[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 24 (Wednesday, February 13, 2008)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D132-D134]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
WOUNDED AND ILL SERVICE MEMBERS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
improvements implemented and planned by the Department of Defense and 
the Department of Veterans Affairs for the care, management, and 
transition of wounded and ill military service members, after receiving 
testimony from Preston M. Geren, III, Secretary of the Army, David S. 
C. Chu, Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness, and Lieutenant 
General Eric B. Schoomaker, USA, Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, all 
of the Department of Defense; and Gordon H. Mansfield, Deputy 
Secretary, and Rear Admiral Patrick W. Dunne, USN (Ret.), Assistant 
Secretary for Policy and Planning, both of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered 
favorably reported an original bill entitled ``Industrial Bank Holding 
Company Act of 2008''.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUDGET
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the President's budget request for fiscal year 2009 
for the Department of the Interior, after receiving testimony from 
former Senator Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior.
MEDICARE PRIVATE PLANS (PART II)
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded hearings to examine selling 
to seniors, focusing on the need for accountability and oversight of 
marketing and sales by Medicare private plans, after receiving 
testimony from Kerry Weems, Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare 
and Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of Health and Human Services.

[[Page D133]]


FOREIGN AFFAIRS BUDGET
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the President's budget request for fiscal year 2009 for foreign 
affairs, after receiving testimony from Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of 
State.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following:
  H.R. 1469, to establish the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad 
Foundation under the authorities of the Mutual Educational and Cultural 
Exchange Act of 1961, with amendments;
  H.R. 2798, to reauthorize the programs of the Overseas Private 
Investment Corporation, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 1418, to provide assistance to improve the health of newborns, 
children, and mothers in developing countries, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 2433, to require the President to develop and implement a 
comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy 
objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination 
of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the Millennium 
Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people 
worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day, 
with amendments;
  S. Res. 439, expressing the strong support of the Senate for the 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization to enter into a Membership Action 
Plan with Georgia and Ukraine; and
  The nominations of James K. Glassman, of Connecticut, to be Under 
Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy with the rank of Ambassador, 
Goli Ameri, of Oregon, to be Assistant Secretary of State for 
Educational and Cultural Affairs, David J. Kramer, of Massachusetts, to 
be Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, 
James Francis Moriarty, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador to the 
People's Republic of Bangladesh, Margaret Scobey, of Tennessee, to be 
Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt, Deborah K. Jones, of New 
Mexico, to be Ambassador to the State of Kuwait, Hector E. Morales, of 
Texas, to be Permanent Representative of the United States of America 
to the Organization of American States, with the rank of Ambassador, 
Larry Woodrow Walther, of Arkansas, to be Director of the Trade and 
Development Agency, Jeffrey J. Grieco, of Virginia, to be an Assistant 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, John E. Osborn, of Delaware, to be a Member of the United 
States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, Elizabeth F. Bagley, of 
the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the United States Advisory 
Commission on Public Diplomacy, William J. Hybl, of Colorado, to be a 
Member of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, 
Mark McKinnon, of Texas, Joaquin F. Blaya, of Florida, Edward E. 
Kaufman, of Delaware, Susan M. McCue, of Virginia, Dennis M. Mulhaupt, 
of California, and Steven J. Simmons, of Connecticut, each to be a 
Member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, and Ana M. Guevara, of 
Florida, to be United States Alternate Executive Director of the 
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HOMELAND SECURITY ROLE
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine the role of the Department of Defense in 
homeland security, focusing on ways the military can and will 
contribute, after receiving testimony from Major General Arnold L. 
Punaro, USMCR (Ret.), Chairman, and Lieutenant General James E. 
Sherrard III, USAFR (Ret.), and Major General E. Gordon Stump, ANG 
(Ret.), both Commissioners, all of the Commission on the National Guard 
and Reserves.
FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Subcommittee on 
Children and Families concluded a hearing to examine the Family and 
Medical Leave Act (FMLA)(P.L. 103-3), focusing on a fifteen year 
history of support for workers, after receiving testimony from Victoria 
A. Lipnic, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employment Standards 
Administration; Debra Ness, National Partnership for Women and 
Families, Marcel Reid, Association of Community Organizations for 
Reform Now (ACORN), and Kristen Grimm, Spitfire Strategies, all of 
Washington, D.C.; and Katheryn Elliott, Central Michigan University 
Employee Relations, Mount Pleasant, on behalf of the Society for Human 
Resource Management (SPHR).
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: On Tuesday, February 12, committee 
concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of James Randal Hall, to 
be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia, 
who was introduced by Senators Chambliss and Isakson, Richard H. 
Honaker, to be United States District Judge for the District of 
Wyoming, who was introduced by Senators Enzi and Barrasso, Gustavus 
Adolphus Puryear IV, to be United States District Judge for the Middle 
District of Tennessee, who was introduced by Senators Alexander and 
Corker, and Brian Stacy Miller, to be United States District Judge for 
the Eastern District of Arkansas,

