[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 27, 2007)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D916-D918]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the nominations of Jill E. Sommers, of Kansas, who 
was introduced by Senator Roberts, and Bartholomew H. Chilton, of 
Delaware, each to be a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading 
Commission, after the nominees testified and answered questions in 
their own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following:
  S. 704, to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit 
manipulation of caller identification information, with an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute;
  S. 950, to develop and maintain an integrated system of coastal and 
ocean observations for the Nation's coasts, oceans, and Great Lakes, to 
improve warnings of tsunami, hurricanes, El Nino events, and other 
natural hazards, to enhance homeland security, to support maritime 
operations, to improve management of coastal and marine resources; with 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1650, to establish a digital and wireless network technology 
program, with amendments;
  S. 1661, to communicate United States travel policies and improve 
marketing and other activities designed to increase travel in the 
United States from abroad, with amendments; and
  Certain promotion lists in the United States Coast Guard.
NORTHWESTERN NEW MEXICO RURAL WATER PROJECTS ACT
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine S. 1171, to amend the Colorado River Storage Project 
Act and Public Law 87-483 to authorize the construction and 
rehabilitation of water infrastructure in Northwestern New Mexico, to 
authorize the use of the reclamation fund to fund the Reclamation Water 
Settlements Fund, to authorize the conveyance of certain Reclamation 
land and infrastructure, to authorize the Commissioner of Reclamation 
to provide for the delivery of water, after receiving testimony from 
Robert Johnson, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation, and Carl Artman, 
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, both of the Department of the 
Interior; New Mexico State Representative Patricia A. Lundstrom, 
Gallup, on behalf of Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments; John 
R. D'Antonio, Jr., New Mexico State Engineer, Santa Fe; Herbert R. 
Guenther, Arizona Department of Water Resources, Phoenix; Mark Sanchez, 
Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, Albuquerque, New 
Mexico; and Joe Shirley, Jr., Navajo Nation, Window Rock, Arizona.
WATER QUALITY
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on 
Transportation Safety, Infrastructure Security, and Water Quality to 
examine protecting water quality at America's beaches, focusing on the 
implementation of the BEACH Act (Public Law 106-284), including the 
extent to which EPA has implemented the Act's provisions, EPA's BEACH 
Act grant allocation formula, and the experiences of the Great Lakes 
states in developing and implementing beach monitoring and notification 
programs using their grant funds, after receiving testimony from 
Representatives Pallone and Bilbray; Benjamin H. Grumbles, Assistant 
Administrator for Water, Environmental Protection Agency; Anu K. 
Mittal, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Government 
Accountability Office; Cindy Zipf, Clean Ocean Action, Sandy Hook, New 
Jersey; Carlton Dufrechou, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, 
Metairie, Louisiana; and Mara Dias, Surfrider Foundation, East Hampton, 
New York.
STEALTH TAX
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the 
Alternative Minimum TAX (AMT), focusing on middle-class taxpayers and 
possible reforms of the AMT, after receiving testimony from Frank 
Degen, National Association of Enrolled Agents, Setauket, New York; 
Leonard E. Burman, Urban Institute Tax Policy Center, and Kevin A. 
Hassett, American Enterprise Institute, both of Washington, D.C.; and 
Michael J. Graetz, Yale Law School, New Haven, Connecticut.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following:
  S. 392, to ensure payment of United States assessments for United 
Nations peacekeeping operations for the 2005 through 2008 time period;

[[Page D917]]


