[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 32 (Wednesday, February 27, 2008)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D185-D187]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: U.S. ARMY
Committee on Appropriations: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2009 for the U.S. Army, Department 
of Defense, after receiving testimony from Preston M. Geren III, Secretary, 
and General George W. Casey, Jr., Chief of Staff, both of the United States 
Army, Department of Defense.
NATIONAL SECURITY
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the 
current and future worldwide threats to the national security of the United 
States, after receiving testimony from John M. McConnell, Director, Tim 
Langford, Cuba-Venezuela Mission

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Manager, Benjamin Powell, General Counsel, Alan Pino, National Intelligence 
Officer for the Middle East, and Tom Fingar, Deputy Director for Analysis, 
all of National Intelligence; and Lieutenant General Michael D. Maples, USA, 
Director, Defense Intelligence Agency.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION REQUEST
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Personnel concluded a hearing 
to examine the defense authorization request for fiscal year 2009 for the 
Active component, Reserve component, civilian personnel programs, and the 
future years defense program, after receiving testimony from David S. C. 
Chu, Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness, Lieutenant General Michael 
D. Rochelle, USA, Deputy Chief of Staff, G1, United States Army, Vice 
Admiral John C. Harvey, Jr., USN, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for 
Manpower, Personnel, Training and Education, United States Navy, Lieutenant 
General Roland S. Coleman, USMC, Deputy Commandant for Manpower and Reserve 
Affairs, United States Marine Corps, and Lieutenant General Richard Y. 
Newton III, USAF, Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower and Personnel, United 
States Air Force, all of the Department of Defense.
NASA BUDGET
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on Space, 
Aeronautics, and Related Agencies concluded a hearing to examine the 
President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2009 for the National 
Space and Aeronautics Administration (NASA), after receiving testimony from 
Michael D. Griffin, Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration.
NOMINATION
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nomination of J. Gregory Copeland, of Texas, to be General 
Counsel of the Department of Energy, after the nominee testified and 
answered questions in his own behalf.
LAND BILLS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Public Lands and 
Forests concluded a hearing to examine S. 2229, to withdraw certain Federal 
land in the Wyoming Range from leasing and provide an opportunity to retire 
certain leases in the Wyoming Range, S. 2379, to authorize the Secretary of 
the Interior to cancel certain grazing leases on land in Cascade-Siskiyou 
National Monument that are voluntarily waived by the lessees, to provide for 
the exchange of certain Monument land in exchange for private land, to 
designate certain Monument land as wilderness, S. 832, to provide for the 
sale of approximately 25 acres of public land to the Turnabout Ranch, 
Escalante, Utah, at fair market value, S. 2508 and H.R. 903, bills to 
provide for a study of options for protecting the open space characteristics 
of certain lands in and adjacent to the Arapaho and Roosevelt National 
Forests in Colorado, S. 2601 and H.R. 1285, bills to require the Secretary 
of Agriculture to convey to King and Kittitas Counties Fire District No. 51 
a certain parcel of real property for use as a site for a new Snoqualmie 
Pass fire and rescue station, H.R. 523, to require the Secretary of the 
Interior to convey certain public land located wholly or partially within 
the boundaries of the Wells Hydroelectric Project of Public Utility District 
No. 1 of Douglas County, Washington, to the utility district, and S. 532 and 
H.R. 838, bills to provide for the conveyance of the Bureau of Land 
Management parcels known as the White Acre and Gambel Oak properties and 
related real property to Park City, Utah, after receiving testimony from 
Wyoming Governor Dave Freudenthal, Cheyenne; Melissa Simpson, Deputy Under 
Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment; Luke 
Johnson, Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the 
Interior; Andy Kerr, Soda Mountain Wilderness Council, and Mike Dauenhauer, 
both of Ashland, Oregon; Claire Moseley, Public Lands Advocacy, Denver, 
Colorado; Gary Amerine, Citizens Protecting the Wyoming Range, Daniel; and 
Chris Caviezel, Snoqualmie Pass Fire Station, Snoqualmie Pass, Washington.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY BUDGET
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2009 for the 
Environmental Protection Agency, after receiving testimony from Stephen L. 
Johnson, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency.
PRIVATE SECURITY FIRMS RELIANCE
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine U.S. reliance on private security firms in overseas 
operations, after receiving testimony from Patrick F. Kennedy, Under 
Secretary of State for Management; P. Jackson Bell, Deputy Under Secretary 
of Defense for Logistics and Material Readiness; James D. Schmitt, 
ArmorGroup North America, Inc., McLean, Virginia; and Laura A. Dickinson, 
University of Connecticut School of Law, Hartford.
