[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 59 (Tuesday, April 15, 2008)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D433-D435]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and 
Related Agencies concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget 
estimates for fiscal year 2009 for the Department of the Interior,

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after receiving testimony from former Senator Dirk Kempthorne, 
Secretary of the Interior.
APPROPRIATIONS: FDA
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural 
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 
concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
year 2009 for the United States Food and Drug Administration, after 
receiving testimony from Andrew von Eschenbach, Commissioner, United 
States Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human 
Services.
U.S. CREDIT MARKETS AND STUDENT LOANS
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine credit markets in the United States, focusing on the 
impact on the cost and availability of student loans, after receiving 
testimony from John F. Remondi, Sallie Mae, Inc., Reston, Virginia; Tom 
Deutsch, American Securitization Forum, New York, New York, on behalf 
of the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association; Patricia 
A. McGuire, Trinity Washington University, and Sarah Flanagan, National 
Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, both of 
Washington, D.C.; and Mark Kantrowitz, FinAid.org, Cranberry Township, 
Pennsylvania.
LANDS BILLS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Public Lands 
and Forests concluded a hearing to examine S. 570 and H.R. 1011, bills 
to designate additional National Forest System lands in the State of 
Virginia as wilderness or a wilderness study area, to designate the 
Kimberling Creek Potential Wilderness Area for eventual incorporation 
in the Kimberling Creek Wilderness, to establish the Seng Mountain and 
Bear Creek Scenic Areas, to provide for the development of trail plans 
for the wilderness areas and scenic areas, S. 758, to direct the 
Secretary of the Interior to convey the Alta-Hualapai Site to the city 
of Las Vegas, Nevada, for the development of a cancer treatment 
facility, H.R. 1311, to provide for the conveyance of the Alta-Hualapai 
Site to the Nevada Cancer Institute, S. 1680, to provide for the 
inclusion of certain non-Federal land in the Izembek National Wildlife 
Refuge and the Alaska Peninsula National Wildlife Refuge in the State 
of Alaska, S. 2109, to designate certain Federal lands in Riverside 
County, California, as wilderness, to designate certain river segments 
in Riverside County as a wild, scenic, or recreational river, to adjust 
the boundary of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National 
Monument, S. 2124, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey 
certain land in the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest, Montana, to 
Jefferson County, Montana, for use as a cemetery, and S. 2581, to 
designate as wilderness additional National Forest System lands in the 
Monongahela National Forest in the State of West Virginia, after 
receiving testimony from Senators Warner and Boxer; Joel Holtrop, 
Deputy Chief, National Forest System, United States Forest Service, 
Department of Agriculture; Henri Bisson, Acting Senior Advisor to the 
Secretary for Alaska Affairs, and Elena Daly, Director, National 
Landscape Conservation System, Bureau of Land Management, both of the 
Department of the Interior; J.J. Murray, Virginia Wilderness Committee, 
Charlottesville; Stanley Senner, Audubon Alaska, Anchorage; and Della 
Trumble, King Cove, Alaska, on behalf of the Agdaagux Tribe.
PHARMACEUTICALS IN DRINKING WATER
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on 
Transportation Safety, Infrastructure Security, and Water Quality 
concluded a hearing to examine pharmaceuticals in the nation's drinking 
water, focusing on assessing potential risks and actions to address 
this issue, after receiving testimony from Benjamin H. Grumbles, 
Assistant Administrator for Water, Environmental Protection Agency; 
Robert M. Hirsch, Associate Director for Water, United States 
Geological Survey, Department of the Interior; Shane Snyder, Southern 
Nevada Water Authority, Henderson, on behalf of the American Water 
Works Association; David Pringle, New Jersey Environmental Federation, 
Trenton, on behalf of the New Jersey Environmental Federation and Clean 
Water Action; and Jennifer Sass, Natural Resources Defense Council, and 
Alan Goldhammer, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, 
both of Washington, D.C.
TAX REFORM
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine tax 
reform, focusing on the fundamentals for advancement, after receiving 
testimony from Daniel N. Shaviro, New York University School of Law, 
New York, New York; Michael J. Graetz, Yale Law School, New Haven, 
Connecticut; and Jason Furman, Brookings Institution, and Robert 
Carroll, Tax Foundation, both of Washington, D.C.
TREATIES
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 
1949, and relating to the Adoption of an Additional Distinctive Emblem 
(the ``Geneva Protocol III''), adopted at Geneva on December 8, 2005, 
and signed by the United States on that date, the Amendment to Article 
1 of the Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on

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the Use of Certain Conventional Weapons Which May be Deemed to be 
Excessively Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects (the ``CCW 
Amendment''), and the CCW Protocol on Explosive Remnants of War (the 
``CCW Protocol V'') (Treaty Doc. 109-10), the Hague Convention for the 
Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict (the 
Convention) and, for accession, The Hague Protocol, concluded on May 
14, 1954, and entered into force on August 7, 1956 with accompanying 
report from the Department of State (Treaty Doc. 106-01), and protocols 
to the 1980 Convention on Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of 
Certain Conventional Weapons Which May Be Deemed to Be Excessively 
Injurious or to Have Indiscriminate Effects: the amended Protocol on 
Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Mines, Booby-Traps and Other 
Devices (Protocol II or the Amended Mines Protocol), the Protocol on 
Prohibitions or Restrictions on the Use of Incendiary Weapons (Protocol 
III or the Incendiary Weapons Protocol), and the Protocol on Blinding 
Laser Weapons (Protocol IV) (Treaty Doc. 105-01), after receiving 
testimony from John B. Bellinger, Legal Adviser, Department of State; 
and Charles A. Allen, Deputy General Counsel (International Affairs), 
and Brigadier General Michelle D. Johnson, Deputy Director for the War 
on Terrorism and Global Effects, J-5 Strategic Plans and Policy 
Directorate, Joint Staff, the Pentagon, both of the Department of 
Defense.
NUCLEAR TERRORISM
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine nuclear terrorism, focusing on 
confronting the challenges of various nuclear attack scenarios, after 
receiving testimony from John R. Gibb, New York State Emergency 
Management Office, Albany; Ashton B. Carter, Harvard University John F. 
Kennedy School of Government, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Cham E. Dallas, 
University of Georgia College of Public Health, Athens; and Roger C. 
Molander, RAND Corporation, Santa Monica, California.
2010 DECENNIAL CENSUS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine the 2010 Decennial Census, focusing on 
automation and information technology in order to improve census 
coverage, accuracy, and efficiency, after receiving testimony from 
Carlos M. Gutierrez, Secretary, and Steve H. Murdock, Director, United 
States Census Bureau, both of the Department of Commerce; and Mathew 
Scire, Director, Strategic Issues, and David A. Powner, Director, 
Information Technology Management Issues, both of the Government 
Accountability Office.
TOMATO WORKERS' WORKING CONDITIONS
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine ending abuses and improving working 
conditions for tomato workers, after receiving testimony from Lucas 
Benitez, Coalition of Immokalee Workers, and Roy Reyna, both of 
Immokalee, Florida; Charlie Frost, Collier County Sheriff's Office, 
Naples, Florida; Mary Bauer, Southern Poverty Law Center Immigrant 
Justice Project, Montgomery, Alabama; Reginald L. Brown, Florida Tomato 
Growers Exchange, Maitland; and Eric Schlosser, Monterey, California.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on 
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the 
intelligence community.
  Committee recessed subject to the call.