of Virginia, to be an 
Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, after 
the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
PHYSICIAN-OWNED SPECIALTY HOSPITALS
Committee on Finance: Committee held a hearing to examine the quality 
of patient care and services at physician-owned specialty hospitals, 
receiving testimony from Mark B. McClellan, Administrator, Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human 
Services; Michael W. Wilson, Sellwood Baptist Church, Portland, Oregon; 
Cindy Morrison, Sioux Valley Health System, Sioux Falls, South Dakota, 
on behalf of the Coalition of Full Service Hospitals; John M. House, 
Irving, Texas, on behalf of the American Surgical Hospital Association; 
Dan Mulholland, Horty, Springer and Mattern, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; 
and James C. Cobey, Washington, DC.
  Hearing recessed subject to the call.
IRAN
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee held a hearing to examine 
Iran's political and nuclear ambitions and the enrichment of uranium, 
focusing on United States policy options, the possibility of unilateral 
sanctions targeting European and Asian corporations, and the North 
Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), receiving testimony from Robert J. 
Einhorn, Center for Strategic and International Studies, David 
Albright, Institute for Science and International Security, Kenneth M. 
Pollack, Brookings Institution, Karim Sadjadpour, International Crisis 
Group, Patrick Clawson, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and 
Geoffrey Kemp, Nixon Center, all of Washington, DC.
  Hearing will continue on tomorrow.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of April H. Foley, of New York, to be 
Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary, who was introduced by 
Representative Kelly, Michael D. Kirby, of Virginia, to

[[Page D499]]

be Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, John A. Cloud, Jr., of 
Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Lithuania, Tracey Ann 
Jacobson, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador to the Republic 
of Tajikistan, Michael Wood, of the District of Columbia, to be 
Ambassador to Sweden, and Robert Anthony Bradtke, of Maryland, to be 
Ambassador to the Republic of Croatia, after the nominees testified and 
answered questions in their own behalf.
NOMINATION
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine the nomination of Robert J. Portman, of 
Ohio, to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget, after the 
nominee, who was introduced by Senator Voinovich, testified and 
answered questions in his own behalf.
SECURITY CLEARANCE PROCESS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the 
District of Columbia continued hearings to examine the Federal 
government's security clearance process, focusing on the progress of 
the Office of Personnel Management in implementing a plan to address 
the longstanding backlog of security clearance investigations, 
including the next steps by the Office of Management and Budget, and 
the recent halt by the Defense Security Service in processing 
government contractor security clearances, receiving testimony from 
Clay Johnson, III, Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management 
and Budget; Kathy L. Dillaman, Associate Director for Federal 
Investigative Services Division, Office of Personnel Management; Robert 
Andrews, Deputy Under Secretary for Counter-Intelligence and Security, 
and Robert W. Rogalski, Special Assistant to the Under Secretary for 
Intelligence, both of the Department of Defense; and Derek B. Stewart, 
Director, Defense Capabilities and Management, Government 
Accountability Office.
  Hearing recessed subject to the call.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 2823, to provide life-saving care for those with HIV/AIDS;
  S. 2803, to amend the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act of 1977 to 
improve the safety of mines and mining, with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute;
  S. 860, to amend the National Assessment of Educational Progress 
Authorization Act to require State academic assessments of student 
achievement in United States history and civics; and
  The nominations of Jerry Gayle Bridges, of Virginia, to be Chief 
Financial Officer, and Vince J. Juaristi, of Virginia, to be a Member 
of the Board of Directors, both of the Corporation for National and 
Community Service, J.C.A. Stagg, of Virginia, to be a Member of the 
Board of Trustees of the James Madison Memorial Fellowship Foundation, 
Kent D. Talbert, of Virginia, to be General Counsel, Department of 
Education, and Horace A. Thompson, of Mississippi, to be a Member of 
the Occupational Safety and Health Review Commission.
SUICIDE PREVENTION
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee continued oversight hearings to 
examine how suicide prevention programs and resources that exist 
outside of Indian country might be applied to American Indians and 
Alaska Natives, receiving testimony from Jerry Gidner, Deputy Bureau 
Director for Tribal Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of 
the Interior; Charles W. Grim, Director, Indian Health Service, and 
Charles G. Curie, Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health 
Services Administration, both of Department of Health and Human 
Services; Donna Vigil, White Mountain Apache Tribe, Whiteriver, 
Arizona; William E. Martin, Alaska State Suicide Prevention Council, 
Juneau; R. Dale Walker, Oregon Health and Science University One Sky 
Center, Portland; and Jo Ann Kauffman, Kauffman and Associates, Inc., 
Spokane, Washington, on behalf of Native Aspirations Project.
  Hearing recessed subject to the call.
VOTING RIGHTS ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
understanding the benefits and cost of Section 5 pre-clearance 
requirements of the Voting Rights Act, after receiving testimony from 
Fred Gray, Gray, Langford, Sapp, McGowan, Gray and Nathanson, 
Montgomery, Alabama; Drew S. Days, III, Yale Law School, New Haven, 
Connecticut; Abigail M. Thernstrom, Manhattan Institute, New York, New 
York; Armand Derfner, Derfner, Altman and Wilborn, Charleston, South 
Carolina; and Nathaniel Persily, University of Pennsylvania Law School, 
Philadelphia.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee met in closed session to 
receive a briefing on certain intelligence matters from officials of 
the intelligence community.