[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 101 (Thursday, July 27, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D854-D856]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
TECHNICAL SERVICE PROVIDERS
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Subcommittee on 
Forestry, Conservation, and Rural Revitalization concluded an oversight 
hearing to examine the Department of Agriculture's use of technical 
service providers, to provide assistance to carry out conservation 
programs under Title II of the 2002 Farm Bill, after receiving 
testimony from Sara Braasch, Regional Assistant Chief, Natural 
Resources Conservation Service, Department of Agriculture; David Goad, 
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission, Little Rock; James D. Chapin, Shasta 
Land Management Consultants, Redding, California, on behalf of the 
Association of Consulting Foresters of America; Gene Schmidt, Hanna, 
Indiana, on behalf of the National Association of Conservation 
Districts; and Doug Wolf, Lancaster, Wisconsin, on behalf of the 
National Pork Producers Council.
NOMINATION
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nomination of Lieutenant General James T. Conway, USMC, for 
appointment to the grade of general and to be Commandant of the Marine 
Corps, after the nominee, who was introduced by Senator Talent, 
testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the nominations of Nathaniel F. Wienecke, of New 
York, to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Jay M. Cohen, of New 
York, to be Under Secretary of Homeland Security for Science and 
Technology, who was introduced by Senators Domenici and Reed, Sean T. 
Connaughton, of Virginia, to be Administrator of the Maritime 
Administration, and Charles D. Nottingham, of Virginia, to be a Member 
of the Surface Transportation Board, both of the Department of 
Transportation, both introduced by Senators Warner and Allen and 
Representative Tom Davis, and Robert L. Sumwalt III, of South Carolina, 
to be a Member of the National Transportation Safety Board, who was 
introduced by Senator DeMint, after the nominees testified and answered 
questions in their own behalf.
WATER BILLS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Water and 
Power concluded a hearing to examine S. 3638, to encourage the 
Secretary of the Interior to participate in projects to plan, design, 
and construct water supply projects and to amend the Reclamation 
Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to encourage the 
design, planning, and construction of projects to treat impaired 
surface water, reclaim and reuse impaired groundwater, and provide 
brine disposal in the State of California, S. 3639, to amend the 
Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to 
provide standards and procedures for the review of water reclamation 
and reuse projects, H.R. 177, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and 
Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to participate in the Prado Basin Natural Treatment System 
Project, to authorize the Secretary to carry out a program to assist 
agencies in projects to construct regional brine lines in California, 
to authorize the Secretary to participate in the Lower Chino Dairy Area 
desalination demonstration and reclamation project, H.R. 2341, to amend 
the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to 
authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the design, 
planning, and construction of a project to reclaim and reuse wastewater 
within and outside of the service area of the City of Austin Water and 
Wastewater Utility, Texas, and H.R. 3418, to amend the Reclamation 
Wastewater and Groundwater Study and Facilities Act to authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to participate in the Central Texas Water 
Recycling and Reuse Project, after receiving testimony from 
Representative Dreier; Larry Todd, Deputy Commissioner, Bureau of 
Reclamation, Department of the Interior; P. Joseph Grindstaff, CALFED 
Bay-Delta Program, Sacramento, California; Chris Lippe, City of Austin 
Water Utility, Austin, Texas; Richard Atwater, Inland Empire Utilities 
Agency, Alexandria, Virginia, on behalf of the WateReuse Association; 
and J. Tom Ray, Central Texas Water Recycling Project, Waco.
STAFFORD ACT
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine a path forward for the nation's emergency 
preparedness and response system relating to the Stafford Act, after 
receiving testimony from Robert F. Shea, Acting Director of Operations, 
Federal Emergency Management Agency, and Corey Gruber, Acting Executive 
Director, National Preparedness Task Force, both of

[[Page D855]]

the Department of Homeland Security; Major General Don T. Riley, 
Director of Civil Works, United States Army Corps of Engineers; Deborah 
Y. Dietrich, Director, Office of Emergency Management, Office of Solid 
Waste and Emergency Response, Environmental Protection Agency; Pamela 
Mayer Pogue, Rhode Island Floodplain Manager, Providence, on behalf of 
the Association of State Floodplain Managers, Inc.; Armond Mascelli, 
American Red Cross, Washington, D.C.; and Tamara S. Little, Ohio State 
Emergency Management Agency, Columbus, on behalf of the National 
Emergency Management Association.
NOMINATION
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of John Robert Bolton, of Maryland, to be the 
U.S. Representative to the United Nations, with the rank and status of 
Ambassador, and the U.S. Representative in the Security Council of the 
United Nations, to which position he was appointed during the recess of 
the Senate from July 29, 2005, to September 1, 2005, and to be U.S. 
Representative to the Sessions of the General Assembly of the United 
Nations during his tenure of service as U.S. Representative to the 
United Nations, to which position he was appointed during the recess of 
the Senate from July 29, 2005, to September 1, 2005, after the nominee 
testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Richard W. Graber, of Wisconsin, to be 
Ambassador to the Czech Republic, who was introduced by Representatives 
Paul Ryan and James Sensenbrenner, and Karen B. Stewart, of Florida, to 
be Ambassador to the Republic of Belarus, after the nominees testified 
and answered questions in their own behalf.
NATIONAL UNIFORMITY FOR FOOD ACT
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine S. 3128, to amend the Federal Food, 
Drug, and Cosmetic Act to provide for uniform food safety warning 
notification requirements, after receiving testimony from Senators 
Chambliss, Boxer and Feinstein; William Stadtlander, Homestat Farm, 
Dublin, Ohio; Peter Barton Hutt, Covington and Burling, Washington, 
D.C.; Elsa Murano, Texas A&M University, College Station, former Under 
Secretary of Agriculture for Food Safety; and William K. Hubbard, 
Chapel Hill, North Carolina, former Associate Commissioner for Policy, 
Food and Drug Administration.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
ordered favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 2590, to require full disclosure of all entities and organizations 
receiving Federal funds, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 3721, to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to establish the 
United States Emergency Management Authority, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 1838, to provide for the sale, acquisition, conveyance, and 
exchange of certain real property in the District of Columbia to 
facilitate the utilization, development, and redevelopment of such 
property, with an amendment;
  H.R. 3858, to amend the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and 
Emergency Assistance Act to ensure that State and local emergency 
preparedness operational plans address the needs of individuals with 
household pets and service animals following a major disaster or 
emergency;
  S. 3613, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 2951 New York Highway 43 in Averill Park, New York, 
as the ``Major George Quamo Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 4246, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 8135 Forest Lane in Dallas, Texas, as the ``Dr. 
Robert E. Price Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 4962, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 100 Pitcher Street in Utica, New York, as the 
``Captain George A. Wood Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 5104, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1750 16th Street South in St. Petersburg, Florida, 
as the ``Morris W. Milton Post Office'';
  H.R. 5169, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1310 Highway 64 NW. in Ramsey, Indiana, as the 
``Wilfred Edward `Cousin Willie' Sieg, Sr. Post Office'';
  H.R. 5540, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 217 Southeast 2nd Street in Dimmitt, Texas, as the 
``Sergeant Jacob Dan Dones Post Office'';
  S. 2555, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 2633 11th Street in Rock Island, Illinois, as the 
``Lane Evans Post Office Building'';
  S. 2719 and H.R. 5107, bills to designate the facility of the United 
States Postal Service located at 1400 West Jordan Street in Pensacola, 
Florida, as the ``Earl D. Hutto Post Office Building'';

