[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 100 (Wednesday, July 26, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D846-D849]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
MILITARY COMMISSIONS AND TRIBUNALS STANDARDS
Committee on Armed Services: Held a hearing on standards of military 
commissions and tribunals. Testimony was heard from Jennifer Elsea, 
Legislative Attorney, American Law Division, CRS, Congressional 
Research Service, Library of Congress; and public witnesses
NUCLEAR MATERIAL DISPOSITION
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces held a 
hearing on plutonium disposition and the U.S. Mixed Oxide Fuel 
Facility. Testimony

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was heard from the following officials of the Department of Energy: 
Ambassador Linton F. Brooks, Administrator, National Nuclear Security 
Administration; and Charles Anderson, Principle Deputy Assistant 
Secretary, Office of Environmental Management; Ambassador Michael 
Guhin, Fissile Materials Negotiator, Department of State; and a public 
witness.
ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE--EXAMINING VIEWS
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Subcommittee on Education 
Reform held a hearing on Examining Views on English as the Official 
Language. Testimony was heard from Senator Paul McKinley, General 
Assembly, State of Iowa; and public witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Energy and Commerce: Ordered reported the following bills: 
H.R. 4583, amended, Wool Suit Fabric Labeling Fairness and 
International Standards Conforming Act; H.R. 1078, amended, Social 
Security Number Protection Act of 2005; and H.R. 5863, To authorize 
temporary emergency extensions to certain exemptions to the 
requirements with respect to polychlorinated biphenyls under the Toxic 
Substances Control Act.
SILICOSIS STORY
Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations held a hearing on the Silicosis Story: Mass Tort 
Screening and the Public Health. Testimony was heard from public 
witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Financial Services: Ordered reported the following bills: 
H.R. 5503, FHA Multifamily Loan Limit Adjustment Act of 2006; H.R. 
5851, Hawaiian Ownership Opportunity Act; and H.R. 5637, amended, 
Nonadmitted and Reinsurance Reform Act of 2006.
PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE
Committee on Government Reform: Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug 
Policy and Human Resources held a hearing entitled ``Prescription Drug 
Abuse: What is Being Done to Address this New Drug Epidemic.'' 
Testimony was heard from Bertha Madras, Deputy Director, Demand 
Reduction, Office of National Drug Policy; the following officials of 
the Department of Health and Human Services: Nora D. Volkow, M.D., 
Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH; and Sandra Kweder, 
M.D., Deputy Director, Office of New Drugs, Center for Drug Evaluation 
and Review, FDA; Joe Rannazzisi, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office 
of Diversion Control, DEA, Department of the Judiciary; and public 
witnesses.
FOIA IMPLEMENTATION
Committee on Government Reform: Subcommittee on Government Management, 
Finance, and Accountability held a hearing entitled ``Implementing 
FOIA--Does the Administration's Executive Order Improve Processing?'' 
Testimony was heard from Senators Cornyn and Leahy; Representative 
Sherman; Dan Metcalfe, Director, Office of Information and Privacy, 
Department of Justice; Linda Koontz, Director, Information Management 
Issues, GAO; and public witnesses.
PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTERS PREPAREDNESS
Committee on Homeland Security: Subcommittee on Emergency Preparedness, 
Science and Technology held a hearing entitled ``Emergency Care Crisis: 
A Nation Unprepared for Public Health Disasters.'' Testimony was heard 
from public witnesses.
REGIONAL IMMIGRATION CRISIS
Committee on International Relations: Subcommittee on Western 
Hemisphere held a hearing on Immigration: Responding to a Regional 
Crisis. Testimony was heard from Crescenio Arcos, Assistant Secretary, 
Office of International Affairs, Office of Policy, Department of 
Homeland Security; the following officials of the Department of State: 
Elizabeth A. Whitaker, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Western 
Hemisphere Affairs; and Mark Silverman, Principal Deputy Assistant 
Administrator, Bureau for Latin America and the Caribbean, U.S. Agency 
for International Development; and public witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES; COMMITTEE BUSINESS; ISSUANCE OF A SUBPOENA
Committee on the Judiciary: to continue mark up of H.R. 1704, Second 
Chance Act of 2005; and to mark up the following bills: H.R. 2679, 
Public Expression of Religion Act of 2005; H.R. 5092, Bureau of 
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (BATFE) Modernization and 
Reform Act of 2006; H.R. 5005, Firearms Corrections and Improvements 
Act; H.R. 1384, Firearm Commerce Modernization Act; and H.R. 1415, NICS 
Improvement Act of 2005.
  The Committee also approved the following motions: Establishing a 
Special Investigative Task Force of the Committee for the consideration 
of H. Res. 916, Impeaching Manuel L. Real, judge of the United States 
District Court for the Central District of California, for high crimes 
and misdemeanors; and to authorize the issuance of a subpoena to Elaine 
L. Chao, Secretary of Labor.

