[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 72 (Thursday, June 8, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D596-D598]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: USAID
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, 
and Related Programs concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget 
estimates for fiscal year 2007 for the U.S. Agency for International 
Development, after receiving testimony from Randall L. Tobias, 
Administrator, U.S. Agency for International Development.
OVERHEAD IMAGERY SYSTEMS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee met in closed session to receive 
a briefing to examine the satellite system that allows the United 
States to gather images of military targets in other countries from 
Stephen A. Cambone, Under Secretary for Intelligence, and Donald M. 
Kerr, Director, National Reconnaissance Office, and General James E. 
Cartwright, USMC, Commander, U.S. Strategic Command, all of the 
Department of Defense; and Patrick F. Kennedy, Deputy Director of 
National Intelligence for Management, and Mary Margaret Graham, Deputy 
Director of National Intelligence for Collection, both of the Office of 
the Director of National Intelligence.
DATA LOSS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee met to receive a briefing 
regarding the loss of personal information regarding Department of 
Defense personnel as a result of the theft of a computer from a 
Department of Veterans Affairs analyst from Gail H. McGinn, Deputy 
Under Secretary for Plans, and Jeanne Fites, Deputy Under Secretary for 
Program Integration, both of the Department of Defense; Anita K. Blair, 
Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Total Force Transformation 
and Military Personnel Policy; Daniel B. Denning, Principal Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of the Army; and Lieutenant General Roger A. Brady, 
Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force for Personnel.
AL-ZARQAWI
Committee on Armed Services: Committee met in closed session to receive 
a briefing on the death in Iraq of insurgent terrorist leader Abu Musab 
al-Zarqawi from Lieutenant General James T. Conway, USMC, Director of 
Operations, J-3, and Rear Admiral David J. Dorsett, USN, Director of 
Intelligence, J-2, both of The Joint Staff.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nominations of Sheila C. Bair, of Kansas, to be 
a Member and Chairperson of the Board of Directors of the Federal 
Deposit Insurance Corporation, James B. Lockhart III, of Connecticut, 
to be Director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development, Donald L. Kohn, of 
Virginia, to be Vice Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal 
Reserve System, and Kathleen L. Casey, of Virginia, to be a Member of 
the Securities and Exchange Commission, after the nominees testified 
and answered questions in their own behalf.
OFFSHORE AQUACULTURE
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
National Ocean Policy Study concluded a hearing to examine 
opportunities and challenges posed by offshore aquaculture and the 
Federal

[[Page D597]]

government's role in setting the stage for more robust commercial 
production of cultured seafood, focusing on the development of the 
domestic marine aquaculture industry in the United States to meet the 
demand for seafood, after receiving testimony from Timothy R.E. Keeney, 
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of 
Commerce; David Bedford, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Juneau; 
John R. MacMillan, National Aquaculture Association, Buhl, Idaho; Tim 
Eichenberg, The Ocean Conservancy, San Francisco, California; and 
Marianne Cufone, Environmental Matters, Tampa, Florida.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the nominations of R. Hunter Biden, of Delaware, 
who was introduced by Senator Carper, and Donna R. McLean, of the 
District of Columbia, both to be a Member of the Reform Board (Amtrak), 
and John H. Hill, of Indiana, to be Administrator of the Federal Motor 
Carrier Safety Administration, Mark V. Rosenker, of Maryland, to be 
Chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, who was 
introduced by Representative Issa, and Andrew B. Steinberg, of 
Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary, all of the Department of 
Transportation, after the nominees testified and answered questions in 
their own behalf.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nominations of Philip D. Moeller, of Washington, 
who was introduced by Senators Murray and Cantwell, and Jon 
Wellinghoff, of Nevada, who was introduced by Senator Reid, each to be 
a Member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, after the 
nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following bills:
  An original bill entitled, Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Indian Health 
Care Improvement Act of 2006; and
  An original bill entitled, Improving Outcomes for Children Affected 
by Meth Act of 2006.
NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the 
development of democracy, focusing on the contributions of NGOs, 
restrictions that a growing number of governments are placing on NGO 
activities, and how to protect NGOs work, after receiving testimony 
from Barry F. Lowenkron, Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, 
Human Rights and Labor; and Carl Gershman, National Endowment for 
Democracy, Mark Palmer, Freedom House, Morton H. Halperin, Open Society 
Institute, and Thomas Carothers, Carnegie Endowment for International 
Peace, all of Washington, D.C.
ASIAN ADOPTIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific 
Affairs concluded a hearing to examine the status of Asian adoptions in 
the United States, after receiving testimony from Senators Craig and 
Landrieu; Catherine M. Barry, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for 
Consular Affairs; Robert Divine, Acting Deputy Director, U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security; 
Thomas Atwood, National Council For Adoption, Alexandria, Virginia; and 
Susan Soon-keum Cox, Holt International Children's Services, Eugene, 
Oregon.
NATIONAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine ways to build an integrated preparedness 
and emergency management system, focusing on the status of the Federal 
Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with the Department of Homeland 
Security, after receiving testimony from Michael Chertoff, Secretary, 
and Admiral Thad W. Allen, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, both of the 
Department of Homeland Security; Donald F. Kettl, University of 
Pennsylvania Fels Institute of Government, Philadelphia; and John R. 
Harrald, George Washington University Institute for Crisis, Disaster, 
and Risk Management, Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of Andrew J. Guilford, to be United States District Judge 
for the Central District of California, and Charles P. Rosenberg, to be 
United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia.
  Also, Committee began consideration of :
  S. 2453, to establish procedures for the review of electronic 
surveillance programs, agreeing to an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute, and S. 2468, to provide standing for civil actions for 
declaratory and injunctive relief to persons who refrain from 
electronic communications through fear of being subject to warrantless 
electronic surveillance for foreign intelligence purposes, agreeing to 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute, but did

[[Page D598]]

not take final action thereon, and recessed subject to call.
COMMISSION ON SAFETY AND ABUSE IN AMERICA'S PRISONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Corrections and 
Rehabilitation held a hearing to examine the findings and 
recommendations of the Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's 
Prisons, which explored violence and abuse in America's prisons and 
jails and ways to make correctional facilities safer for prisoners and 
staff and more effective in promoting public safety and public health, 
receiving testimony from John J. Gibbons, Co-Chairman, Nicholas de B. 
Katzenbach, Co-Chairman, and Gary D. Maynard, Iowa Department of 
Corrections, and American Correctional Association, Marc H. Morial, 
National Urban League, and Pat Nolan, Prison Fellowship, and Justice 
Fellowship, all Commissioners, all of the Commission on Safety and 
Abuse in America's Prisons.
  Hearing recessed subject to the call.
VETERANS' BENEFITS LEGISLATION
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine pending benefits related legislation, including related 
measures S. 2121, S. 2416, S. 2562, S. 2659, S. 2694, and S. 3363, 
after receiving testimony from Senators Burns and Pryor; Ronald R. 
Aument, Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits, and John H. Thompson, 
Deputy General Counsel, both of Department of Veterans Affairs; Donald 
L. Ivers, Alexandria, Virginia, former Chief Judge of the United States 
Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims; and Quentin Kinderman, Veterans 
of Foreign Wars of the United States, Richard F. Weidman, Vietnam 
Veterans of America, and Barton F. Stichman, National Veterans Legal 
Services Program, all of 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.