[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 56 (Wednesday, April 9, 2008)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D400-D402]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Energy and Water 
Development concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates 
for fiscal year 2009 for the Department of Energy, after receiving 
testimony from James A. Rispoli, Assistant Secretary for Environmental 
Management, and Edward F. Sproat, III, Director, Office of Civilian 
Radioactive Waste Management, both of the Department of Energy.
CYBER WARFARE PROGRAMS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense concluded a closed 
hearing to examine cyber warfare programs, after receiving testimony 
from General Kevin Chilton, Commander, Strategic Command, Department of 
Defense; and Chris Inglis, Deputy Director, National Security Agency.
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, 
and Related Programs concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget 
estimates for fiscal year 2009 for the Department of State and foreign 
operations, after receiving testimony from Condoleezza Rice, Secretary 
of State.
IRAQ
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the situation in Iraq, focusing on progress made by the government of 
Iraq in meeting benchmarks and achieving reconciliation, after 
receiving testimony from Andrew J. Bacevich, Boston University, Boston, 
Massachusetts; and General John M. Keane, USA (Ret.), Keane Advisors, 
LLC, and Robert Malley, International Crisis Group, both of Washington, 
D.C.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION REQUEST
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Airland concluded a 
hearing to examine the defense authorization request for fiscal year 
2009 for Air Force and Navy aviation programs, and the future years 
defense program, after receiving testimony from William M.

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Balderson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Air Programs, and Rear 
Admiral Allen G. Myers, USN, Director, Air Warfare, both of the 
Department of the Navy, Lieutenant General Daniel J. Darnell, USAF, 
Deputy Chief of Staff for Air, Space and Information Operations, Plans, 
and Requirements, and Lieutenant General Donald J. Hoffman, USAF, 
Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for 
Acquisition, both of the Department of the Air Force, and Lieutenant 
General George J. Trautman, III, USMC, Deputy Commandant for Aviation, 
United States Marine Corps, all of the Department of Defense.
COAL GASIFICATION TECHNOLOGIES
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Science, Technology, and Innovation concluded a hearing to examine coal 
gasification technologies, focusing on the need for large scale 
projects, after receiving testimony from John Marburger, III, Director, 
Office of Science and Technology Policy, Executive Office of the 
President; Joseph P. Strakey, Chief Technology Officer, National Energy 
Technology Laboratory, Department of Energy; James M. Childress, 
Gasification Technologies Council, Arlington, Virginia; and Michael J. 
Mudd, FutureGen Alliance, David G. Hawkins, Natural Resources Defense 
Council Climate Center, and John Novak, Electric Power Research 
Institute, all of Washington, D.C.
HISTORICAL LAND BILLS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on National 
Parks concluded a hearing to examine S. 1633, to authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study to 
determine the suitability and feasibility of including the battlefield 
and related sites of the Battle of Shepherdstown in Shepherdstown, West 
Virginia, as part of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park or Antietam 
National Battlefield, S. 1993 and H.R. 2197, bills to modify the 
boundary of the Hopewell Culture National Historical Park in the State 
of Ohio, S. 2207, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the 
suitability and feasibility of designating Green McAdoo School in 
Clinton, Tennessee, as a unit of the National Park System, S. 2254, to 
establish the Mississippi Hills National Heritage Area in the State of 
Mississippi, S. 2262, to authorize the Preserve America Program and 
Save America's Treasures Program, S. 2329 and H.R. 2627, bills to 
establish the Thomas Edison National Historical Park in the State of 
New Jersey as the successor to the Edison National Historic Site, S. 
2502 and H.R. 3332, bills to provide for the establishment of a 
memorial within Kalaupapa National Historical Park located on the 
island of Molokai, in the State of Hawaii, to honor and perpetuate the 
memory of those individuals who were forcibly relocated to the 
Kalaupapa Peninsula from 1866 to 1969, S. 2512, to establish the 
Mississippi Delta National Heritage Area in the State of Mississippi, 
and H.R. 3998, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct 
special resources studies of certain lands and structures to determine 
the appropriate means for preservation, use, and management of the 
resources associated with such lands and structures, after receiving 
testimony from Senator Alexander; P. Lynn Scarlett, Deputy Secretary, 
and Katherine H. Stevenson, Acting Assistant Director, Business 
Services, National Park Service, both of the Department of the 
Interior; James T. Surkamp, Jefferson County Commission, Charles Town, 
West Virginia; and Richard Moe, National Trust for Historic 
Preservation, Washington, D.C.