[[Page D856]]


  H.R. 4646, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 7320 Reseda Boulevard in Reseda, California, as the 
``Coach John Wooden Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 4811, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 215 West Industrial Park Road in Harrison, Arkansas, 
as the ``John Paul Hammerschmidt Post Office Building''; and
  The nominations of Paul A. Denett, of Virginia, to be Administrator 
for Federal Procurement Policy, Anna Blackburne-Rigsby, to be Associate 
Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, Phyllis D. 
Thompson, to be Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of 
Appeals, Jennifer M. Anderson, of the District of Columbia, to be an 
Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and 
Mickey D. Barnett, of New Mexico, Katherine C. Tobin, of New York, and 
Ellen C. Williams, of Kentucky, each to be a Governor of the United 
States Postal Service.
HEALTHY START PROGRAM
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, and 
International Security concluded a hearing to examine the Health 
Resources and Services Administration financial management of its 
budget in carrying out its mission to increase access to and quality of 
health care, after receiving testimony from Peter C. Van Dyck, 
Associate Administrator, Maternal and Child Health Bureau, and Joyce 
Somsak, Associate Administrator, Healthcare Systems Bureau, both of 
Health Resources and Services Administration, Department of Health and 
Human Services.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of Kimberly Ann Moore, of Virginia, to be United States 
Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit, and Steven G. Bradbury, of 
Maryland, to be Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal 
Counsel, and R. Alexander Acosta, to be United States Attorney for the 
Southern District of Florida, both of the Department of Justice.
SMUGGLED NUCLEAR WEAPONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and 
Homeland Security Committee concluded a hearing to examine the United 
States response to the threat of nuclear or radiological terrorism in 
the United States, focusing on efforts to prevent the acquisition of 
nuclear weapons and nuclear materials, after receiving testimony from 
Vayl S. Oxford, Director, Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, Department 
of Homeland Security; Steven Aoki, Deputy Under Secretary of Energy for 
Counterterrorism; George P. Nanos, Associate Director, Research and 
Development Enterprise, Defense Threat Reduction Agency; Michael A. 
Levi, Council on Foreign Relations, New York, New York; and Fred Ikle, 
Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee ordered 
favorably reported an original bill to reauthorize the Small Business 
Administration.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Veterans Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Patrick W. Dunne, of New York, to be Assistant 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Policy and Planning, and Thomas E. 
Harvey, of New York, to be Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for 
Congressional Affairs, who was introduced by Senator Hutchison, after 
the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
NOMINATION
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee concluded a closed hearing 
to examine the nomination of Randall M. Fort, of Virginia, to be an 
Assistant Secretary of State (Intelligence and Research), after the 
nominee testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
AT-HOME DNA TEST
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
direct-to-consumer genetic DNA tests, focusing on whether these should 
be considered a marketing scam or a medical breakthrough, focusing on 
laboratory enrollment and performance standards, after receiving 
testimony from Thomas Hamilton, Director, Survey and Certification 
Group, Center for Medicaid and State Operations, Centers for Medicare 
and Medicaid Services, and Steven Gutman, Director, Office of in Vitro 
Diagnostic Device Evaluation and Safety, Center for Devices and 
Radiological Health, Food and Drug Administration, both of the 
Department of Health and Human Services; Gregory D. Kutz, Managing 
Director, Forensic Audits and Special Investigations, Government 
Accountability Office; Kathy Hudson, Johns Hopkins University Genetics 
and Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C.; Rosalynn Gill-Garrison, 
Sciona, Boulder, Colorado; Carol R. Reed, Clinical Data, Inc., Newton, 
Massachusetts; Kristopher King, Suracell, Inc., Montclair, New Jersey; 
Narasimhan Ramarathnam, Genox Corporation, Baltimore, Maryland; and 
Howard Coleman, Genelex Corporation, Seattle, Washington.