[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 81 (Wednesday, June 21, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D673-D675]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Military Personnel and the 
Subcommittee on Africa of the Committee on International Relations held 
a joint hearing on trafficking in persons. Testimony was heard from 
Ambassador John R. Miller, Director, Office To Monitor and Combat 
Trafficking in Persons, Department of State; and the following 
officials of the Department of Defense: Gail H. McGinn, Performing the 
Duties as Principal Deputy Under Secretary, Personnel and Readiness; 
and Thomas F. Gimble, Principal Deputy Inspector General; and COL 
Robert K. Boyles, USAF, former Principal Assistant Responsible for 
Contracting--Forces, Joint Contracting Command--Iraq/Afghanistan, U.S. 
Central Command.
SPACE AND U.S. NATIONAL POWER
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces held a 
hearing on space and U.S. national power. Testimony was heard from LTG 
C. Robert Kehler, USAF, Deputy Commander, U.S. Strategic Command, 
Department of Defense; Ed Morris, Director, Office of Space 
Commercialization, Department of Commerce; and public witnesses.
INTERNET PRIVATE RECORDS ACCESS
Committee on Energy and Commerce: Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations held a hearing entitled ``Internet Data Brokers and 
Pretexting: Who Has Access to Your Private Records?'' Testimony was 
heard from public witnesses.
  In refusing to give testimony at this hearing, the following 
individuals: John Strange; Jay Patel, Ed Herzog; Skipp Porteous; 
Michele Yontef; Carlos Anderson; Laurie Misner; Tim Berndt; James 
Welker; Patrick Baird; and Steven Schwartz, invoked Fifth Amendment 
privileges.
  Hearing continues tomorrow.
UNIVERSAL SERVICE
Committee on Energy and Commerce: Subcommittee on Telecommunications 
and the Internet held a hearing entitled ``Universal Service: What Are 
We Subsidizing and Why? Part 1: The High-Cost Fund.'' Testimony was 
heard from Donald B. Marron, Acting Director, CBO; Tom Navin, Chief, 
Wireline Competition Bureau, FCC; and public witnesses.
COMMERCIAL INSURANCE MODERNIZATION
Committee on Financial Services: Subcommittee on Capital Markets, 
Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises held a hearing entitled 
``Commercial Insurance Modernization.'' Testimony was heard from public 
witnesses.
BANK SECRECY ACT'S IMPACT ON MONEY SERVICES BUSINESSES
Committee on Financial Services: Subcommittee on Financial Institutions 
and Consumer Credit held a hearing entitled ``Bank Secrecy Act's Impact 
on Money Services Businesses.'' Testimony was heard from the following 
officials of the Department of the Treasury: Don Carbaugh, Acting 
Associate Director, Regulatory Policy and Programs, Financial Crimes 
Enforcement Network; Eileen C. Mayer, Director, Fraud/Bank Secrecy Act, 
Small Business/Self-Employed Division, IRS; and Ann F. Jaedicke, Deputy 
Comptroller, Compliance Policy; and public witnesses.
ALASKA NATIVE CORPORATIONS/FEDERAL PROCUREMENT
Committee on Government Reform: and the Committee on Small Business 
held a joint hearing entitled ``Northern Lights and Procurement 
Plights: The Effect of the ANC Program on Federal Procurement and 
Alaska Native Corporations.'' Testimony was heard from Representative 
Young of Alaska; David Cooper, Director, Acquisition and Sourcing 
Management, GAO; Calvin Jenkins, Deputy Associate Deputy Administrator, 
Office of Government Contracting and Business Development, SBA; Frank 
M. Ramos, Director, Small Business Programs, Office of the Under 
Secretary, Acquisition, Technology and Logistics, Department of 
Defense; Melodee Stith, Associate Director, Acquisition and Financial 
Assistance, Office of Acquisition and Property Management, Department 
of the Interior; and public witnesses.
DEEP WATER ROYALTY RELIEF
Committee on Government Reform: Subcommittee on Energy and Resources 
held a hearing entitled ``Deep Water Royalty Relief: Mismanagement and 
Cover-ups.'' Testimony was heard from the following Attorneys in the 
Department of the Interior: Milo Mason and Geoffrey Heath; and public 
witnesses.