CLEAN WATER RESTORATION ACT
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine S. 1870, to amend the Federal Water Pollution 
Control Act to clarify the jurisdiction of the United States over 
waters of the United States, after receiving testimony from Alexander 
B. Grannis, New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, 
Albany; Joan Card, Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, 
Phoenix; David Brand, Madison County, London, Ohio, on behalf of the 
National Association of Counties (NACo) and the National Association of 
County Engineers (NACE); Carol M. Browner, Albright Group, LLC, 
Washington, D.C.; and Randall Smith, Glen, Montana, on behalf of the 
National Cattlemen's Beef Association (NCBA) and the Montana Stock 
Growers Associations (MSGA).
CHIP DIRECTIVE
Committee on Finance: Subcommittee on Healthcare concluded a hearing to 
examine covering uninsured children, focusing on the provisions and 
regulations in the current Children's Healthcare Insurance Program 
(CHIP) directive, after receiving testimony from Dennis G. Smith, 
Director, Center for Medicaid and State Operations, Centers for 
Medicare and Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human 
Services; Peter Orszag, Director, Congressional Budget Office; Chris L. 
Peterson, Specialist, Health Care Financing, Domestic Social Policy 
Division, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress; Alan 
Weil, National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP), Nina 
Owcharenko, Heritage Foundation, and Cindy Mann, Georgetown University 
Center for Children and Families Health and Policy Institute, all of 
Washington, D.C.; and Paula Novak, Lebanon, Ohio.

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U.S. CRIMINAL INVESTIGATIONS OF VIOLENT CRIMES OVERSEAS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on International 
Operations and Organizations, Democracy and Human Rights concluded a 
hearing to examine closing legal loopholes, focusing on prosecuting 
sexual assaults and other violent crimes committed overseas by American 
civilians in a combat environment, after receiving testimony from Sigal 
P. Mandelker, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, 
Department of Justice; Gregory B. Starr, Acting Assistant Secretary, 
Bureau of Diplomatic Security, and J. Bradford Wiegmann, Assistant 
Legal Adviser for Management, both of the Department of State; and 
Robert E. Reed, Associate Deputy General Counsel for Military Justice 
and Personnel Policy, Department of Defense; Eugene R. Fidell, 
Feldesman, Tucker, Leifer, Fidell, LLP, Washington, D.C.; and Mary Beth 
Kineston, Olmsted Falls, Ohio, and Dawn Leamon, Lena, Illinois, both of 
KBR, Inc.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Patricia M. Haslach, of Oregon, for the rank 
of Ambassador during her tenure of service as United States Senior 
Coordinator for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Forum, 
Scot A. Marciel, of California, for the rank of Ambassador during his 
tenure of service as Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian 
and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Affairs, D. Kathleen 
Stephens, of Montana, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Korea, who 
was introduced by Senator Kennedy, and William E. Todd, to be 
Ambassador to the State of Brunei Darussalam, all of the Department of 
State, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own 
behalf.
HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS AT THE VA
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight 
hearing to examine efforts to make the Department of Veterans Affairs 
the workplace of choice for health care providers, after receiving 
testimony from Marisa Palkuti, Director, Health Care Retention and 
Recruitment Office, Veterans Health Administration, Shelia M. Cullen, 
Director, San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center, San Francisco, 
California, Steven P. Kleinglass, Director, Veterans Affairs Medical 
Center, Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Jennifer L. Strauss, Health 
Scientist, Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care, Durham 
Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, on behalf of 
the Friends of VA Medical Care and Health Research, all of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs; Marjorie Kanof, Managing Director, 
Health Care, Government Accountability Office; John A. McDonald, 
University of Nevada School of Medicine, Reno, on behalf of the 
Association of American Medical Colleges; Valerie O'Meara, Veterans 
Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System, Seattle, Washington, on behalf 
of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFL-CIO); and Randy 
Phelps, American Psychological Association, Washington, D.C.