FOREIGN AID LESSONS FOR DOMESTIC ECONOMIC ASSISTANCE ACT
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine S. 
2232, to direct the Secretary of Commerce to establish a demonstration 
program to adapt the lessons of providing foreign aid to underdeveloped 
economies to the provision of Federal economic development assistance to 
certain similarly situated individuals, after receiving testimony from 
Senator Stevens; Matthew Crow, Deputy Assistant Secretary for External 
Affairs and Communications of

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Commerce for Economic Development Administration; Julie Kitka, Alaska 
Federation of Natives, Anchorage; Byron Mallott, Sealaska Corporation, 
Juneau, Alaska; Ralph Andersen, Bristol Bay Native Association, Dillingham, 
Alaska; Zach Brink, Association of Village Council Presidents, Bethel, 
Alaska; and Paul V. Applegarth, Value Enhancement International, Greenwich, 
Connecticut.
 FALSE CLAIMS ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine S. 
2041, to amend the False Claims Act, focusing on strengthening the 
government's most effective tool against fraud for the 21st century, after 
receiving testimony from Michael F. Hertz, Deputy Assistant Attorney 
General, Civil Division, Department of Justice; John E. Clark, Goode, 
Casseb, Jones, Riklin, Choate, and Watson, PC, San Antonio, Texas; John T. 
Boese, Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver and Jacobson, LLP, Washington, DC; 
Pamela H. Bucy, University of Alabama School of Law, Tuscaloosa; and Tina 
Marie Gonter, Jacksonville, Florida.
FEDERAL FUNDING FOR STATE AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs concluded a 
hearing to examine supporting the front line in the fight against crime, 
focusing on restoring federal funding for state and local law enforcement, 
after receiving testimony from Senators Harkin and Chambliss; Mark Epley, 
Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General, Department of Justice; 
Jeffrey Horvath, Dover Police Department, Dover, Delaware; Anthony F. 
Wieners, New Jersey Police Department, Belleville, on behalf of the National 
Association of Police Organizations (NAPO); and Charles H. Ramsey, 
Philadelphia Police Department, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
 VOTE CAGING PRACTICES
Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine protecting voters in the United States at the polls, focusing on 
limiting abusive robocalls and vote caging practices, including S. 2305, to 
prevent voter caging, after receiving testimony from Senator Whitehouse; Roy 
Cooper, North Carolina Attorney General, Raleigh; J. Bradley King, Indiana 
Election Division, Indianapolis; James Bopp, Jr., James Madison Center for 
Free Speech, Terre Haute, Indiana; Shaun Dakin, National Political Do Not 
Contact Registry, and Judith A. Browne-Dianis, Advancement Project, both of 
Washington, DC; and Chandler Davidson, Rice University, Houston, Texas.
SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION BUDGET
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 
2009 for the Small Business Administration, including The Military Reservist 
and Veteran Small Business Reauthorization and Opportunity Act (Public Law 
110-186), The CLEAN Energy Act (Public Law 110-140), and S. 1256, to amend 
the Small Business Act to reauthorize loan programs under that Act, after 
receiving testimony from Steven Preston, Administrator, Small Business 
Administration.
POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
veterans' disability compensation, focusing on expert work on post-traumatic 
stress disorder and other issues, after receiving testimony from Joyce 
McMahon, CNA Corporation, Alexandria, Virginia; Lonnie R. Bristow, National 
Academies, Washington, DC; Dean G. Kilpatrick, Medical University of South 
Carolina National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Charleston; 
and Scott L. Zeger, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, 
Baltimore, Maryland.
BUSINESS MEETING
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee met in closed session to 
consider pending intelligence matters.
   Committee recessed subject to the call.
MEDICAL DEVICE INDUSTRY
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine issues 
relative to surgeons, focusing on conflicts and consultant payments in the 
medical device industry, after receiving testimony from Gregory E. Demske, 
Assistant Inspector General for Legal Affairs, Department of Health and 
Human Services; Charles D. Rosen, University of California School of 
Medicine, Irvine, on behalf of the Association for Ethics in Spine Surgery; 
Said Hilal, Applied Medical Resources Corporation, Ranch Santa, Margarita, 
California; Edward B. Lipes, Stryker Corporation, Mahwah, New Jersey; Chad 
F. Phipps, Zimmer Holdings, Inc., Warsaw, Indiana; and Christopher L. White, 
Advanced Medical Technology Association, Washington, DC.