SECURITY DEPARTMENT TERRORISM PREPAREDNESS
Committee on Homeland Security: Held a hearing entitled ``DHS Terrorism 
Preparedness Grants: Risk-Based or Guess-Work?'' Testimony was heard 
from

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the following officials of the City of New York: Michael Bloomberg, 
Mayor; and Raymond W. Kelly, Commissioner, Police Department; the 
following officials of the District of Columbia: Anthony Williams, 
Mayor; and Edward D. Reiskin, Deputy Mayor, Public Safety and Justice; 
and George Foresman, Under Secretary, Preparedness, Department of 
Homeland Security.
RESOLUTION OF INQUIRY; DEMOCRACY IN LATIN AMERICA
Committee on International Relations: Ordered reported adversely H. 
Res. 846, Requesting the President and directing the Secretary of State 
to provide to the House of Representatives certain documents in their 
possession relating to strategies and plans either designed to cause 
regime change in or for the use of military force against Iran.
  The Committee also held a hearing on Democracy in Latin America: 
Successes, Challenges and the Future. Testimony was heard from the 
following officials of the Department of State: Paula J. Dobriansky, 
Under Secretary, Democracy and Global Affairs; and Adolfo Franco, 
Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, 
U.S. Agency for International Development; and public witnesses.
U.S. ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS TO EGYPT
Committee on International Relations: Subcommittee on Middle East and 
Central Asia continued hearings to Review U.S. Assistance Programs to 
Egypt, Part II. Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
RESOLUTIONS OF INQUIRY; AND MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on the Judiciary: Ordered reported the following measures: H. 
Res. 819, Requesting the President and directing the Attorney General 
to submit to the House of Representatives all documents in the 
possession of the President and the Attorney General relating to 
requests made by the National Security Agency and other Federal 
agencies to telephone service providers requesting access to telephone 
communications records of persons in the United States and 
communications originating and terminating within the United States 
without a warrant; H. Res. 845, adversely, Requesting the President and 
directing the Secretary of Defense and the Attorney General to transmit 
to the House of Representatives not later than 14 days after the date 
of the adoption of this resolution, documents relating to the 
termination of the Department of Justice's Office of Professional 
Responsibility's investigation of the involvement of Department of 
Justice personnel in the creation and administration of the National 
Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program, including documents 
relating to Office of Professional Responsibility's request for and 
denial of security clearances; and H.R. 5520, amended, Veterans 
Identity Protection Act.
OVERSIGHT--CRIME VICTIMS' RIGHTS
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution held an 
oversight hearing on the Implementation of the Crime Victims' Rights 
Provisions of the Justice for All Act. Testimony was heard from public 
witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Ordered reported the following bills: H.R. 512, 
To require the prompt review by the Secretary of the Interior of the 
longstanding petitions for Federal recognition of certain Indian 
tribes; H.R. 854, amended, To provide for certain lands to be held in 
trust for the Utu Utu Gwaitu Paiute Tribe; H.R. 2069, Utah Recreational 
Land Exchange Act of 2005; H.R. 2134, Commission To Study the Potential 
Creation of a National Museum of the American Latino Community in 
Washington, D.C.; H.R. 2925, amended, To amend the Reclamation States 
Emergency Drought Relief Act of 1991 to extend the authority for 
drought assistance; H.R. 3085, amended, To amend the National Trails 
System Act to update the feasibility and suitability study originally 
prepared for the Trail of Tears National Historic Trail and provide for 
the inclusion of a new trail segments, land components, and campgrounds 
associated with that trail; H.R. 3817, Valle Vidal Protection Act of 
2005; H.R. 4165, To clarify the boundaries of Coastal Barrier Resources 
System Clam Pass Unit FL-64P; H.R. 4275, To amend Public Law 106-348 to 
extend the authorization for establishing a memorial in the District of 
Columbia or its environs to honor veterans who became disabled while 
serving in the Armed Forces of the United States; H.R. 4294, amended, 
Natural Resource Protection Cooperative Agreement Act; H.R. 4301, Blunt 
Reservoir and Pierre Canal Land Conveyance Act of 2005; H.R. 4376, 
amended, Springfield Armory National Historic Site, Massachusetts Act 
of 2005; H.R. 4612, amended, Wright Brothers-Dunbar National Historic 
Park Designation Act; H.R. 4761, amended, Domestic Energy Production 
through Offshore Exploration and Equitable Treatment of State Holdings 
Act of 2006; H.R. 4947, amended, Cahaba River National Wildlife Refuge 
Expansion Act; H.R. 5057, amended, To authorize the Marion Park Project 
and Committee of the Palmetto Conservation Foundation to establish a 
commemorative work on Federal land in the District of Columbia, and its 
environs to honor Brigadier General Francis Marion; H.R. 5061, Paint 
Bank and Wytheville National Fish Hatcheries Conveyance

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Act; H.R. 5079, amended, North Unit Irrigation District Act of 2006; 
H.R. 5094, Lake Mattamuskeet Lodge Preservation Act; H.R. 5232, Cherry 
Valley National Wildlife Refuge Study Act; H.R. 5312, amended, Indian 
Health Care Improvement Act Amendments of 2006; H.R. 5340, amended, 
Upper Mississippi River Basin Protection Act; H.R. 5411, To direct the 
Secretary of the Interior to establish a demonstration program to 
facilitate landscape restoration programs within certain units of the 
National Park System established by law to preserve and interpret 
resources associated with American history; H.R. 5622, amended, Coral 
Reef Conservation Legacy Act of 2006; S. 260, Partners for Fish and 
Wildlife Act; and S. 1496, Electronic Duck Stamp Act of 2005.
