[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 156 (Tuesday, October 16, 2007)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1364-D1366]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
FEDERAL CIVILIAN EMPLOYEE COMBAT ZONE BENEFITS
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations held a hearing on incentives, benefits, and medical care 
for federal civilian employees deployed to combat zone. Testimony was 
heard from the following officials of the Department of State: 
Ambassador Harry Thomas, Director General; and Mark Ward, Senior Deputy 
Assistant Administrator, Asia and Near East Bureau, U.S. Agency for 
International Development; Kirk Miller, Associate Administrator, 
Foreign Agriculture Service, USDA; Bruce Swartz, Deputy Assistant 
Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice; and Larry 
McDonald, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Technical Assistance, 
Department of the Treasury.
BREAST CANCER STAMP/PAUL WELLSTONE HEALTH AND ADDICTION EQUITY ACT OF 
2007
Committee on Energy and Commerce: Ordered reported, as amended, the 
following bills: H.R. 1236, To make permanent the authority of the 
United States Postal Service to issue a special postage stamp to 
support breast cancer research; and H.R. 1424, Paul Wellstone Mental 
Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007.
REAUTHORIZATION OF McKINNEY-VENTO HOMELESS ASSISTANCE ACT
Committee on Financial Services: Subcommittee on Housing and Community 
Opportunity continued hearings on reauthorization of McKinney-Vento 
Homeless Assistance Act. Testimony was heard from Mark Johnston, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, Special Needs, Department of Housing and Urban 
Development; Zev Yaroslavsky, member, Board of Supervisors, Los Angeles 
County; Mercedes Marquez, General Manager, Los Angeles Housing 
Department, City of Los Angeles; and public witnesses.
AVIATION SECURITY
Committee on Homeland Security: Subcommittee on Transportation 
Security, and Infrastructure Protection held a hearing entitled 
``Aviation Security: Are

[[Page D1365]]

We Truly Protected?'' Testimony was heard from Kip Hawley, Assistant 
Secretary, Transportation Security Administration, Department of 
Homeland Security; Cathleen A. Berrrick, Director, Homeland Security 
and Justice Issues, GAO; and Franklin Hatfield, Director, System 
Operations Security Office, FAA, Department of Transportation.
VOTING BY MAIL OR ABSENTEE--EXPANDING OPPORTUNITIES
Committee on House Administration: Held a hearing on Expanding and 
Improving Opportunities to Vote by Mail or Absentee. Testimony was 
heard from Representative Davis of California; Ruth Goldway, 
Commissioner, Postal Regulatory Commission; Deborah L. Markowitz, 
Secretary of State, Vermont; and public witnesses.
PUBLIC SCHOOL HATE CRIMES/RACE VIOLENCE
Committee on the Judiciary: Held a hearing on Jena 6 and the Role of 
Federal Intervention in Hate Crimes and Race-Related Violence in Public 
Schools. Testimony was heard from the following officials of the 
Department of Justice: Donald Washington, U.S. Attorney, Western 
District of Louisiana; and Lisa Krigsten, Counsel to the Assistant 
Attorney General, Civil Rights Division; and public witnesses.
LEGAL TIMBER PROTECTION ACT
Committee on Natural Resources; Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and 
Oceans held a hearing on H.R. 1497, Legal Timber Protection Act. 
Testimony was heard from Representative Blumenauer; Eileen Sobeck, 
Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources 
Division, Department of Justice; and public witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Water and Power 
approved for full Committee action the following bills: H.R. 123, To 
authorize appropriations for the San Gabriel Basin Restoration Fund; 
H.R. 236, amended, North Bay Water Reuse Program Act of 2007; H.R. 
2085, McGee Creek Project Pipeline and Associated Facilities Conveyance 
Act; and H.R. 2498, amended, To provide for a study regarding 
development of a comprehensive integrated regional water management 
plan that would address four general areas of regional water planning 
in both the San Joaquin River Hydrologic Region and the Tulare Lake 
Hydrologic Region, inclusive of Kern, Tulare, Kings, Fresno, Madera, 
Merced, Stanislaus, and San Joaquin Counties, California, and to 
provide that such plan be the guide by which those counties use as a 
mechanism to address and solve long-term water needs in a sustainable 
and equitable manner.
DC PRISONER RE-ENTRY
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: Subcommittee on Federal 
Workforce, Postal Service, Census and District of Columbia held a 
hearing on Doing Time: Are DC Prisoners Being Adequately Prepared for 
Re-Entry? Testimony was heard from Harley G. Lappin, Director, Federal 
Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice; Charles Jones, Director, 
Employment Services, Department of Employment Services, District of 
Columbia; and public witnesses.
CENSUS 2010 BUDGET ISSUES
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: Subcommittee on 
Information Policy, Census and National Archives held a hearing on 
Critical Budget Issues Affecting the 2010 Census. Testimony was heard 
from Jim Nussle, Director, OMB; the following officials of the 
Department of Commerce: Otto J. Wolfe, Chief Financial Officer and ASA; 
Charles Louis Kincannon, Director; and Preston Jay Waite, Deputy 
Director, both with the Bureau of the Census.
RESTORE ACT OF 2007
Committee on Rules: Granted, by a vote of 8 to 4, a closed rule 
providing for 90 minutes of debate on H.R. 3773, RESTORE Act of 2007, 
with 60 minutes equally divided and controlled by the chairman and 
ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary and 30 
minutes equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking 
minority member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
  The rule waives all points of order against consideration of the bill 
except those arising under clause 9 or 10 of rule XXI. In lieu of the 
amendments recommended by the Committee on the Judiciary and the 
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the rule considers as 
adopted the amendment in the nature of a substitute printed in part A 
of the Rules Committee report, modified by the amendment printed in 
part B of the report, and considers the bill, as amended, as read. The 
rule provides one motion to recommit with or without instructions. 
Finally, the rule permits the Chair, during consideration of the bill, 
to postpone further consideration of it to a time designated by the 
Speaker. Testimony was heard from Representative Scott of Virginia, 
Chairman Reyes, Representatives Issa, Lungren, Forbes, Gohmert and 
Hoekstra.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Science and Technology: Ordered reported, as amended, the 
following bills: H.R. 3776, Energy

