[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 121 (Wednesday, July 23, 2008)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D933-D935]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
DEFENSE CONTRACTING IN IRAQ
Committee on Appropriations: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the adequacy of defense contracting oversight for Operation Iraqi 
Freedom, after receiving testimony from Gordon England, Deputy 
Secretary, Gordon S. Heddell, Acting Inspector General, and General 
Benjamin S. Griffin, Commanding Officer, United States Army Materiel 
Command, all of the Department of Defense.
REDUCING GASOLINE DEMAND
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the status of existing federal programs targeted at 
reducing gasoline demand, focusing on additional proposals for near-
term gasoline demand reductions, after receiving testimony from Steven 
G. Chalk, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and 
Renewable Energy, and David L. Greene, Corporate Fellow, Transportation 
Science and Energy Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, both of the 
Department of Energy; John A. Laitner, American Council for an Energy-
Efficient Economy (ACEEE), Washington, D.C.; Steve Winkelman, Center 
for Clean Air Policy, Port Chester, New York; and Edward R. Buiel, 
Axion Power International, Inc., New Castle, Pennsylvania.
MIDWEST FLOODS
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the recent floods in the Midwestern United States, 
focusing on ways to determine what happened and how to improve managing 
risk and responses in the future, after receiving testimony from 
Senators Grassley, Durbin, and McCaskill; and John Paul Woodley, Jr., 
Assistant Secretary for Civil Works, and Brigadier General Michael J. 
Walsh, Division Commander, Mississippi Valley Division, U.S. Army Corps 
of Engineers, both of the Department of the Army, Department of 
Defense.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following:
  S.J. Res. 41, approving the renewal of import restrictions contained 
in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act of 2003.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of James Christopher Swan, of California, to be 
Ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti, Alan W. Eastham, Jr., of 
Arkansas, to be Ambassador to the Republic of the Congo, W. Stuart 
Symington, of Missouri, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Rwanda, who 
was introduced by Senators Klobuchar and McCaskill, and John A. Simon, 
of Maryland, to be Representative of the United States of America to 
the African Union, with the rank and status of Ambassador, all of the 
Department of State, after the nominees testified and answered 
questions in their own behalf.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Tatiana C. Gfoeller-Volkoff, of the District 
of Columbia, to be Ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic, Richard G. Olson, 
Jr., of New Mexico, to be Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates, David 
D. Pearce, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the People's Democratic 
Republic of Algeria, and Michele Jeanne Sison, of Maryland, to be 
Ambassador to the Republic of Lebanon, all of the Department of State, 
after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own 
behalf.
UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on International 
Operations and Organizations, Democracy and Human Rights concluded a 
hearing to examine United Nations peacekeeping operations, focusing on 
opportunities and challenges for the administration of the next 
president of the United States, after receiving testimony from Brian 
Hook, Acting Assistant Secretary of State for International 
Organization Affairs; Brett D. Schaefer, Heritage Foundation Margaret 
Thatcher Center for Freedom, and William J. Durch, Henry L. Stimson 
Center, both of Washington, D.C.; and Nancy Soderberg, University of 
North Florida, Jacksonville.
INFORMATION SHARING
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine information sharing, including the 
actions that have been taken to guide the design and implementation of 
the Information Sharing Environment (ISE), and

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to report its progress, the characteristics of state and local fusion 
centers and the extent to which federal efforts are helping to address 
some of the challenges centers reported, and the progress made in 
developing streamlined policies and procedures for designating, 
marking, safeguarding, and disseminating sensitive but unclassified 
information, after receiving testimony from Eileen R. Larence, 
Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issues, Government 
Accountability Office; Charles E. Allen, Under Secretary of Homeland 
Security for Intelligence and Analysis, and Chief Intelligence Officer; 
James M. Thomas, Connecticut Department of Emergency Management and 
Homeland Security, Hartford; and Thomas E. McNamara, Information 
Sharing Environment, and Jeffrey H. Smith, Arnold and Porter LLP, both 
of Washington, D.C.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of Carol A. Dalton, 
Anthony C. Epstein, and Heidi M. Pasichow, all of the District of 
Columbia, all to be an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the 
District of Columbia, who were introduced by Representative Norton, 
after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own 
behalf.
CHILDHOOD OBESITY
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Subcommittee on 
Children and Families concluded hearings to examine childhood obesity, 
focusing on the declining health of America's next generation (Part 
II), after receiving testimony from Joseph W. Thompson, Arkansas 
Surgeon General, Little Rock, on behalf of the Robert Wood Johnson 
Foundation Center to Prevent Childhood Obesity; Philip J. Dwyer, 
Central Connecticut Coast YMCA, New Haven; Susan K. Neely, American 
Beverage Association, Washington, D.C.; and Jonathan Miller, Ypsilanti, 
Michigan.
SUPREME COURT DECISIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the impact of Supreme Court decisions, focusing on recent decisions on 
corporate misconduct and laws regulating corporations, after receiving 
testimony from Elizabeth Bartholet, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, 
Massachusetts; Patricia Ann Millett, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, 
LLP, Washington, D.C.; and Osa Marie Schultz, Cordova, Alaska.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of J. Patrick Rowan, of Maryland, and Jeffrey Leigh 
Sedgwick, of Massachusetts, both to be an Assistant Attorney General, 
Department of Justice, and William B. Carr, Jr., of Pennsylvania, to be 
a Member of the United States Sentencing Commission, after the nominees 
testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVES VA OUTREACH
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight 
hearing to examine the Department of Veterans Affairs, focusing on 
responding to the needs of returning United States National Guard and 
Reserve members, after receiving testimony from Donald Nelson, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Reserve Affairs; Bradley G. Mayes, 
Director, Compensation and Pension Service, Veterans Benefits 
Administration, and Major General Marianne Mathewson-Chapman, (Ret.) 
Army National Guard, Coordinator of National Guard, Reserve and 
Families, VHA OEF/OIF Outreach Office, Veterans Health Administration, 
both of the Department of Veterans Affairs; Joseph R. Scotti, West 
Virginia University, Morgantown; Colonel Bradley A. Livingston, Montana 
National Guard, Fort Harrison; Lieutenant Colonel John Boyd, Vermont 
Army National Guard, Colchester; Sergeant Roy Meredith, Maryland Army 
National Guard, Annapolis; and Major Cynthia M. Rasmussen, Combat 
Stress Officer, Sexual Assault Response Coordinator, 88th Regional 
Readiness Command, Fort Snelling, Minnesota.
NURSING HOME CARE
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
person-centered health care at nursing homes, focusing on reforming 
services and improving the quality of care, after receiving testimony 
from Bill Thomas, University of Maryland Baltimore Erickson School, 
Ithaca, New York; Robert Jenkens, GREEN HOUSE Project, Arlington, 
Virginia; Melinda Abrams, Commonwealth Fund, New York, New York; Eric 
A. Coleman, University of Colorado at Denver and Health Sciences 
Center; Edna Hess, Lebanon Valley Brethren Home, Palmyra, Pennsylvania; 
Diana White, Portland State University Institute on Aging, Portland, 
Oregon; and Zoe Valentine Holland, Lincoln, Nebraska.
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