[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 86 (Wednesday, June 28, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D717-D719]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
CAPITOL VISITOR CENTER
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Legislative Branch resumed 
hearings to examine the progress of Capitol Visitor Center 
construction, receiving testimony from Alan M. Hantman, Architect, 
Robert C. Hixon, Jr., Capitol Visitor Center Project Manager, John 
Eisold, Attending Physician, and Stephen Ayers, Chief Operating 
Officer, all of the Office of the Architect of the Capitol; Bernard L. 
Ungar, Director, and Terrell Dorn, Assistant Director, both of Physical 
Infrastructure Issues, Government Accountability Office; Peter Evelyth, 
General Counsel, Office of Compliance; and Captain Joseph Terra, U.S. 
Public Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services.
  Hearings continue on Wednesday, August 2.
IRAQI SECURITY FORCES
Committee on Armed Services: Committee met in closed session to discuss 
training and equipping Iraqi security forces with Lieutenant General 
Martin Dempsey, USA, Commander, Multinational Security Transition 
Command in Iraq.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered 
favorably reported H.R. 5252, to promote the deployment of broadband 
networks and services, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
NOMINATION
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nomination of Marc Spitzer, of Arizona, to be a 
Member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, after the nominee, 
who was introduced by Senators McCain and Kyl, testified and answered 
questions in his own behalf.
WATER BILLS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Water and 
Power concluded a hearing to examine S. 1812, to amend the Reclamation 
Projects Authorization and Adjustment Act of 1992 to provide for the 
conjunctive use of surface and ground water in Juab County, Utah, S. 
1965, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain 
buildings and lands of the Yakima Project, Washington, to the Yakima-
Tieton Irrigation District, S. 2129, to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey certain land and improvements of the Gooding 
Division of the Minidoka Project, Idaho, S. 2470, to authorize early 
repayment of obligations to the Bureau of Reclamation within the A & B 
Irrigation District in the State of Idaho, S. 2502, to provide for the 
modification of an amendatory repayment contract between the Secretary 
of the Interior and the North Unit Irrigation District, S. 3404, to 
reauthorize the Mni Wiconi Rural Water Supply Project, H.R. 2383, to 
redesignate the facility of the Bureau of Reclamation located at 19550 
Kelso Road in Byron, California, as the ``C.W. `Bill' Jones Pumping 
Plant'', and H.R. 4204, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to 
transfer ownership of the American River Pump Station Project, after 
receiving testimony from William E. Rinne, Acting Commissioner, Bureau 
of Reclamation, and Jason Peltier,

[[Page D718]]

Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, both of the 
Department of the Interior; Richard Dieker, Yakima-Tieton Irrigation 
District, Yakima, Washington; and Einar L. Maisch, Placer County Water 
Agency, Auburn, California.
EPA
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded an 
oversight hearing on the efforts of the Environmental Protection Agency 
to meet the challenges of ensuring consistent implementation of federal 
environmental laws and regulations, after receiving testimony from 
Granta Y. Nakayama, Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and 
Compliance Assurance, and Donald Welsh, Regional Administrator, Region 
3, both of the Environmental Protection Agency; John B. Stephenson, 
Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Government Accountability 
Office; David Paylor, Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, 
Richmond, on behalf of the Environmental Council of the States; Jean 
Payne, Illinois Fertilizer and Chemical Association, Bloomington; 
Richard W. Waterman, University of Kentucky Department of Political 
Science, Lexington; and Eric Schaeffer, Environmental Integrity 
Project, Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 1321, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to repeal the 
excise tax on telephone and other communications, with an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute. (As approved by the committee, the 
substitute amendment incorporates the text of S. 832.);
  S. 3569, to implement the United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement; 
and
  The nomination of Henry M. Paulson, Jr., of New York, to be Secretary 
of the Treasury.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Peter R. Coneway, of Texas, to be Ambassador 
to Switzerland, and to serve concurrently and without additional 
compensation as Ambassador to the Principality of Liechtenstein, who 
was introduced by Senators Hutchison and Cornyn, Richard E. Hoagland, 
of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of 
Armenia, and Thomas C. Foley, of Connecticut, to be Ambassador to 
Ireland, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their 
own behalf.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of Mickey D. Barnett, of 
New Mexico, who was introduced by Senator Domenici, Katherine C. Tobin, 
of New York, and Ellen C. Williams, of Kentucky, who was introduced by 
Senator McConnell, each to be a Governor of the United States Postal 
Service, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their 
own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 3570, to amend the Older Americans Act of 1965 to authorize 
appropriations for fiscal years 2007 through 2011, with an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute;
  S. 3546, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act with 
respect to serious adverse event reporting for dietary supplements and 
nonprescription drugs, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 707, to reduce preterm labor and delivery and the risk of 
pregnancy-related deaths and complications due to pregnancy, and to 
reduce infant mortality caused by prematurity, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 757, to amend the Public Health Service Act to authorize the 
Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to 
make grants for the development and operation of research centers 
regarding environmental factors that may be related to the etiology of 
breast cancer, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute; and
  The nomination of Jonann E. Chiles, of Arkansas, to be a Member of 
the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation.
NATIVE AMERICAN HOUSING PROGRAMS
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight hearing 
to examine the barriers, challenges, and accomplishments of Native 
American Housing Programs, including Alaska Native Villages, the Native 
Hawaiian Program, and the Land Assignment Law, after receiving 
testimony from Orlando J. Cabrera, Assistant Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development, Office of Public and Indian Housing; Pattye Green, 
Fannie Mae, Tishomingo, Oklahoma; Marty Shuravloff, National American 
Indian Housing Council, Washington, D.C.; A.D. Ellis, Muscogee Creek 
Nation, Okmulgee, Oklahoma; and James Steele, Jr., Confederated Salish 
and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation, Pablo, Montana.

[[Page D719]]


HEDGE FUNDS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the relationship between certain hedge funds and independent analysts, 
focusing on ensuring integrity of the marketplace and protection of 
investors and the public from fraud, after receiving testimony from 
Matthew Friedrich, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General and 
Chief of Staff, Criminal Division, Department of Justice; Connecticut 
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, Hartford; Gary J. Aguirre, 
Government Accountability Project, Washington, D.C.; Marc E. Kasowitz, 
Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman LLP, and Joseph McLaughlin, Sidley 
Austin LLP, on behalf of Managed Funds Association, both of New York, 
New York; Kim D. Blickenstaff, Biosite Incorporated, San Diego, 
California; Owen A. Lamont, Yale School of Management, New Haven, 
Connecticut; Demetrios Anifantis, JP Morgan, Scottsdale, Arizona; 
Howard M. Schilit, Center for Financial Research and Analysis, 
Rockville, Maryland; and Jonathan A. Boersma, CFA Institute, 
Charlottesville, Virginia.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Kimberly Ann Moore, of Virginia, to be United States 
Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit, who was introduced by Senator 
Warner, and Bobby E. Shepherd, of Arkansas, to be United States Circuit 
Judge for the Eighth Circuit, who was introduced by Senators Lincoln 
and Pryor, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their 
own behalf.