[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 87 (Thursday, June 29, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D731-D733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: FOREIGN OPERATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: on Wednesday, June 28, 2006, Subcommittee 
on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs approved for 
reporting to the full Committee H.R. 5522, making appropriations for 
foreign operations, export financing, and related programs for the 
fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute.

[[Page D732]]


BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Appropriations: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following bills:
  H.R. 5427, making appropriations for energy and water development for 
the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  H.R. 5441, making appropriations for the Department of Homeland 
Security for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2007, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  H.R. 5522, making appropriations for foreign operations, export 
financing, and related programs for the fiscal year ending September 
30, 2007, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute; and
  H.R. 5386, making appropriations for the Department of the Interior, 
environment, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 
30, 2007, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
NOMINATION
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the nomination of James S. Simpson, of New York, to 
be Federal Transit Administrator, Department of Transportation.
U.S.-PERU TRADE PROMOTION AGREEMENT
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the 
U.S.-Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, after receiving testimony from 
Everett Eissenstat, Assistant United States Trade Representative for 
the Americas, Office of U.S. Trade Representative; Jon Stoner, Montana 
Grain Growers Association, Havre; Joy Philippi, National Pork Producers 
Council, Bruning, Nebraska; Leon Trammel, TRAMCO, Wichita, Kansas, on 
behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Association of American 
Chambers of Commerce in Latin America, and the U.S.-Peru Trade 
Coalition; Richard L. Trumka, AFL-CIO, Washington, D.C.; and Brian D. 
O'Neill, J.P. Morgan, New York, New York.
SMALL BUSINESS PENSION PLANS
Committee on Finance: Subcommittee on Long-Term Growth and Debt 
Reduction held a hearing to examine how to increase pension coverage 
for small business employees, receiving testimony from Craig Copeland, 
Employee Benefit Research Institute, David C. John, Heritage 
Foundation, and J. Mark Iwry, Brookings Institution, all of Washington, 
D.C.; Steven P. Bjerke, Edward Jones Investments, Pendleton, Oregon; 
Daniel Hall, StanCorp Equities, Inc., Portland, Oregon; and Paula A. 
Calimafde, Small Business Council of America, Bethesda, Maryland.
  Hearing recessed subject to the call.
U.S.-RUSSIA RELATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the current status of political developments in Russia and the 
future of the United States-Russia relationship, and S. 2435, to 
increase cooperation on energy issues between the United States 
Government and foreign governments and entities in order to secure the 
strategic and economic interests of the United States, after receiving 
testimony from Stephen Sestanovich, Council on Foreign Relations, 
Washington, D.C.; Dmitri Trenin, Carnegie Moscow Center/Carnegie 
Endowment for International Peace, Moscow, Russia; and Amy Myers Jaffe, 
Rice University James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy, 
Houston, Texas.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
  Protocol between the Government of the United States of America and 
the Government of the State of Israel, signed at Jerusalem on July 6, 
2005 (Treaty Doc. 109-3);
  An original bill, to exempt from certain requirements of the Atomic 
Energy Act of 1954 United States exports of nuclear materials, 
equipment and technology to India, and to implement the United States 
Additional Protocol;
  S. Res. 460, expressing the sense of the Senate that the United 
States should increase its support to the people of Somalia in their 
efforts to end decades of violence, establish lasting peace, form a 
democratically elected and stable central government, and become an 
effective partner in eradicating radicalism and terrorism from their 
country and the region;
  S. Con. Res. 105, commending the Government of Canada for its renewed 
commitment to the Global War on Terror in Afghanistan; and
  The nominations of Earl Anthony Wayne, of Maryland, to be Ambassador 
to Argentina, Gaddi H. Vasquez, of California, for the rank of 
Ambassador during his tenure of service as U.S. Representative to the 
United Nations Agencies for Food and Agriculture, John Clint 
Williamson, of Louisiana, to be Ambassador at Large for War Crimes 
Issues, 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, Gayleatha Beatrice Brown, of 
New Jersey, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Benin, Robert O. Blake, 
Jr., of Maryland, to be Ambassador to the Democratic Socialist Republic 
of Sri Lanka, and to serve concurrently and without additional 
compensation as Ambassador to

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the Republic of Maldives, Robert D. McCallum, Jr., of Georgia, to be 
Ambassador to Australia, Leslie V. Rowe, of Washington, to be 
Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, and to serve concurrently and without 
additional compensation as Ambassador to the Solomon Islands and 
Ambassador to the Republic of Vanuatu, Clifford M. Sobel, of New 
Jersey, to be Ambassador to the Federative Republic of Brazil, 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, and Thomas C. Foley, of Connecticut, to 
be Ambassador to Ireland.
FEDERAL EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the 
District of Columbia concluded a hearing to examine S. 3492, to 
strengthen performance management in the Federal Government, to make 
the annual general pay increase for Federal employees contingent on 
performance, and S. 3584, to amend chapter 41 of title 5, United States 
Code, to provide for the establishment and authorization of funding for 
certain training programs for supervisors of Federal employees, after 
receiving testimony from Dan G. Blair, Deputy Director, Office of 
Personnel Management; Darryl Perkinson, Federal Managers Association, 
Alexandria, Virginia, on behalf of Government Managers Coalition; 
Colleen M. Kelley, National Treasury Employees Union, Jacqueline Simon, 
American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO, and Patricia 
McGinnis, Council for Excellence in Government, all of Washington, D.C.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT REFORM
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and 
International Security concluded a hearing to examine the case for 
reform regarding community development block grants, focusing on issues 
surrounding program formulas, recipient communities, and management of 
grants within the Community Development Block program, including 
aspects of the reform package, the ``CDBG Reform Act of 2006'', after 
receiving testimony from Pamela H. Patenaude, Assistant Secretary for 
Community Planning and Development, and Kenneth M. Donohue, Inspector 
General, both of the Department of Housing and Urban Development; 
Eileen Norcross, Mercatus Center at George Mason University, Fairfax, 
Virginia; and Cardell Cooper, National Community Development 
Association, Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee began consideration of H.R. 1036, 
to amend title 17, United States Code, to make technical corrections 
relating to Copyright Royalty Judges, agreeing to an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute, and S. 155, to increase and enhance law 
enforcement resources committed to investigation and prosecution of 
violent gangs, to deter and punish violent gang crime, to protect law-
abiding citizens and communities from violent criminals, to revise and 
enhance criminal penalties for violent crimes, to reform and facilitate 
prosecution of juvenile gang members who commit violent crimes, to 
expand and improve gang prevention programs, agreeing to an amendment 
in the nature of a substitute, but did not take final action thereon, 
and recessed subject to call.
MULTIDISTRICT LITIGATION RESTORATION ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight 
and the Courts concluded a hearing to examine H.R. 1038, to amend title 
28, United States Code, to allow a judge to whom a case is transferred 
to retain jurisdiction over certain multidistrict litigation cases for 
trial, after receiving testimony from Judge Wm. Terrell Hodges, United 
States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Ocala; and 
Judge Thomas W. Thrash, Jr., United States District Court for the 
Northern District of Georgia, Atlanta.
NOMINATION
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the nomination of Steven C. Preston, of Illinois, to 
be Administrator of the Small Business Administration.