[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 21, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D670-D672]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 3237, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2007 for the 
intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States 
Government, the Intelligence Community Management Account, and the 
Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System. 
(Committee approved a written report to accompany the bill.); and
  A list of 3,741 nominations in the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine 
Corps.
FREIGHT RAILROAD INDUSTRY
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine concluded a hearing to 
examine economics, service, and capacity in the freight railroad 
industry, after receiving testimony from JayEtta Z. Hecker, Director, 
Physical Infrastructure, Government Accountability Office; W. Douglas 
Buttrey, Chairman, Surface Transportation Board, Department of 
Transportation; Dale Schuler, National Association of Wheat Growers, 
Carter, Montana, on behalf of sundry organizations; Glenn English, 
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and John B. Ficker, 
National Industrial Transportation League, both of Arlington, Virginia; 
John L. McIntosh, Olin Corporation, Clayton, Missouri, on behalf of the 
American Chemistry Council; and Edward R. Hamberger, Association of 
American Railroads, Washington, D.C.
HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Technology, Innovation, and Competitiveness concluded a hearing to 
examine accelerating the adoption of health information technology, 
focusing on efforts to improve efficiency, reduce medical errors, 
increase the quality of medical care, and provide better information 
for patients and physicians, after receiving testimony from former 
Representative Newt Gingrich, on behalf of the Center for Health 
Transformation; Carolyn M. Clancy, Director, Agency for Healthcare 
Research and Quality, Department of Health and Human Services; Mark 
Leavitt, Certification Commission for Healthcare Information 
Technology, Chicago, Illinois; John Halamka, Healthcare Information 
Technology Standards Panel, Boston, Massachusetts; Michael Raymer, GE 
Healthcare, Seattle, Washington; Kevin Hutchinson, SureScripts LLC, 
Alexandria, Virginia; and Terry Ragon, InterSystems Corporation, 
Cambridge, Massachusetts.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the nominations of Philip D. Moeller, of Washington, and Jon 
Wellinghoff, of Nevada, each to be a Member of the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission.
WILDLAND FIRE SUPPRESSION
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Public Lands 
and Forests concluded a hearing to examine the Government 
Accountability Office report entitled ``Wildland Fire Suppression--Lack 
of Clear Guidance Raises Concerns About Cost Sharing Between Federal 
and Nonfederal Entities'' (GAO-06-570), after receiving testimony from 
Robert A. Robinson, Managing Director, Natural Resources and 
Environment, Government Accountability Office; Lynn Scarlett, Deputy 
Secretary of the Interior for Policy; Mark Rey, Under Secretary of 
Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment; and Anne 
Heissenbuttel, National Association of State Foresters, Washington, 
D.C.
CHEMICAL SITE SECURITY
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine inherently safer technology in the context of 
chemical site security, focusing on the release of hazardous chemicals 
from industrial facilities and how to prevent such releases and to 
improve preparedness and response capabilities, after receiving 
testimony from Senator Biden; Lisa P. Jackson, New Jersey Department of 
Environmental Protection, Trenton; Dennis C. Hendershot, American 
Institute of Chemical Engineers, Furlong, Pennsylvania; Philip J. 
Crowley, Center for American Progress, Washington, D.C.; David A. 
Moore, Acutech Consulting Group, Alexandria, Virginia; and Charlie 
Cott, Missouri Farmers

[[Page D671]]