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MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Ordered reported the following bills: H.R. 479, 
amended, To replace a Coastal Barrier Resources System map relating to 
Coastal Barrier Resources System Grayton Beach Unit FL-095 in Walton 
County, Florida; H.R. 4893, amended, To amend section 20 of the Indian 
Gaming Regulatory Act to restrict off-reservation gaming; H.R. 5861, 
amended, To amend the National Historic Presevation Act; and S. 1773, 
Pueblo de San Llidefonso Claims Settlement Act of 2005.
HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY PROMOTION ACT OF 2005
Committee on Rules: Granted, by a vote of 9 to 4, a structured rule 
providing one hour of general debate on H.R. 4157, to amend the Social 
Security Act to encourage the dissemination, security, confidentiality, 
and usefulness of health information technology, with 35 minutes 
equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority 
member of the Committee on Energy and Commerce, and 25 minutes 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 in lieu of 
the amendments recommended by the Committees on Energy and Commerce and 
Ways and Means now printed in the bill, the amendment in the nature of 
a substitute printed in part A of the Rules Committee report 
accompanying the resolution, modified by the amendment printed in Part 
B of the report, shall be considered as adopted in the House and in the 
Committee of the Whole. The rule provides that the bill, as amended, 
shall be considered as the original bill for the purpose of further 
amendment and shall be considered as read. The rule waives all points 
of order against provisions in the bill as amended. The rule makes in 
order only those further amendments printed in part C of the Rules 
Committee report. The rule provides that the amendments printed in part 
C of the report may be offered only in the order printed in the report, 
may be offered only be a Member designated in the report, shall be 
considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in the 
report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, 
shall not be subject to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand 
for division of the question in the House or in the Committee of the 
Whole. The rule waives all points of order against the amendments in 
the Rules Committee report. The rule provides one motion to recommit 
with or without instructions. The rule provides that after passage of 
H.R. 4157, it shall be in order to consider in the House S. 1418. The 
rule waives all points of order against the Senate bill and against its 
consideration. The rule provides that it shall be in order to move to 
strike all after the enacting clause of the Senate bill and to insert 
in lieu thereof the provisions of H.R. 4157 as passed by the House. The 
rule waives all points of order against that motion. The rule provides 
that if the motion is adopted and the Senate bill, as amended, is 
passed, then it shall be in order to move that the House insist on its 
amendments to S. 1418 and request a conference with the Senate thereon. 
Finally, the rule provides that H. Res. 924 is laid on the table. 
Testimony was heard from Chairman Barton, Representatives Wilson of 
South Carolina, Gingrey, McMorris, Price of Georgia, Pallone, Markey, 
Towns, Wynn, Jackson of Illinois, Kennedy of Rhode Island, and 
Christensen.
SAME DAY CONSIDERATION OF CERTAIN RESOLUTIONS REPORTED BY THE RULES 
COMMITTEE
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, a rule waiving clause 6(a) 
of rule XIII (requiring a two-thirds vote to consider a rule on the 
same day it is reported from the Rules Committee) against certain 
resolutions reported from the Rules Committee. The rule applies the 
waiver to any special rule reported on the legislative day of July 27, 
2006, providing for consideration or disposition of any of the 
following measures: (1) a conference report to accompany the bill (H.R. 
2830) to amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 and 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to reform the pension funding rules, 
and for other purposes; (2) a bill 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, to repeal the sunset provision for 
the estate and generation-skipping taxes, and to extend expiring 
provisions, and for other purposes.
GOVERNMENT EFFICIENCY ACT OF 2006
Committee on Rules: Testimony was heard from Chairman Davis (VA), 
Representatives Boehlert, Tiahrt, and Weiner, but action was deferred 
on H.R. 5766, Government Efficiency Act of 2006.
OVERSIGHT--NATIONAL DAM SAFETY PROGRAM ACT
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on 
Economic Development, Public Buildings and Emergency Management held an 
oversight hearing on proposed amendments to and reauthorization of the 
National Dam Safety Program Act. Testimony was heard from David I. 
Maurstad, Director, Mitigation Division and Federal Insurance 
Administrator, FEMA, Department of Homeland Security;

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Steven L. Stockton, Deputy Director, Civil Works, U.S. Army Corps of 
Engineers; Ruth A. Moore, Deputy Commissioner, Natural Resources and 
Water Quality, Department of Environmental Conservation, State of New 
York; and public witnesses.
IMPACTS OF BORDER SECURITY AND IMMIGRATION ON WAYS AND MEANS PROGRAMS
Committee on Ways and Means: Held a hearing on Impacts of Border 
Security and Immigration on Ways and Means Programs. Testimony was 
heard from the following officials of the Department of Health and 
Human Services: Wade F. Horn, Assistant Secretary, Children and 
Families; and Thomas A. Gustafson, Deputy Director, Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services; Julie L. Myers, Assistant Secretary, 
U.S. Immigration and Customs Reform, Department of Homeland Security; 
Mark W. Emerson, Commissioner, IRS, Department of the Treasury; Jo Anne 
B. Barnhart, Commissioner, SSA; and public witnesses.
INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY ACQUISITION REFORM
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Met in executive session to 
hold a hearing on Intelligence Community Acquisition Reform. Testimony 
was heard from departmental witnesess.