[[Page D134]]

who was introduced by Senators Lincoln and Pryor, after the nominees 
testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
FEDERAL COCAINE SENTENCING LAWS
Committee on the Judiciary: On Tuesday, February 12, Subcommittee on 
Crime and Drugs concluded a hearing to examine federal cocaine 
sentencing laws, focusing on reforming the 100-to-1 crack/powder 
disparity, including S. 1383, to reduce the disparity in punishment 
between crack and powder cocaine offenses, to more broadly focus the 
punishment for drug offenders on the seriousness of the offense and the 
culpability of the offender, S. 1685, to reduce the sentencing 
disparity between powder and crack cocaine violations, and to provide 
increased emphasis on aggravating factors relating to the seriousness 
of the offense and the culpability of the offender, and S. 1711, to 
target cocaine kingpins and address sentencing disparity between crack 
and powder cocaine, after receiving testimony from Gretchen C. 
Shappert, United States Attorney, Western District of North Carolina, 
Department of Justice; Ricardo H. Hinojosa, Chair, United States 
Sentencing Commission; Nora D. Volkow, Director, National Institute on 
Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and 
Human Services; Reggie B. Walton, Judge, United States District Court 
for the District of Columbia, on behalf of the Judicial Conference of 
the United States; and James E. Felman, American Bar Association, 
Washington, D.C.
STATE SECRETS PRIVILEGE
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the state secrets privilege, focusing on protecting national security 
while preserving accountability, including S. 2533, to enact a safe, 
fair, and responsible state secrets privilege Act, after receiving 
testimony from Carl J. Nichols, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, 
Civil Division, Department of Justice; Patricia M. Wald, former Chief 
Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, 
Washington, D.C.; Louis Fisher, Specialist in Constitutional Law, Law 
Library, Library of Congress; Robert M. Chesney, Wake Forest University 
School of Law, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Michael A. Vatis, 
Steptoe and Johnson LLP, New York, New York.
VETERANS PROGRAMS BUDGET
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2009 
for veterans programs, after receiving testimony from James B. Peake, 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs; Carl Blake, Paralyzed Veterans of 
America (PVA), Fredericksburg, Virginia; Raymond C. Kelley, American 
Veterans (AMVETS), Lanham, Maryland; John Rowan, Vietnam Veterans of 
America (VVA), Middle Village, New York; and Kerry Baker, Disabled 
American Veterans (DAV), Christopher Needham, Veterans of Foreign Wars 
of the United States (VFW), and Peter S. Gaytan, American Legion, all 
of Washington, D.C.
FORECLOSURE AFTERMATH
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the housing foreclosure aftermath, focusing on concerns for elderly 
homeowners, after receiving testimony from Peggy Twohig, Associate 
Director, Division of Financial Practices, Federal Trade Commission; 
Thomas E. Perez, Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and 
Registration, Baltimore; Walter Malone, Malone and Malone Construction, 
Washington, D.C.; Catherine M. Doyle, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, 
Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin; John W. Anderson, Twin Oaks Realty, 
Minneapolis, Minnesota, on behalf of the National Association of 
Realtors; and Rachel M. Dollar, Smith Dollar, PC, Santa Rosa, 
California, on behalf of the Mortgage Bankers Association.