  S. 966, to enable the Department of State to respond to a critical 
shortage of passport processing personnel, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 1138, to enhance nuclear safeguards and to provide assurances of 
nuclear fuel supply to countries that forgo certain fuel cycle 
activities;
  S. 1500, to support democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe;
  S. 1565, to provide for the transfer of naval vessels to certain 
foreign recipients;
  S. 1687, to provide for global pathogen surveillance and response;
  S. 1698, to provide that no funds appropriated or otherwise made 
available by any Act for contributions for international organizations 
may be made available to support the United Nations Human Rights 
Council, with an amendment;
  S. Res. 203, calling on the Government of the People's Republic of 
China to use its unique influence and economic leverage to stop 
genocide and violence in Darfur, Sudan, with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute;
  S. Res. 253, expressing the sense of the Senate that the 
establishment of a Museum of the History of American Diplomacy through 
private donations is a worthy endeavor;
  H. Con. Res. 7, calling on the League of Arab States to acknowledge 
the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan and to step up their efforts 
to stop the genocide in Darfur, with an amendment; and
  The nominations of Reuben Jeffery III, of the District of Columbia, 
to be United States Alternate Governor of the International Bank for 
Reconstruction and Development, James R. Kunder, of Virginia, to be 
Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, June Carter Perry, of the District of Columbia, to be 
Ambassador to the Republic of Sierra Leone, Wanda L. Nesbitt, of 
Pennsylvania, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, 
Frederick B. Cook, of Florida, to be Ambassador to the Central African 
Republic, Robert B. Nolan, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom 
of Lesotho, Maurice S. Parker, of California, to be Ambassador to the 
Kingdom of Swaziland, William John Garvelink, of Michigan, to be 
Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, William R. 
Brownfield, of Texas, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Colombia, 
Peter Michael McKinley, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic 
of Peru, Patrick Dennis Duddy, of Maine, to be Ambassador to the 
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Anne Woods Patterson, of Virginia, to 
be Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Nancy J. Powell, of 
Iowa, to be Ambassador to Nepal, Joseph Adam Ereli, of the District of 
Columbia, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Richard Boyce 
Norland, of Iowa, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Uzbekistan, 
Stephen A. Seche, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of 
Yemen, John L. Withers II, of Maryland, to be Ambassador to the 
Republic of Albania, Charles Lewis English, of New York, to be 
Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameron Munter, of California, to 
be Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia, Roderick W. Moore, of Rhode 
Island, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Montenegro, J. Christian 
Kennedy, of Indiana, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of 
service as Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, Hector E. Morales, of 
Texas, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American 
Foundation for a term expiring September 20, 2010, and promotion lists 
in the Foreign Service dated May 7, 2007, and May 22, 2007.
VIOLENT ISLAMIST EXTREMISM
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded hearings to examine violent Islamist extremism, focusing on 
the European experience, after receiving testimony from Jean-Louis 
Bruguiere, Investigating Magistrate, Paris, France; Lidewijde Ongering, 
Deputy National Coordinator for Counterterrorism, The Hague, 
Netherlands; Marc Sageman, Sageman Consulting, LLC, Rockville, 
Maryland; and Lynn M. Martin, former Secretary of Labor, and Farooq 
Kathwari, Ethan Allen Interiors Inc., both of Chicago, Illinois, both 
on behalf of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following:
  S. 1695, to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a 
pathway for the licensure of biosimilar biological products, to promote 
innovation in the life sciences, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 1693, to enhance the adoption of a nationwide interoperable health 
information technology system and to improve the quality and reduce the 
costs of health care in the United States, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 793, to provide for the expansion and improvement of traumatic 
brain injury programs;
  S. 1011, to change the name of the National Institute on Drug Abuse 
to the National Institute on Diseases of Addiction and to change the 
name of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to the 
National Institute on Alcohol Disorders and Health, with an amendment; 
and
  The nominations of Stan Z. Soloway, of the District of Columbia, and 
Richard Allan Hill , of Montana, and James Palmer, of California, each 
to be a

[[Page D918]]

Member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and 
Community Service.
OVERSIGHT OF THE FEDERAL DEATH PENALTY
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution concluded 
an oversight hearing to examine the Department of Justice's 
implementation of federal death penalty statutes, after receiving 
testimony from Barry M. Sabin, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, 
Criminal Division, Department of Justice; Roberto J. Sanchez Ramos, 
Secretary of Justice of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, San Juan; Paul 
K. Charlton, former United States Attorney, Phoenix, Arizona; William 
Otis, former Chief of the Appellate Division, United States Attorney's 
Office, Falls Church, Virginia; David I. Bruck, Washington and Lee 
School of Law, Lexington, Virginia; and David B. Muhlhausen, Heritage 
Foundation Center for Data Analysis, and Hilary O. Shelton, National 
Association for the Advancement of Colored People, both of Washington, 
D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following:
  S. 423, to increase, effective as of December 1, 2007, the rates of 
compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the 
rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of 
certain disabled veterans;
  S. 1163, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve 
compensation and specially adapted housing for veterans in certain 
cases of impairment of vision involving both eyes, and to provide for 
the use of the National Directory of New Hires for income verification 
purposes;
  S. 479, to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans;
  S. 1315, to amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance life 
insurance benefits for disabled veterans, with amendments;
  S. 1233, to provide and enhance intervention, rehabilitative 
treatment, and services to veterans with traumatic brain injury, with 
amendments; and
  The nomination of Charles L. Hopkins, of Massachusetts, to be an 
Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Operations, Preparedness, 
Security and Law Enforcement).
DOCTORS AND THE DRUG INDUSTRY
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the relationship between medical doctors and the drug industry, after 
receiving testimony from Maine State Representative Sharon Anglin 
Treat, Hallowell, on behalf of the National Legislative Association on 
Prescription Drug Prices; Jerome P. Kassirer, Tufts University School 
of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts; J. Gregory Rosenthal, Retinal 
Service of Vision Associates, Toledo, Ohio; and Peter Lurie, Public 
Citizen's Health Research Group, Robert M. Sade, American Medical 
Association, and Marjorie E. Powell, Pharmaceutical Research and 
Manufacturers of America, all of Washington, D.C.