[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 105 (Tuesday, June 24, 2008)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D800-D802]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENTS OF LABOR, HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, 
EDUCATION, AND RELATED AGENCIES
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, Education, and Related Agencies approved for full Committee 
consideration an original bill making appropriations for the 
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and related 
agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2009.
CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS ON TRANSPORTATION SECTOR
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine climate change impacts on the transportation 
sector, focusing on ways to ensure safe, efficient, and reliable 
performance of the highway, transit, rail, maritime, pipeline, and 
aviation networks, after receiving testimony from Vice Admiral Thomas 
J. Barrett, USN (Ret.), Deputy Secretary of Transportation; James M. 
Turner, Deputy Director, National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, and Thomas C. Peterson, Senior Scientist, Climate Services 
Division, National Climatic Data Center, National Environmental 
Satellite, Data, and Information Service, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), both of the Department of Commerce; 
Mead Treadwell, Chairman, United States Arctic Research Commission; 
John D. Porcari, Maryland Department of Transportation, Hanover, 
Maryland, on behalf of the American Association of State Highway and 
Transportation Officials; G. Edward Dickey, Loyola College, Baltimore, 
Maryland, on behalf of the National Academies; and David Friedman, 
Union of Concerned Scientists, Edward R. Hamberger, Association of 
American Railroads, and John M. Meenan, Air Transport Association of 
America, Inc., all of Washington, D.C.

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BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following:
  S. 2907, to establish uniform administrative and enforcement 
procedures and penalties for the enforcement of the High Seas Driftnet 
Fishing Moratorium Protection Act and similar statutes;
  An original bill entitled, ``The National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration Authorization Act of 2008'';
  S. 3160, to reauthorize and amend the National Sea Grant College 
Program Act; and
  Sundry promotion lists in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration and the United States Coast Guard.
TRADE FUNCTIONS
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded an oversight hearing to 
examine trade functions, focusing on U.S. Customs and Border Protection 
and other trade agencies, after receiving testimony from W. Ralph 
Basham, Commissioner, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Julie L. 
Myers, Assistant Secretary, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 
both of the Department of Homeland Security; Timothy E. Skud, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax, Trade, and Tariff Policy; 
Daniel R. Pearson, Vice Chairman, United States International Trade 
Commission; and Warren Maruyama, General Counsel, Office of the United 
States Trade Representative.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following:
  H.R. 176, to authorize the establishment of educational exchange and 
development programs for member countries of the Caribbean Community 
(CARICOM), with amendments;
  H.R. 2553, to amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 
1956 to provide for the establishment and maintenance of existing 
libraries and resource centers at United States diplomatic and consular 
missions to provide information about American culture, society, and 
history, with amendments;
  S. 2120, to authorize the establishment of a Social Investment and 
Economic Development Fund for the Americas to provide assistance to 
reduce poverty, expand the middle class, and foster increased economic 
opportunity in the countries of the Western Hemisphere;
  S. 2166, to provide for greater responsibility in lending and 
expanded cancellation of debts owed to the United States and the 
international financial institutions by low-income countries, with 
amendments;
  S. 3097, to amend the Vietnam Education Foundation Act of 2000;
  S. 3168, to authorize United States participation in the 
replenishment of resources of the International Development 
Association;
  S. 3169, to authorize United States participation in, and 
appropriations for the United States contribution to, the eleventh 
replenishment of the resources of the African Development Fund;
  International Convention Against Doping in Sport, adopted by the 
United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization on 
October 19, 2005 (Treaty Doc.110-14); and
  The nominations of Liliana Ayalde, of Maryland, to be Ambassador to 
the Republic of Paraguay, John R. Beyrle, of Michigan, to be Ambassador 
to the Russian Federation, Eric J. Boswell, of the District of 
Columbia, to be Director of the Office of Foreign Missions, and to have 
the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service, Asif J. Chaudhry, 
of Washington, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Moldova, James 
Culbertson, of North Carolina, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of the 
Netherlands, Rosemary Anne DiCarlo, of the District of Columbia, to be 
an Alternate Representative of the United States of America to the 
Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations during her 
tenure of service as Alternate Representative of the United States of 
America for Special Political Affairs in the United Nations and to be 
Alternate Representative of the United States of America for Special 
Political Affairs in the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador, 
David F. Girard-diCarlo, of Pennsylvania, to be Ambassador to the 
Republic of Austria, John Melvin Jones, of Virginia, to be Ambassador 
to the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, Tina S. Kaidanow, of the 
District of Columbia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Kosovo, 
Lyndon L. Olson, Jr., of Texas, to be a Member of the United States 
Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, Philip Thomas Reeker, of the 
District of Columbia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Macedonia, 
Kristen Silverberg, of Texas, to be Representative of the United States 
of America to the European Union, with the rank and status of 
Ambassador, Lezlee J. Westine, of Virginia, to be a Member of the 
United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, and sundry 
promotion lists in the Foreign Service.
COMMODITY MARKETS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine ending excessive speculation in 
commodity markets, focusing on legislative options, after receiving 
testimony from Walter Lukken, Acting Chairman,

[[Page D802]]

United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission; James Newsome, New 
York Mercantile Exchange, Inc., New York, New York; Michael W. Masters, 
Masters Capital Management, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia; William F. Quinn, 
Committee on the Investment of Employee Benefit Assets, Bethesda, 
Maryland; James J. Angel, Georgetown University McDonough School of 
Business, Washington, D.C.; and Michael Greenberger, University of 
Maryland School of Law, Baltimore.
ANTIMICROBIALS IN THE U.S.
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine the public health impacts of 
antimicrobial resistant bacterial infections in the United States, 
focusing on current antimicrobials and continued development of new 
solutions for the future protection against infectious diseases, after 
receiving testimony from Fred C. Tenover, Director, Office of 
Antimicrobial Resistance, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
and Rear Admiral Linda Tollefson, Assistant Commissioner for Science, 
United States Food and Drug Administration, both of the Department of 
Health and Human Services; Jay P. Graham, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg 
School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland; Lyle Vogel, American 
Veterinary Medical Association, Schaumburg, Illinois; Patrick J. 
Brennan, University of Pennsylvania Health System, Philadelphia, on 
behalf of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America; Barry I. 
Eisenstein, Cubist Pharmaceuticals, Lexington, Massachusetts; and 
Brandon Noble, Chester Springs, Pennsylvania.
CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law 
concluded a hearing to examine the issue of genocide from Nuremberg to 
Darfur, focusing on accountability for crimes against humanity, after 
receiving testimony from Gayle E. Smith, ENOUGH Project, and Diane 
Orentlicher, American University Washington College of Law, both of 
Washington, D.C.; Joey Cheek, Team Darfur, Greensboro, North Carolina; 
and Daoud Ibrahim Hari, Baltimore, Maryland.