[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 119 (Thursday, September 21, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1007-D1009]
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 progress of the Capitol Visitor Center 
construction, receiving testimony from Alan M. Hantman, Architect of 
the Capitol; Robert C. Hixon, Jr., Capitol Visitor Center Project 
Executive; and Bernard L. Ungar, and Terrell Dorn, both Directors, 
Physical Infrastructure Issues, Government Accountability Office.
  Hearings recessed subject to the call.
EXPORT-IMPORT BANK REAUTHORIZATION
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered 
favorably reported an original bill to reauthorize the Export-Import 
Bank of the United States.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the nominations of Chris Boskin, of California, 
and David H. Pryor, of Arkansas, each to be a Member of the Board of 
Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Calvin L. Scovel, 
of Virginia, to be Inspector General, Department of Transportation, 
Charles Darwin Snelling, of Pennsylvania, to be a Member of the Board 
of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, who was 
introduced by Senator Specter, Collister Johnson, Jr., of Virginia, to 
be Administrator of the Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, 
Sharon Lynn Hays, of Virginia, to be an Associate Director of the 
Office of Science and Technology Policy, who was introduced by 
Representative Ehlers, and Cynthia A. Glassman, of Virginia, to be 
Under Secretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, after the nominees 
testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
NOMINATION
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nomination of Mary Amelia Bomar, of 
Pennsylvania, to be Director of the National Park Service, Department 
of the Interior, after the nominee, who was introduced by Senators 
Specter and Santorum, testified and answered questions in her own 
behalf.
AUTHORIZING LEGISLATION
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Water and 
Power concluded a hearing to examine S. 1106, to authorize the 
construction of the Arkansas Valley Conduit in the State of Colorado, 
S. 1811, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to study the 
feasibility of enlarging the Arthur V. Watkins Dam Weber Basin Project, 
Utah, to provide additional water for the Weber Basin Project to 
fulfill the purposes for which that project was authorized, S. 2070, to 
provide certain requirements for hydroelectric projects on the Mohawk 
River in the State of New York, S. 3522, to amend the Bonneville Power 
Administration portions of the Fisheries Restoration and Irrigation 
Mitigation Act of 2000 to authorize appropriations for fiscal years

[[Page D1008]]

2006 through 2012, S. 3832, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to 
establish criteria to transfer title to reclamation facilities, S. 
3851, to provide for the extension of preliminary permit periods by the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for certain hydroelectric projects 
in the State of Alaska, S. 3798, to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to exclude and defer from the pooled reimbursable costs of the 
Central Valley Project the reimbursable capital costs of the unused 
capacity of the Folsom South Canal, Auburn-Folsom South Unit, Central 
Valley Project, H.R. 2563, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior 
to conduct feasibility studies to address certain water shortages 
within the Snake, Boise, and Payette River systems in Idaho, and H.R. 
3897, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the 
Bureau of Reclamation to enter into a cooperative agreement with the 
Madera Irrigation District for purposes of supporting the Madera Water 
Supply Enhancement Project, after receiving testimony from Senators 
Allard and Schumer; Representative Radanovich; William Rinne, Acting 
Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior; J. 
Mark Robinson, Director, Office of Energy Projects, Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission; Bill Long, Southeastern Colorado Water 
Conservancy District, Pueblo; Marc Thalacker, Three Sisters Irrigation 
District, Salem, Oregon, on behalf of the Oregon Water Resources 
Congress; and Thomas F. Donnelly, National Water Resources Association, 
Arlington, Virginia.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following items:
  H.R. 1463, to designate a portion of the Federal building located at 
2100 Jamieson Avenue, in Alexandria, Virginia, as the ``Justin W. 
Williams United States Attorney's Building''; and
  The nominations of Roger Romulus Martella, Jr., of Virginia, to be an 
Assistant Administrator, and Alex A. Beehler, of Maryland, to be 
Inspector General, both of the Environmental Protection Agency, William 
H. Graves, of Tennessee, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of 
the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Brigadier General Bruce Arlan 
Berwick, United States Army, Colonel Gregg F. Martin, United States 
Army, Brigadier General Robert Crear, United States Army, and Rear 
Admiral Samuel P. De Bow, Jr., NOAA, each to be a Member of the 
Mississippi River Commission.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded hearings to examine the 
nominations of Robert K. Steel, of Connecticut, to be an Under 
Secretary of the Department of the Treasury, and John K. Veroneau, of 
Virginia, to be a Deputy United States Trade Representative, with the 
Rank of Ambassador, after the nominees testified and answered questions 
in their own behalf.
AFGHANISTAN
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the purpose and impact of the transition from coalition to 
NATO's International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF) command in 
Afghanistan, including responding to Taliban tactics, coordinating with 
independently-led U.S. troops and Afghan Army, what role will U.S. 
forces and the Coalition play when ISAF takes over the final sector, 
and how NATO is addressing the challenges of accelerating 
reconstruction and contending with the growing drug trade, after 
receiving testimony from General James L. Jones, USMC, Supreme Allied 
Commander, Europe; and Barnett R. Rubin, New York University Center on 
International Cooperation, New York, New York.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 394, to promote accessibility, accountability, and openness in 
Government by strengthening section 552 of title 5, United States Code 
(commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act); and
  The nominations of Norman Randy Smith, of Idaho, to be a United 
States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit, Valerie L. Baker, of 
California, and Philip S. Gutierrez, of California, each to be a United 
States District Judge for the Central District of California, Francisco 
Augusto Besosa, to be United States District Judge for the District of 
Puerto Rico, Lawrence Joseph O'Neill, to be United States District 
Judge for the Eastern District of California, and Rodger A. Heaton, to 
be United States Attorney for the Central District of Illinois, 
Department of Justice.
  Also, committee began consideration of the nomination of William 
Gerry Myers III, of Idaho, to be a United States Circuit Judge for the 
Ninth Circuit, but did not take final action thereon, and will meet 
again on Tuesday, September 26, 2006.
PRISONER REHABILITATION
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded an oversight hearing to 
examine Federal assistance for prisoner rehabilitation and reentry into 
our states, focusing on the Serious and Violent Offender Reentry 
Initiative (SVORI), after receiving testimony from Regina B. Schofield, 
Assistant Attorney General, Office of Justice Programs, Department of 
Justice; Mason M. Bishop, Deputy Assistant Secretary of

[[Page D1009]]

Labor for the Employment and Training Administration; Robert J. Bogart, 
Director, Center for Faith-Based and Community Initiatives, Department 
of Housing and Urban Development; Cherie Nolan, Senior Policy Advisor 
to the Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration, Department of Health and Human Services; Roger 
Werholtz, Kansas Department of Corrections, Topeka; and B. Diane 
Williams, Safer Foundation, Chicago, Illinois.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on 
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the 
intelligence community.
  Committee recessed subject to the call.
GENERIC PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
savings for seniors and Medicare relating to increasing generic drug 
use and the cost of prescription drugs for people with Medicare, the 
Medicare program, and taxpayers, after receiving testimony from Mark B. 
McClellan, Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 
Department of Health and Human Services; William Vaughan, Consumers 
Union, Washington, D.C.; Timothy Antonelli, Blue Cross Blue Shield of 
Michigan, Southfield; and William H. Shrank, Harvard Medical School, 
Boston, Massachusetts.