[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 120 (Wednesday, July 25, 2007)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1054-D1056]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Ordered reported, as amended, the Defense 
Appropriations for Fiscal Year 2008.
NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE ESTIMATE AND AL-QAEDA
  Committee on Armed Services, and the Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence held a joint hearing on Implications of the National 
Intelligence Estimate regarding Al-Qaeda. Testimony was heard from the 
following officials of the Department of Defense: James Clapper, Under 
Secretary, Intelligence; Mary Beth Long, Assistant Secretary, 
International Security Affairs (Acting); and Pete Verga, Assistant 
Secretary, Homeland Defense (Acting); and the following officials of the 
Office of the Director of National Intelligence: Michael Leiter, Deputy 
Director, National Counterterrorism Center and Director, Interagency Task 
Force on Homeland Threats; and Edward Gistaro, National Intelligence 
Officer, Transnational Threats.
ALTERNATIVES FOR IRAQ's FUTURE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations 
continued hearings on A Third Way: Alternatives for Iraq's Future, Part 3. 
Testimony was heard from COL Paul Hughes, USA (ret.), Senior Program 
Officer, Center for Post-Conflict Peace and Stability Operations, U.S. 
Institute of Peace; MG Paul D. Eaton, USA (ret.), former Commander, 
Coalition Military Assistance Training Team, Iraq; and public witnesses.
RENEWING STATUTORY PAYGO
Committee on the Budget: Held a hearing on Perspectives on Renewing 
Statutory PAYGO. Testimony was heard from Peter Orszag, Director, CBO; David 
M. Walker, Comptroller General, GAO; and public witnesses.
FEDERAL FINANCIAL CONSUMER PROTECTION
Committee on Financial Services: Held a hearing on Improving Federal 
Consumer Protection in Financial Services-Consumer and Industry 
Perspectives. Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
FAIR HOUSING LENDING
Committee on Financial Services: Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations held a hearing on Rooting Out Discrimination in Mortgage 
Lending: Using HMDA as a Tool for Fair Lending Enforcement. Testimony was 
heard from Sandra F. Braunstein, Director, Division of Consumer and 
Community Affairs, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System; Sandra 
Thompson, Director, Division of Supervision and Consumer Protection, FDIC; 
the following officials of the Department of the Treasury: Montrice Yakimov, 
Managing Director, Compliance and Consumer Protection, Office of Thrift 
Supervision; and Calvin R. Hagins, Director, Compliance Policy, Office of 
the Comptroller of the Currency; Grace Chung Becker, Deputy Assistant 
Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice; Kim 
Kendrick, Assistant Secretary, Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development; Lydia B. Parnes, Director, 
Bureau of Consumer Protection, FTC; David M. Marquis, Director, Office of 
Examination and Insurance, National Credit Union Administration; and public 
witnesses.
CENTRAL-EASTERN EUROPE DEMOCRACY
Committee on Foreign Affairs: Held as hearing on Central and Eastern Europe: 
Assessing the Democratic Transition. Testimony was heard from public 
witnesses.
U.S.-MARSHALL ISLANDS FREE ASSOCIATION
Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Asia, the Pacific, and the 
Global Environment held a hearing on Overview of the Compact of Free 
Association between the United States and the Republic of the Marshall 
Islands: Are Changes Needed? Testimony was heard from David B. Cohen, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, Office of Insular Affairs, Department of the Interior; 
the following officials of the Department of State: Steven McGann, Acting 
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs; and 
Francis A. Donovan, Director, Office of East Asia Affairs, Bureau of Asia 
and the Near East,

[[Page D1055]]

