[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 67 (Thursday, May 25, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D558-D560]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
HADITHA INCIDENT
Committee on Armed Services: Committee met in closed session to receive 
a briefing on the status of on-going investigations into an incident 
involving Iraqi civilians on November 19, 2005, near Haditha, from 
Brigadier General John F. Kelly, USMC, Legislative Assistant to the 
Commandant of the Marine Corps.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  An original bill to amend the National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, 
to restore the financial solvency of the flood insurance fund; and
  The nominations of Armando J. Bucelo, Jr., and Todd S. Farha, both of 
Florida, each to be a Director of the Securities Investor Protection 
Corporation, Jon T. Rymer, of Tennessee, to be Inspector General, 
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, John W. Cox, of Texas, to be 
Chief Financial Officer, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 
and William Hardiman, of Michigan, to be a Member of the Board of 
Directors of the National Institute of Building Sciences.
TELECOM REFORM: NET NEUTRALITY AND INTERCONNECTION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee resumed 
hearings to examine S. 2686, to amend the Communications Act of 1934 
and for other purposes, focusing on policies that will increase 
investment in network technologies to promote facilities-based 
competition, receiving testimony from Paul Misener, Amazon.com, Tom 
Tauke, Verizon, Timothy J. Regan, Corning Incorporated, Ben Scott, Free 
Press, on behalf of Consumers Union and Consumer Federation of America, 
and Earl W. Comstock, COMPTEL, all of Washington, D.C.; and Roger J. 
Cochetti, Computing Technology Industry Association, Arlington, 
Virginia.
  Hearings continue on Tuesday, June 13.
COAL-BASED ELECTRIC GENERATION
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the outlook for growth of coal-fired electric 
generation and whether sufficient supplies of coal will be available to 
supply electric generators on a timely basis both in the near term and 
in the future, after receiving testimony from Howard Gruenspecht, 
Deputy Administrator, Energy Information Administration, Department of 
Energy; Robert McLennan, Tri-State Generation and

[[Page D559]]

Transmission Association, Inc., Westminster, Colorado; Steven Jackson, 
Municipal Electric Authority of Georgia, Atlanta; Edward R. Hamberger, 
Association of American Railroads, Washington, D.C.; David Wilks, Xcel 
Energy, Minneapolis, Minnesota, on behalf of the Edison Electric 
Institute and Consumers United for Rail Equity; and Robert K. Sahr, 
South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, Pierre, on behalf of the 
National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners.
U.N. REFORM
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the current status of reform efforts at the United Nations 
(U.N.), focusing on the U.N.'s Office of Internal Oversight Services 
(OIOS), the Human Rights Council, and critical issues confronting the 
U.N. Security Council, including Iran, Darfur, Lebanon, and Burma, 
after receiving testimony from John R. Bolton, United States Permanent 
Representative to the United Nations, Department of State.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Michael E. Ranneberger, of Virginia, to be 
Ambassador to the Republic of Kenya, Eric M. Bost, of Texas, to be 
Ambassador to the Republic of South Africa, W. Stuart Symington IV, of 
Missouri, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti, who was 
introduced by Representative Skelton, and Gayleatha Beatrice Brown, of 
New Jersey, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, after the 
nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
BUDGET PROCESS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and 
International Security concluded an oversight hearing to examine 
Congress' role and effectiveness in the Federal budget process, as well 
as ways it can improve the management of Federal funds, including 
restoration of realistic discretionary caps, application of pay-as-you-
go discipline to both mandatory spending and revenue legislation, the 
use of ``triggers'' for some mandatory programs, and better reporting 
of fiscal exposures, after receiving testimony from former 
Representative Timothy Penny; David M. Walker, Comptroller General of 
the United States, Government Accountability Office; James C. Miller, 
III, former Director, Office of Management and Budget; Douglas Holtz-
Eakin, Council on Foreign Relations, New York, New York; and Chris 
Edwards, Cato Institute, and Maya C. MacGuineas, New America 
Foundation, and Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, both of 
Washington, DC.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
ordered favorably reported the nominations of R. David Paulison, of 
Florida, to be Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Federal 
Emergency Management, and Lurita Alexis Doan, of Virginia, to be 
Administrator of General Services.
SUBPOENA
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:Committee approved 
the issuance of a subpoena for the Institute of Medicine to release 
material relevant to the immunization safety review committee.
INDIAN EDUCATION
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight hearing 
to examine Indian education programs, including the status of academic 
achievement of Indian children, after receiving testimony from James E. 
Cason, Associate Deputy Secretary, and Kevin Skenandore, Acting 
Director, Office of Indian Education Programs, both of the Department 
of the Interior; Darla Marburger, Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Elementary and Secondary Education, Cathie Carothers, Acting Director, 
Office of Indian Education, and Thomas Corwin, Director, Division of 
Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational Analysis, Budget Service, all of 
the Department of Education; Bernie Teba, New Mexico Children, Youth 
and Families Department, Santa Fe; Ryan Wilson, National Indian 
Education Association, Washington, D.C.; Ivan Small, National 
Association of Federally Impacted Schools, Poplar, Montana, on behalf 
of the National Indian Impacted Schools Association, and the National 
Association of Federally Impacted Schools; Beth Kirsch, WGBH, Boston, 
Massachusetts; and David M. Gipp, United Tribes Technical College, 
Bismarck, North Dakota.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 2039, to provide for loan repayment for prosecutors and public 
defenders;
  S. 2560, to reauthorize the Office of National Drug Control Policy, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  The nominations of Sandra Segal Ikuta, of California, to be United 
States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit, and Erik C. Peterson, of 
Wisconsin, to be United States Attorney for the Western District of 
Wisconsin, and Gary D. Orton, of Nevada, to be United States Marshal 
for the District of Nevada, both of the Department of Justice.

[[Page D560]]


LEGALIZED ASSISTED SUICIDE AND EUTHANASIA
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil 
Rights, and Property Rights concluded a hearing to examine the 
consequences of legalized assisted suicide and euthanasia, after 
receiving testimony from Senator Wyden; Hendrick Reitsema, Eck en Wiel, 
The Netherlands; Jonathan Imbody, Christian Medical Association, 
Ashburn, Virginia; Wesley Smith, Discovery Institute, Castro Valley, 
California; Kathryn Tucker, University of Washington School of Law, 
Seattle; Rita Marker, International Taskforce on Euthanasia and 
Assisted Suicide, Steubenville, Ohio; Ann Jackson, Oregon Hospice 
Association, and Julie McMurchie, both of Portland, Oregon; and Diane 
Coleman, Not Dead Yet, Forest Park, Illinois.
VA DATA PRIVACY BREACH
Committee on Veterans Affairs: Committee concluded joint hearings with 
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs to examine 
the Department of Veterans Affairs data privacy breach, focusing on the 
recent theft of computer material that contained the names and Social 
Security numbers of 26.5 million veterans, after receiving testimony 
from R. James Nicholson, Secretary, and George J. Opfer, Inspector 
General, both of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
PANDEMIC FLU
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
efforts by the Department of Health and Human Services to improve the 
nation's preparedness for a potential human influenza pandemic, 
focusing on strategy and threat assessment, and the possible impact on 
the elderly, after receiving testimony from Michael O. Leavitt, 
Secretary of Health and Human Services; J. Steven Cline, North Carolina 
Department of Health and Human Services, Raleigh; and Nancy Donegan, 
Washington Hospital Center/MedStar, Washington, D.C., on behalf of the 
American Hospital Association.