OVERSIGHT--FOREST HEALTH: INSECTS AND DISEASES
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health held 
an oversight hearing on Addressing Forest Insects and Disease: A 
Growing National Problem, ``GAO Report on Invasive Forest Pests.'' 
Testimony was heard from Daniel Bertoni, Assistant Director, Education, 
Workforce, and Income Security, GAO; the following officials of the 
USDA: Paul Eggert, Associate Deputy Administrator, Plant Protection 
Quarantine, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service; and Jim 
Hubbard, Deputy Chief, State and Private Forestry, Forest Service; and 
public witnesses.
PERMANENT ESTATE TAX RELIEF ACT
Committee on Rules: The Committee granted, by voice vote, a closed rule 
on H.R. 5638, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to increase 
the unified credit against the estate tax to an exclusion equivalent of 
$5,000,000 and to repeal the sunset provision for the estate and 
generation-skipping taxes, and for other purposes, proving 1 hour of 
debate in the House equally divided and controlled by the chairman and 
ranking minority member of the Committee on the Budget. The rule waives 
all points of order against consideration of the bill. The rule 
provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended 
by the Committee on the Budget now printed in the bill, modified by the 
amendment printed in the Rules Committee report accompanying the 
resolution, shall be considered as adopted. The rule waives all points 
of order against the bill, as amended. Finally, the rule provides one 
motion to recommit with or without instructions. Testimony was heard 
from Representatives Ryan of Wisconsin, Spratt, and Thompson of 
California.
LEGISLATIVE LINE ITEM VETO ACT
Committee on Rules: The Committee granted, by voice vote, a closed rule 
on H.R. 4890, to amend the Congressional and Impoundment Control Act of 
1974 to provide for the expedited consideration of certain proposed 
rescissions of budget authority, providing 1 hour of debate in the 
House equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking 
minority member of the Committee on Ways and Means. The rule waives all 
points of order against consideration of the bill. The rule provides 
that the amendment printed in the Rules Committee report accompanying 
the resolution shall be considered as adopted. Finally, the rule 
provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. Testimony 
was heard from Representatives Hulshof, Issa, and Pomeroy.
OVERSIGHT--AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL MODERNIZATION
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on 
Aviation held an oversight hearing on Air Traffic Control 
Modernization: The Present and Future. Testimony was heard from 
Representative Waters; the following officials of the Department of 
Transportation: Russell Chew, Chief Operating Officer, Air Traffic 
Organization and Robert Pearce, Acting Director, Joint Planning and 
Development Office, both with the FAA; and Todd Zinser, Acting 
Inspector General; Gerald Dillingham, Director, Physical Infrastructure 
Issues, GAO; and a public witness.
OVERSIGHT--VETERANS HEALTH RECORDS SECURITY
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Subcommittee on Health held an 
oversight hearing on Safeguarding Veterans' Medical Information within 
the Veterans Health Administration. Testimony was heard from BG Michael 
J. Kussman, M.D., USA, (Ret.), Deputy Under Secretary, Health, 
Department of Veterans Affairs; and a public witness.
BRIEFING--GLOBAL UPDATES/HOTSPOTS
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Met in executive session to 
receive a briefing on Global Updates/Hotspots. The Committee was 
briefed by departmental witnesses.