[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 189 (Tuesday, December 11, 2007)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1601-D1602]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING TO COMPREHENSIVELY UNDERSTAND AND RESPONSIBLY 
ENHANCE (SECURE) WATER ACT
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine S. 2156, to authorize and facilitate the improvement 
of water management by the Bureau of Reclamation, to require the 
Secretary of the Interior and the Secretary of Energy to increase the 
acquisition and analysis of water resources for irrigation, 
hydroelectric power, municipal, and environmental uses, after receiving 
testimony from Robert W. Johnson, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation, 
and Robert M. Hirsch, Associate Director for Water, United States 
Geological Survey, both of the Department of the Interior; John 
D'Antonio, New Mexico State Engineer, Santa Fe, on behalf of the 
Western States Water Council; Jon C. Lambeck, Metropolitan Water 
District of Southern California, Los Angeles; David R. Wunsch, National 
Groundwater Association, Concord, New Hampshire; Patrick O'Toole, 
Family Farm Alliance, Savery, Wyoming; and Brian Richter, Nature 
Conservancy, Charlottesville, Virginia.
PROMOTING AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL AND MEDICAL EXPORTS TO CUBA ACT
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine S. 1673, 
to facilitate the export of United States agricultural products to Cuba 
as authorized by the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act 
of 2000, to remove impediments to the export to Cuba of medical devices 
and medicines, to allow travel to Cuba by United States citizens, to 
establish an agricultural export promotion program with respect to 
Cuba, after receiving testimony from Colonel Lawrence B. Wilkerson, USA 
(Ret.), New America Foundation, and Frank Calzon, Center for a Free 
Cuba, both of Washington, D.C.; Jaime Suchlicki, University of Miami 
Institute for Cuban-American Studies, Miami, Florida; David McClure, 
Montana Farm Bureau Federation, Bozeman; and Carlos Lazo, Lynnwood, 
Washington.
IRAN
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee met in closed session to 
receive a briefing to examine the national intelligence estimate on 
Iran, focusing on nuclear intentions and capabilities, from Stephen S. 
Kaplan, Vice Chairman, National Intelligence Council; and Vann Van 
Diepen, National Intelligence Officer for Weapons of Mass Destruction 
and Proliferation, and Leslie Ireland, Issue Manager for Iran, both of 
the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
E-GOVERNMENT REAUTHORIZATION ACT
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine e-government 2.0, focusing on improving 
innovation, collaboration, and access, including S. 2321, to amend the 
E-Government Act of 2002 (Public Law 107-347) to reauthorize 
appropriations, after receiving testimony from Karen Evans, 
Administrator, Electronic Government and Information Technology, Office 
of Management and Budget; John Lewis Needham, Google, Inc., Mountain 
View, California; Ari Schwartz, Center for Democracy and Technology 
(CDT), Washington, D.C.; and Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia, and Wikimedia 
Foundation, St. Petersburg, Florida.
CRUDE OIL PRICES
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Permanent 
Subcommittee on Investigations concluded a joint hearing with the 
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy to 
examine the role of speculation in recent crude oil prices, after 
receiving testimony from Guy Caruso, Administrator, U.S. Energy 
Information Administration, Department of Energy; Edward N. Krapels, 
Energy Security Analysis, Inc., Wakefield, Massachusetts; Philip K. 
Verleger, Jr., PKVerleger LLC, Aspen, Colorado; and Fadel Gheit, 
Oppenheimer and Co., Inc., New York, New York.
GLOBAL CHALLENGE OF AIDS, TB, AND MALARIA
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine the global challenge of HIV/AIDS, 
tuberculosis, and malaria, focusing on the President's Emergency Plan 
for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), after receiving testimony from Mark Dybul, 
Ambassador, United States Global AIDS Coordinator, Department of State; 
Julie L. Gerberding, Director, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services; Kasune Zulu, World 
Vision, Federal Way, Washington; Norman Hearst, University of 
California, San Francisco; Helen L. Smits, National Academies, 
Washington, D.C.; and Peter Piot, Joint United Nations Programme on 
HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), Geneva, Switzerland.

[[Page D1602]]


LEGAL RIGHTS OF GUANTANAMO DETAINEES
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and 
Homeland Security concluded a hearing to examine the legal rights of 
Guantanamo detainees, focusing on what they are, should they be 
changed, and whether there is an end in sight, including S. 1249, to 
require the President to close the Department of Defense detention 
facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, after receiving testimony from 
Brigadier General Thomas W. Hartman, Legal Advisor to the Convening 
Authority, Office of Military Commissions, Department of Defense; 
Steven A. Engel, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal 
Counsel, Department of Justice; Rear Admiral John D. Hutson, USN 
(Ret.), Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord, New Hampshire; Mark P. 
Denbeaux, Seton Hall University School of Law Center for Policy and 
Law, Newark, New Jersey; and Debra Burlingame, National September 11 
Memorial and Museum, New York, New York.
SUNSHINE IN LITIGATION ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition 
Policy and Consumer Rights concluded a hearing to examine the Sunshine 
in Litigation Act, focusing on whether court secrecy undermines public 
health and safety, after receiving testimony from Joseph F. Anderson, 
Jr., United States District Judge, District Court of South Carolina; 
Robert N. Weiner, Arnold and Porter, LLP, Washington, D.C.; Leslie A. 
Bailey, Public Justice, Oakland, California; Stephen G. Morrison, 
Nelson Mullins Riley and Scarborough, LLP, Columbia, South Carolina; 
Richard Zitrin, University of California Hastings School of Law, San 
Francisco; and Johnny Bradley, Pachuta, Mississippi.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee met in closed session to 
receive a briefing on certain intelligence matters from officials of 
the intelligence community.