Association, Columbia, on behalf of the Agricultural Retailers 
Association.
TREATY
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the United Nations Convention Against Corruption (the 
``Corruption Convention''), adopted by the United Nations General 
Assembly on October 31, 2003 (Treaty Doc. 109-06), after receiving 
testimony from Samuel M. Witten, Deputy Legal Adviser, Department of 
State; Bruce C. Swartz, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal 
Division, Department of Justice; and Alan P. Larson, Transparency 
International-USA, and William A. Reinsch, National Foreign Trade 
Council, both of Washington, D.C.
METHAMPHETAMINE TRAFFICKING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on International Economic 
Policy, Export and Trade Promotion and the Subcommittee on Western 
Hemisphere, Peace Corps and Narcotics Affairs concluded joint hearings 
to examine international methamphetamine trafficking, after receiving 
testimony from John P. Walters, Director, Office of National Drug 
Control Policy; Anne W. Patterson, Assistant Secretary of State for 
International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs; and Karen P. 
Tandy, Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of 
Justice.
FEDERAL RECOGNITION
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
S. 480, to extend Federal recognition to the Chickahominy Indian Tribe, 
the Chickahominy Indian Tribe--Eastern Division, the Upper Mattaponi 
Tribe, the Rappahannock Tribe, Inc., the Monacan Indian Nation, and the 
Nansemond Indian Tribe, and S. 437, to expedite review of the Grand 
River Band of Ottawa Indians of Michigan to secure a timely and just 
determination of whether that group is entitled to recognition as a 
Federal Indian tribe, after receiving testimony from Senators Warner, 
Allen, and Levin; Representative James P. Moran; R. Lee Fleming, 
Director, Office of Federal Acknowledgment, Department of the Interior; 
Stephen R. Adkins, Chickahominy Indian Tribe, Charles City, Virginia; 
Helen C. Rountree, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia; Ron Yob, 
Grand River Bands of Ottawa Indians, Grand Rapids, Michigan; David 
Willerup, Westwood Reformed Church, Muskegon, Michigan; and Michael J. 
O'Connor, Virginia Petroleum, Convenience and Grocery Association, 
Richmond, Virginia.
COPYRIGHT PROTECTION
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine if 
Congress can protect copyright and promote innovation relating to the 
analog hole, focusing on the technology gap known as the analog hole 
that creates a disconnect between the analog past and the digital 
future, after receiving testimony from LeVar Burton, Directors Guild of 
America, Los Angeles, California; Dan Glickman, Motion Picture 
Association of America, Gary J. Shapiro, Consumer Electronics 
Association and Home Recording Rights Coalition, and Gigi B. Sohn, 
Public Knowledge, all of Washington, D.C.; Chris Cookson, Warner Bros. 
Entertainment, Inc., Burbank, California; and Matthew Zinn, TiVo Inc., 
Alviso, California.
VOTING RIGHTS ACT REAUTHORIZATION
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil 
Rights, and Property Rights held a hearing to examine policy and 
perspectives and views from the field regarding reauthorizing the 
Voting Rights Act, receiving testimony from Gerald A. Reynolds, 
Chairman, U.S. Commission on Civil Rights; Donald M. Wright, North 
Carolina State Board of Elections, Raleigh; John J. Park, Jr., Office 
of the Attorney General of Alabama, Montgomery; Debo P. Adegbile, NAACP 
Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., New York, New York; David T. 
Canon, University of Wisconsin Department of Political Science, 
Madison; and Carol M. Swain, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, 
Tennessee.
  Hearing recessed subject to the call.
NOMINATION
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nomination of Neil M. Gorsuch, of Colorado, to be United States 
Circuit Judge for the Tenth Circuit, after the nominee, who was 
introduced by Senators Allard and Salazar, testified and answered 
questions on his own behalf.
NOMINATION
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nomination of Steven C. Preston, of Illinois, to 
be Administrator of the Small Business Administration, after the 
nominee, who was introduced by Senator Durbin, testified and answered 
questions on his own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee met in closed session to 
consider pending intelligence matters.
  Committee recessed subject to the call.

[[Page D672]]


MANAGING RETIREMENT ASSETS
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
ways to ensure that seniors do not outlive their savings and efforts to 
manage retirement assets, focusing on consumer preparedness, risks in 
retirement, stock market volatility, and the value of annuities, after 
receiving testimony from Ben Stein, Los Angeles, California, on behalf 
of the National Retirement Planning Coalition; C. Robert Henrikson, 
MetLife, Inc., Long Island City, New York; Stephen P. Utkus, Vanguard 
Center for Retirement Research, Valley Forge, Pennsylvania; and Leroy 
Gilbertson, AARP, Washington, D.C.