[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 42 (Wednesday, March 12, 2008)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D278-D281]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: AIR FORCE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense concluded a 
hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2009 for 
the Air Force, after receiving testimony from Michael W. Wynne, 
Secretary, and General T. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff, both of the 
United States Air Force, Department of Defense.
APPROPRIATIONS: FEDERAL JUDICIARY
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Financial Services and 
General Government concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget 
estimates for fiscal year 2009 for the federal judiciary, after 
receiving testimony from Julia S. Gibbons, Judge, Sixth Circuit Court 
of Appeals, and Chair, Committee on the Budget, Judicial Conference of 
the United States; and James C. Duff, Director, Administrative Office 
of the United States Courts.
CURRENT READINESS OF U.S. ARMED FORCES
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Readiness and Management 
Support met to discuss the current readiness of the armed forces of the 
United States, receiving testimony from Lieutenant General James D. 
Thurman, USA, Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7, Lieutenant General 
Richard F. Natonski, USMC, Deputy Commandant, Plans, Policies, and 
Operations, Vice Admiral Michael K. Loose, USN, Deputy Chief, Naval 
Operations Fleet Readiness and

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Logistics, and Lieutenant General Daniel J. Darnell, USAF, Deputy Chief 
of Staff, Air, Space and Information Operations, Plans and 
Requirements, all of the Department of Defense.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION REQUEST
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces concluded 
a hearing to examine strategic forces programs in review of the defense 
authorization request for fiscal year 2009 and the future years defense 
program, after receiving testimony from General Kevin P. Chilton, USAF, 
Commander, United States Strategic Command, Michael G. Vickers, 
Assistant Secretary for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict and 
Interdependent Capabilities, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense 
for Policy, Major General Richard Webber, USAF, Assistant Deputy Chief, 
Operations, Plans and Requirements Headquarters, United States Air 
Force, and Rear Admiral Stephen Johnson, USN, Director, Strategic 
Systems Programs, United States Navy, all of the Department of Defense; 
and Thomas P. D'Agostino, Administrator, National Nuclear Security 
Administration, Department of Energy.
WEAPONS OF MASS DESTRUCTION
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and 
Capabilities concluded a hearing to examine technologies to combat 
weapons of mass destruction, after receiving testimony from James A. 
Tegnelia, Director, Defense Threat Reduction Agency, and Major General 
Stephen V. Reeves, USA, Joint Program Executive Officer, Chemical and 
Biological Defense, both of the Department of Defense; and T. Jan 
Cerveny, Assistant Deputy Administrator, Nonproliferation Research and 
Development, Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, National Nuclear 
Security Administration, Department of Energy.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION REQUEST
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Readiness and Management 
Support concluded a hearing to examine the defense authorization 
request for fiscal year 2009, the future years defense program, and 
military installation, environmental, and base closure programs, after 
receiving testimony from Wayne Arny, Deputy Under Secretary for 
Installations and Environment, Keith E. Eastin, Assistant Secretary of 
the Army for Installations and Environment, B.J. Penn, Assistant 
Secretary of the Navy for Installations and Environment, and William C. 
Anderson, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, 
Environment and Logistics, all of the Department of Defense.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION REQUEST
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on SeaPower concluded a 
hearing to examine the defense authorization request for fiscal year 
2009 for the strategic lift programs, and the future years defense 
program, after receiving testimony from Sue Payton, Assistant Secretary 
of the Air Force for Acquisition, and General Norton A. Schwartz, USAF, 
Commander, United States Transportation Command, both of the Department 
of Defense.
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT BUDGET
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal 
year 2009 for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, after 
receiving testimony from Alphonso Jackson, Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development; Michael Kelly, District of Columbia Housing 
Authority, and Hector Pinero, Related Management Company LLC, on behalf 
of the National Leased Housing Association, National Multi Housing 
Council, and National Apartment Association, both of Washington, D.C.; 
Diane Randall, Partnership for Strong Communities, West Hartford, 
Connecticut; Edgar O. Olsen, University of Virginia, Charlottesville; 
and Barbara Sard, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Brookline, 
Massachusetts.
GROSS DOMESTIC PRODUCT
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Interstate Commerce, Trade, and Tourism concluded a hearing to examine 
the gross domestic product as a measurement of national strength, after 
receiving testimony from J. Steven Landefeld, Director, Bureau of 
Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce; Robert H. Frank, Cornell 
University, Ithaca, New York; Karen Davis, Commonwealth Fund, New York, 
New York; Katharine G. Abraham, University of Maryland, College Park; 
and Jonathan Rowe, West Marin Commons, Point Reyes Station, California.
HARDROCK MINING
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine hardrock mining, focusing on issues relating to 
abandoned mine lands and uranium mining, including federal funds spent 
to clean up abandoned hardrock mine sites since 1998, number of 
abandoned hardrock mine sites and hazards, and the value and coverage 
of financial assurances operators use to guarantee reclamation costs on 
Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land, after