[[Page D1366]]

Storage Technology Advancement Act of 2007; and H.R. 3775, Industrial 
Energy Efficiency Research and Development Act of 2007.
RAILROAD-OWNED SOLID WASTE FACILITIES
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on 
Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials held a hearing on 
Railroad-Owned Solid Waste Transload Facilities. Testimony was heard 
from Senator Lautenberg; Representatives Pallone, Patrick J. Murphy of 
Pennsylvania; and Murphy of Connecticut; the following officials of the 
Surface Transportation Board, Department of Transportation: Charles D. 
Nottingham, Chairman; W. Douglas Buttrey, Vice Chairman; and Francis P. 
Mulvey, Commissioner; Gregory Schmidt, Mayor, Village of Croton-on-
Hudson, New York; Joseph DiGirolamo, Mayor, Township of Bensalem, 
Pennsylvania; Kathy Chasey, Mayor, Mullica Township, New Jersey; Brian 
X. Foley, Town Supervisor, Brookhaven, New York; Wolfgang Skacel, 
Assistant Commissioner, Department of Environmental Protection, New 
Jersey; and public witnesses.
RAW SEWAGE OVERFLOW AWARENESS
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on Water 
Resources and Environment held a hearing on The Raw Sewage Overflow 
Community Right-to-Know Act. Testimony was heard from Benjamin H. 
Grumbles, Assistant Administrator, Office of Water, EPA; Robert 
Summers, Deputy Secretary, Department of the Environment, Maryland; and 
public witnesses.
DISABILITY CLAIMS RATINGS AND BENEFITS WITHIN VETERANS BENEFITS 
ADMINISTRATION
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigation held a hearing on Disability Claims Ratings and Benefits 
Disparities within the Veterans' Benefits Administration. Testimony was 
heard from the following officials of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs: Jon A. Wooditch, Deputy Inspector General; and Ronald R. 
Aument, Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits; and representatives of 
veterans organizations.
MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PLAN BIDS AUDITS
Committee on Ways and Means: Subcommittee on Health and the 
Subcommittee on Oversight held a joint hearing on Medicare Advantage: 
Required Audits of Limited Value. Testimony was heard from Jeffery 
Steinhoff, Managing Director, Financial Management and Assistance, GAO; 
Timothy B. Hill, Chief Financial Officer, Centers for Medicare and 
Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services; and public 
witnesses.
BRIEFING--AMERITHAX
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Met in executive session to 
receive a briefing on Amerithax. The Committee was briefed by 
departmental witnesses.
CIA ACTIVITY
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Subcommittee on Terrorism, 
Human Intelligence, Analysis, and Counterintelligence met in executive 
session to hold a hearing on CIA Activity. Testimony was heard from 
departmental witnesses.