[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 132 (Tuesday, December 5, 2006)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1123-D1124]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATION
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nomination of Robert M. Gates, of Texas, to be Secretary of Defense.
  Prior to this action, committee concluded open and closed hearings on 
the nomination of Mr. Gates, after the nominee, who was introduced by 
former Senators Dole and Boren, testified and answered questions in his 
own behalf.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of Scott Wallace Stucky, of Maryland, and Margaret A. Ryan, 
of Virginia, both to be a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals 
for the Armed Forces, and 1,023 routine military nominations.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing on the nominations of Steven R. Chealander, of Texas, to be a 
Member of the National Transportation Safety Board, and Charles E. 
Dorkey III, of New York, to be a Member of the Advisory Board of the 
Saint Lawrence Seaway Development Corporation, after the nominees 
testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
HIGHER EDUCATION TAX EXEMPTIONS
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine a report 
card on tax exemptions and incentives for higher education, including 
whether any changes should be made in the government's overall strategy 
for providing such assistance or to the individual programs and tax 
provisions that provide the assistance, after receiving testimony from 
Michael Brostek, Director, Tax Issues, Strategic Issues Team, 
Government Accountability Office; Daniel Golden, Wall Street Journal, 
Boston, Massachusetts; Bridget Terry Long, Harvard Graduate School of 
Education, and Susan M. Dynarski, Harvard University John F. Kennedy 
School of Government and National Bureau of Economics, both of 
Cambridge, Massachusetts; James J. Duderstadt, University of Michigan, 
Ann Arbor; and Patricia A. McGuire, Trinity (Washington) University, 
Washington, D.C.

[[Page D1124]]


NOMINATIONS
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the 
nominations of Anthony W. Ryan, of Massachusetts, to be an Assistant 
Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Markets, Phillip L. Swagel, of 
Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic 
Policy, Dean A. Pinkert, of Virginia, who was introduced by 
Representative Rangel, and Irving A. Williamson, of New York, both to 
be a Member of the United States International Trade Commission, and 
Mark Warshawsky, to be a Member of the Social Security Advisory Board, 
Social Security Administration, after the nominees testified and 
answered questions in their own behalf.
IMPROPER PAYMENTS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Financial Management and Accountability concluded a hearing 
to examine the successes and shortcomings of the Improper Payments 
Information Act of 2002, focusing on the progress agencies have made in 
their improper payment reporting, the challenges that remain, and the 
total amount of improper payments recouped through recovery auditing, 
after receiving testimony from David M. Walker, Comptroller General of 
the United States, Government Accountability Office; and Clay Johnson 
III, Deputy Director for Management, Office of Management and Budget.
MARKETPLACE CRIMINAL ACTIVITY
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
enforcement of criminal insider trading and hedge fund activity, after 
receiving testimony from Gary J. Aguirre, former Investigator, Walter 
J. Stachnik, Inspector General, Robert B. Hanson, Branch Chief, Mark 
Kreitman, Assistant Director, Paul R. Berger, former Associate 
Director, and Linda C. Thomsen, Director, each of the Division of 
Enforcement, Eric Ribelin, Branch Chief, Office of Market Surveillance, 
all of U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; Ronald J. Tenpas, 
Associate Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice; and Richard 
Blumenthal, Connecticut Attorney General, Hartford.