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receiving testimony from Robin M. Nazzaro, Director, Natural Resources 
and Environment, Government Accountability Office; Tony L. Ferguson, 
Director, Minerals and Geology Management, National Forest System, 
United States Forest Service, Department of Agriculture; Henri Bisson, 
Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management, Department of the Interior; 
David W. Geiser, Deputy Director for Legacy Management, Department of 
Energy; Benjamin H. Grumbles, Assistant Administrator for Water, 
Environmental Protection Agency; Charles L. Miller, Director, Office of 
Federal and State Materials and Environmental, Management Programs, 
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; Bill Brancard, New Mexico Energy, 
Minerals, and Natural Resources Department, Santa Fe, on behalf of the 
Interstate Mining Compact Commission; former Representative Pat 
Williams, Western Progress, Missoula, Montana; Debra Struhsacker, 
Northwest Mining Association, Reno, Nevada; Joe Shirley, Jr., Navajo 
Nation, Window Rock, Arizona; David Ulibarri, Cibola County, Grants, 
New Mexico; and Fletcher T. Newton, Uranium One, Inc., Denver, 
Colorado, on behalf of the National Mining Association.
CURRENT FEDERAL ESTATE TAX SYSTEM
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
alternatives to the current federal estate tax system, after receiving 
testimony from Lily L. Batchelder, New York University School of Law, 
New York, New York; Joseph M. Dodge, Florida State University College 
of Law, Tallahassee; and David G. Duff, University of Toronto Faculty 
of Law, Toronto, Canada.
U.S. AND VIETNAM BILATERAL RELATIONSHIP
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific 
Affairs concluded a hearing to examine the United States and Vietnam, 
focusing on the bilateral relationship, after receiving testimony from 
Christopher Hill, Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of East 
Asian and Pacific Affairs; Janet Nguyen, Board of Supervisors, Santa 
Ana, California; Do Hoang Diem, Vietnam Reform Party, San Jose, 
California; Sophie Richardson, Human Rights Watch, and Matthew P. 
Daley, US-ASEAN Business Council, both of Washington, D.C.; and Ann 
Mills Griffiths, National League of Prisoners of War and Missing in 
Action (POW/MIA) Families, Arlington, Virginia.
PROTECTING FEDERAL INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal 
Services, and International Security concluded a hearing to examine 
agencies in peril, focusing on protecting federal information 
technology and securing sensitive information, including the status of 
agency performance of information security control activities as 
reported by major agencies and their inspectors general (IG), the 
effectiveness of information security at federal agencies, and 
opportunities to improve federal information security, after receiving 
testimony from Karen S. Evans, Administrator of E-Government and 
Information Technology, Office of Management and Budget; Gregory C. 
Wilshusen, Director, Information Security Issues, Government 
Accountability Office; Susan H. Swart, Chief Information Officer, 
Bureau of Information Resource Management, Department of State; Philip 
M. Heneghan, Chief Information Security Officer and Chief Privacy 
Officer, Bureau for Management, United States Agency for International 
Development; Darren B. Ash, Chief Information Officer, Deputy Executive 
Director for Information Services, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission; 
Robert T. Howard, Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs for 
Information and Technology; and Tim Bennett, Cyber Security Industry 
Alliance, Arlington, Virginia.
OVER-THE-COUNTER AND PRESCRIPTION DRUG ABUSE
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs concluded a 
joint hearing with the Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control 
to examine the 51 million Americans born between 1965 and 1976, also 
know as ``Generation X'', focusing on the abuse of prescription and 
over-the-counter drugs, including S. 2274, to amend the Controlled 
Substances Act to prevent the abuse of dextromethorphan, after 
receiving testimony from Leonard J. Paulozzi, Medical Epidemiologist, 
Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention, National Center for Injury 
Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and 
Nora D. Volkow, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National 
Institutes of Health, both of the Department of Health and Human 
Services; Stephen J. Pasierb, Partnership for a Drug-Free America, New 
York, New York; Derek Clark, Clinton Substance Abuse Council, Clinton, 
Iowa; and Misty Fetko, New Albany, Ohio.
VOTER FRAUD AND DISENFRANCHISEMENT
Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine issues relative to in-person voter fraud and voter 
disenfranchisement, after receiving testimony from Senators Leahy and 
Bond; Robin Carnahan, Missouri Secretary of State, Jefferson City; 
Robert A. Simms, Georgia Deputy

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Secretary of State, Atlanta; David C. Iglesias, former United States 
Attorney for the District of New Mexico, Albuquerque; Jeffrey Milyo, 
University of Missouri-Columbia; and Justin Levitt, New York University 
School of Law Brennan Center for Justice, New York, New York.
BUSINESS MEETING
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee met in closed session to 
consider pending intelligence matters.
  Committee recessed subject to the call.
DOCTORS AND PRESCRIPTION DRUG INFORMATION AND REVIEWS
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
doctors and prescription drug information and reviews, and 
pharmaceutical industry marketing, after receiving testimony from Nora 
Dowd Eisenhower, Pennsylvania Department of Aging, Harrisburg; Jerry 
Avorn, Harvard Medical School, and Allan Coukell, Prescription Project, 
both of Boston, Massachusetts; Ambrose Carrejo, Kaiser Foundation 
Health Plan, Inc., Livermore, California, on behalf of the Kaiser 
Permanente Medical Care Program; and Shahram Ahari, El Cerrito, 
California.