U.S. Agency for International Development; and David B. Gootnick, M.D., 
Director, International Affairs and Trade, GAO.
  The Subcommittee also held a briefing on this subject. The Subcommittee 
was briefed by public witnesses.
HOMELAND SECURITY FEDERAL ADVISORY COMMITTEES
Committee on Homeland Security: Held a hearing entitled ``An Overview of 
Department of Homeland Security Federal Advisory Committees.'' Testimony was 
heard from Doug Hoelscher, Executive Director, Homeland Security Advisory 
Committees, Department of Homeland Security; Robert Flaak, Director, 
Committee Management Secretariat Office of Governmentwide Policy, GSA; the 
former officials of the Department of Homeland Security: Jeff Gaynor, 
Director, Homeland Security Advisory Council, Emergency Response Senior 
Advisory, Committee and Critical Infrastructure Task Force; and Randy 
Beardsworth, former Assistant Secretary, Strategic Plans; and public 
witnesses.
CONTEMPT OF CONGRESS; MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on the Judiciary: Adopted a resolution recommending that the House 
of Representatives find that former White House Counsel Harriet Miers and 
White House Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten be cited for contempt of Congress 
for refusal to comply with subpoenas issued by the Committee.
  The Committee also ordered reported the following bills: H.R. 1943, Stop 
AIDS In Prison Act of 2007; and H.R. 1199, Drug Endangered Children Act of 
2007.
SURFACE RECLAMATION ACT OVERSIGHT
Committee on Natural Resources: Held an oversight hearing on the Surfacing 
Reclamation Act of 1977: A 30th Anniversary Review. Testimony was heard from 
the following officials of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and 
Enforcement, Department of the Interior: Glenda H. Owens, Deputy Director; 
and Earl Bandy, Chief, Applicant Violator System Office; Stephanie R. 
Timmermeyer, Secretary, Department of Environmental Protection, State of 
West Virginia; John F. Husted, Deputy Chief, Division of Mineral Resources 
Management, Department of Natural Resources, State of Ohio; John Corra, 
Director, Department of Environmental Quality, State of Wyoming; and public 
witnesses.
HOT FUELS STANDARDS
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: Subcommittee on Domestic 
Policy held a hearing on ExxonMobil and Shell Answer Questions about Hot 
Fuels Double Standards. Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
CONFERENCE REPORT TO ACCOMPANY THE BILL (H.R. 1) TO PROVIDE FOR THE 
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON 
TERRORIST ATTACKS UPON THE UNITED STATES
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, a rule providing for 
consideration of the conference report to accompany the bill (H.R. 1) to 
provide for the implementation of the recommendations of the National 
Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. The rule waives all 
points of order against the conference report and against its consideration. 
The rule provides that the conference report shall be considered as read. 
Testimony was heard from Chairman Thompson (MS).
FARM, NUTRITION, AND BIOENERGY ACT OF 2007
Committee on Rules: Granted, by vote of 9 to 4, a structured rule. The rule 
provides 1 hour of general debate on H.R. 2419, to provide for the 
continuation of agricultural programs through fiscal year 2012, equally 
divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of the 
Committee on Agriculture. The rule waives all points of order against 
consideration of the bill except clauses 9 and 10 of Rule XXI. The rule 
provides that the amendment in the nature of a substitute recommended by the 
Committee on Agriculture now printed in the bill, modified by the amendments 
printed in Part A of the Rules Committee report, shall be considered as 
adopted in the House and in the Committee of the Whole. The bill as amended 
shall be considered as an original bill for the purpose of amendment and 
shall be considered as read. All points of order against provisions in the 
bill, as amended, are waived.
  The rule makes in order only those further amendments printed in part B of 
this report and amendments en bloc described in section 3 of the resolution. 
The amendments made in order may be offered only in the order printed in 
this report, may be offered only by a Member designated in this report, 
shall be considered as read, shall be debatable for the time specified in 
this report equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, 
shall not be subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for a 
division of the question in the House or in the Committe of the Whole. 
Section 3 of the rule allows the Chairman of the Committee on Agriculture to 
offer amendments en blox consisting of amendments printed in part B of this 
report not earlier disposed of or to offer germane modifications to such. 
All points of order against the amendments except for clauses 9 and 10 of 
Rule XXI are waived. The rule provides one motion to recommit with or 
without instructions. Finally, the rule provides that the Chair may postpone 
further consideration of the bill to a time designated by the

[[Page D1056]]

Speaker. Testimony was heard from Chairman Peterson (MN), Representatives 
Cardoza, Gillibrand, Lincoln Davis (TN), Jackson-Lee (TX), Hastings (FL), 
Welch, Arcuri, Chairman Waxman, Cooper, Chairman Thompson (MS), Blumenauer, 
Cummings, Doyle, Davis (IL), Inslee, Kind, Holt, Schakowsky, Weiner, Bishop 
(NY), Davis (AL), Goodlatte, Boustany, Schmidt, Hastings (WA), Manzullo, 
Buyer, Whitfield, Wamp, Wilson (NM), Ryan (WI), Kirk, Alexander, Fortuno and 
Gohmert.
CLINICAL LAB SERVICES BIDDING
Committee on Small Business: Held a hearing entitled ``Competitive Bidding 
for Clinical Lab Services: Where's it Heading and What Small Businesses Can 
Expect.'' Testimony was heard from Timothy P. Love, Director, Office of 
Research, Development and Information, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid 
Services, Department of Health and Human Services; and public witnesses.
VA MENTAL HEALTH CHALLENGES
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Held a hearing on PTSD and Personality 
Disorders: Challenges for the VA. Testimony was heard from the following 
officials of the Department of Veterans Affairs: Tracie Shea, Psychologist, 
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder Clinic, Veterans Affairs Medical Center, 
Providence, Rhode Island; Ira R. Katz, Deputy Chief PCS Officer, Mental 
Health, Veterans Health Administration; and COL Bruce Crow, USA, Chief, 
Department of Behavioral Medicine, Brooke Army Medical Center and Clinical 
Psychology Consultant to the Army Surgeon General; representatives of 
veterans organizations; and public witnesses.
BRIEFING--HOT SPOTS
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Met in executive session to 
receive a briefing on Hot Spots. The Committee was briefed by departmental 
witnesses.
Joint Meetings
NATIONAL FORECLOSURE CRISIS
Joint Economic Committee: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the 
national foreclosure crisis, focusing on subprime mortgage fallout, after 
receiving testimony from James Rokakis, Cuyahoga County, and Anthony 
Brancatelli, City Council, both of Cleveland, Ohio; Kenneth D. Wade, 
Neighbor Works America, Washington, D.C.; Barbara Anderson, Empowering and 
Strengthening Ohio's People, Slavic Village, Ohio; and Audrey Sweet, Maple 
Heights, Ohio.
F