[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 128 (Wednesday, July 30, 2008)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D982-D984]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
ORGANIZATIONAL MEETING
Committee on Appropriations: Committee announced the following 
subcommittee changes:
Subcommittee on Defense: Senators Inouye (Chairman), Byrd, Leahy, 
Harkin, Dorgan, Durbin, Feinstein, Mikulski, Kohl, Murray, Cochran, 
Stevens, Specter, Domenici, Bond, McConnell, Shelby, Gregg, and 
Hutchison.
Senator Byrd, as chairman of the Committee, and Senator Cochran, as 
ranking minority member of the Committee, are ex officio members of all 
subcommittees of which they are not regular members.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
Committee on Armed Services: Committee met in closed session to 
consider pending intelligence matters, receiving testimony from General 
Norton A. Schwartz, USAF, Commander, United States Transportation 
Command, Department of Defense.

[[Page D983]]


LAND BILLS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine S. 1816, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior 
to establish a commemorative trail in connection with the Women's 
Rights National Historical Park to link properties that are 
historically and thematically associated with the struggle for women's 
suffrage, S. 2093, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate 
a segment of the Missisquoi and Trout Rivers in the State of Vermont 
for study for potential addition to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers 
System, S. 2535, to revise the boundary of the Martin Van Buren 
National Historic Site, S. 2561, to require the Secretary of the 
Interior to conduct a theme study to identify sites and resources to 
commemorate and interpret the Cold War, S. 3011, to amend the Palo Alto 
Battlefield National Historic Site Act of 1991 to expand the boundaries 
of the historic site, S. 3113, to reinstate the Interim Management 
Strategy governing off-road vehicle use in the Cape Hatteras National 
Seashore, North Carolina, pending the issuance of a final rule for off-
road vehicle use by the National Park Service, S. 3148, to modify the 
boundary of the Oregon Caves National Monument, S. 3158, to extend the 
authority for the Cape Cod National Seashore Advisory Commission, S. 
3226, to rename the Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National Historic Site 
in the State of Kentucky as the ``Abraham Lincoln Birthplace National 
Historical Park'', S. 3247, to provide for the designation of the River 
Raisin National Battlefield Park in the State of Michigan, and H.R. 
5137, to ensure that hunting remains a purpose of the New River Gorge 
National River, after receiving testimony from Senators Levin, Clinton, 
and Dole; