[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 48 (Tuesday, March 20, 2007)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D361-D363]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment 
and Related Agencies concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget 
estimates for fiscal year 2008 for the Department of the Interior, 
after receiving testimony from Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary, and Tom 
Weimer, Assistant Secretary, both of the Department of the Interior.
BUDGET: DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION REQUEST
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the Air Force in review of the proposed Defense Authorization Request 
for Fiscal Year 2008 and the Future Years Defense Program, after 
receiving testimony from Michael W. Wynne, Secretary, and General T. 
Michael Moseley, USAF, Chief of Staff, both of the United States Air 
Force.
PROMOTING TRAVEL
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Interstate Commerce, Trade, and Tourism continued hearings to examine 
economic and safety concerns relating to promoting travel to America 
(Part II), after receiving testimony from Jamie Estrada, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Manufacturing; Robert M. Jacksta, 
Executive Director, Traveler Security and Facilitation, Office of Field 
Operations, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Alfonso Martinez-
Fonts, Jr., Assistant Secretary, Private Sector Office, Policy 
Directorate, both of the Department of Homeland Security; Tony Edson, 
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Visa Services; Chad Prosser, 
South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, Columbia; 
Rex Johnson, Hawai`i Tourism Authority, Honolulu, on behalf of the 
Western States Tourism Policy Council; Ron Peck, Alaska Travel Industry 
Association, Anchorage; and David Borlaug, Lewis and Clark Fort Mandan 
Foundation, Washburn, North Dakota.
ENERGY INNOVATION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Science, Technology, and Innovation concluded a hearing to examine 
energy innovation, after receiving testimony from William Prindle, 
American Council for Energy-Efficient Economy, and Michael T. Eckhart, 
American Council On Renewable Energy, both of Washington, D.C.; Francis 
R. Preli, Jr., UTC Power, South Windsor, Connecticut; K.R. Sridhar, 
Bloom Energy, Sunnyvale, California; and James R. Katzer, Massachusetts 
Institute of Technology Laboratory for Energy and the Environment, 
Cambridge.
NOMINATION
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nomination of Stephen Jeffrey Isakowitz, of 
Virginia, to be Chief Financial Officer of the Department of Energy, 
after the nominee testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
NATIONAL HERITAGE AREA BILLS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on National 
Parks concluded a hearing to examine S. 126, to modify the boundary of 
Mesa Verde National Park, S. 257, to direct the Secretary of the 
Interior to conduct a study to determine the feasibility of 
establishing the Columbia-Pacific National Heritage Area in the States 
of Washington and Oregon, S. 289, to establish the Journey Through 
Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area, S. 443, to establish the Sangre 
de Cristo National Heritage Area in the State of Colorado, S. 444, to 
establish the South Park National Heritage Area in the State of 
Colorado, S. 500 and H.R. 512, bills to establish the Commission to 
Study the Potential Creation of the National Museum of the American

[[Page D362]]

Latino to develop a plan of action for the establishment and 
maintenance of a National Museum of the American Latino in Washington, 
DC, S. 637, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the 
suitability and feasibility of establishing the Chattahoochee Trace 
National Heritage Corridor in Alabama and Georgia, and S. 817, to amend 
the Omnibus Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996 to provide 
additional authorizations for certain National Heritage Areas, after 
receiving testimony from Daniel N. Wenk, Deputy Director, National Park 
Service, Department of the Interior; Dan Sakura, Conservation Fund, 
Arlington, Virginia; Jerry Ostermiller, Columbia River Maritime Museum, 
Astoria, Oregon; August R. Carlino, Steel Industry Heritage 
Corporation, Homestead, Pennsylvania; Dennis J. Lopez, Sangre de Cristo 
National Heritage Area, Alamosa, Colorado; Gary E. Nichols, Park County 
Tourism and Community Development Office, Fairplay, Colorado, on behalf 
of the South Park Heritage Area Partnership; and Moctesuma Esparza, Los 
Angeles, California.
COMPETITIVE EDUCATION
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
identifying needs, partnerships, and resources relating to a 
competitive education, after receiving testimony from former West 
Virginia Governor Bob Wise, Alliance for Excellent Education, 
Washington, D.C.; Steven L. Paine, West Virginia Department of 
Education, Charleston; Jane Karas, Flathead Valley Community College, 
Kalispell, Montana, on behalf of the American Association of Community 
Colleges; William D. Green, Accenture, Boston, Massachusetts; Gregory 
B. Taylor, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, Michigan; and Patty 
Myers, Great Falls, Montana.
DARFUR CRISIS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on African Affairs 
concluded a hearing to examine Chad and the Central African Republic, 
focusing on the regional impact of the Darfur crisis, after receiving 
testimony from James Swan, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for 
African Affairs; and Kenneth H. Bacon, Refugees International, and John 
Prendergast, International Crisis Group, both of Washington, D.C.
MEDICARE DOCTORS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Permanent 
Subcommittee on Investigations resumed hearings to examine Medicare 
doctors who cheat on their taxes and efforts to address the problem, 
focusing on determining the magnitude of such debts, identifying 
examples of Medicare physicians and suppliers that have engaged in 
abusive, or potentially criminal activities, and assessing Health and 
Human Services efforts to prevent delinquent taxpayers from enrolling 
in Medicare and levying payments to pay delinquent federal taxes, after 
receiving testimony from Gregory D. Kutz, Managing Director, and John 
J. Ryan, Assistant Director, both of Forensic Audits and Special 
Investigations, and Steven J. Sebastian, Director, Financial Management 
and Assurance, all of the Government Accountability Office; Mark 
Everson, Commissioner, Internal Revenue Service, and Kenneth R. Papaj, 
Commissioner, Financial Management Service, both of the Department of 
the Treasury; and Leslie V. Norwalk, Acting Administrator, and Timothy 
B. Hill, Chief Financial Officer and Director, Office of Financial 
Management, both of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 
Department of Health and Human Services.
ALZHEIMER'S RESEARCH
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Subcommittee on 
Retirement and Aging concluded a hearing to examine the state of 
Alzheimer's disease research 100 years later, after receiving testimony 
from Senator Collins; Harry Johns, Chicago, Illinois, and Sam Gandy, 
Thomas Jefferson University Farber Institute for Neurosciences, 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, both of the Alzheimer's Association; 
Marilyn Albert, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Department 
of Neurology, Baltimore, Maryland; Robert Egge, Center for Health 
Transformation, Washington, D.C.; and Marilyn Blum, Owings Mills, 
Maryland.
WAR PROFITEERING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
combating war profiteering, focusing on investigating and prosecuting 
contracting fraud and abuse in Iraq, including S. 119, to prohibit 
profiteering and fraud relating to military action, relief, and 
reconstruction efforts, after receiving testimony from Stuart W. Bowen, 
Jr., Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction; Thomas F. 
Gimble, Acting Inspector General, Department of Defense; and Barry M. 
Sabin, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department 
of Justice.
XM-SIRIUS MERGER
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition 
Policy and Consumer Rights concluded a hearing to examine issues of 
monopoly and competition from new technologies relating to the XM-
Sirius merger, after receiving testimony Mel Karmazin, SIRIUS Satellite 
Radio, New York, New York; Mary Quass, NRG Media, LLC, Cedar Rapids, 
Iowa, on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters; and Gigi 
B. Sohn, Public Knowledge,

[[Page D363]]

and David A. Balto, Law Office of David Balto, both of Washington, D.C.
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.