[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 97 (Thursday, June 12, 2008)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D735-D736]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NATION'S INFRASTRUCTURE
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the condition of the infrastructure of the United 
States, focusing on local perspectives from certain cities, including 
S. 1926, to establish the National Infrastructure Bank to provide 
funding for qualified infrastructure projects, after receiving 
testimony from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, New York, New York; Mayor 
Shirley Franklin, Atlanta, Georgia; Mayor John Peyton, Jacksonville, 
Florida; and Mayor Mark Funkhouser, Kansas City, Missouri.
FREIGHT SECURITY
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and 
Security concluded a hearing to examine supply chain security, focusing 
on the Secure Freight Initiative and the implementation of 100 percent 
scanning of U.S.-bound cargo containers, after receiving testimony from 
Jayson Ahern, Deputy Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 
Department of Homeland Security; David Huizenga, Assistant Deputy 
Administrator, Office of International Material Protection and 
Cooperation, Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, National Nuclear 
Security Administration, Department of Energy; and Stephen L. Caldwell, 
Director, Homeland Security and Justice, Government Accountability 
Office.
RENEWABLE FUELS POLICY AND FOOD PRICES
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded an 
oversight hearing to examine the relationship between the United States 
renewable fuels policy and food prices, after receiving testimony from 
Alexander Karsner, Assistant Secretary of Energy for Energy Efficiency 
and Renewable Energy; Joseph Glauber, Chief Economist, Department of 
Agriculture; Joe L. Outlaw, Texas A&M University Agricultural and Food 
Policy Center, College Station; Jason Pyle, Sapphire Energy, Inc., San 
Diego, California; Joachim von Braun, International Food Policy 
Research Institute, Washington, D.C.; and Jack Huttner, Genecor, 
Rochester, New York.
U.S. TRADE PREFERENCE PROGRAMS
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded an oversight hearing to 
examine the United States trade preference programs, focusing on 
promoting economic development in poor nations by providing duty-free 
export opportunities in the United States, after receiving testimony 
from Loren Yager, Director, International Affairs and Trade, Government 
Accountability Office; Grant D. Aldonas, Split Rock International, 
Arlington, Virginia; and Edward Gresser, Progressive Policy Institute, 
and Andrew Small, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) 
Department of Justice, Peace, and Human Development, both of 
Washington, D.C.
OIL AND NATURAL GAS PIPELINE
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the influence of energy issues on the foreign policy of the 
United States, focusing on the East-West oil and natural gas pipeline 
corridor proposed to stretch from Central Asia to European and global 
markets, after receiving testimony

[[Page D736]]

from Zbigniew Brzezinski, former National Security Adviser, Center for 
Strategic and International Studies, Leon Fuerth, George Washington 
University Elliot School of International Affairs, and Zeyno Baran, 
Hudson Institute Center for Eurasian Policy, all of Washington, D.C.; 
and Roman Kupchinsky, AZEast Group, Mahwah, New Jersey.
U.S.-PAKISTAN STRATEGIC RELATIONSHIP
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal 
Services, and International Security concluded a hearing to examine 
addressing the United States-Pakistan strategic relationship, focusing 
on the national security of the United States, after receiving 
testimony from Senator Feingold; Don Camp, Principal Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs; K. Alan 
Kronstadt, Specialist, South Asian Affairs, Congressional Research 
Service, Library of Congress; Lisa Curtis, Heritage Foundation Asian 
Studies Center, and Stephen P. Cohen, Brookings Institution, both of 
Washington, D.C.; and Michael Krepon, University of Virginia Henry L. 
Stimson Center, Charlottesville.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following:
  H.R. 3480, to direct the United States Sentencing Commission to 
assure appropriate punishment enhancements for those involved in 
receiving stolen property where that property consists of grave markers 
of veterans;
  S. Res. 576, designating August 2008 as ``Digital Television 
Transition Awareness Month''; and
  The nominations of Helene N. White, of Michigan, and Raymond M. 
Kethledge, of Michigan, each to be a United States Circuit Judge for 
the Sixth Circuit, and Stephen Joseph Murphy III, to be United States 
District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan.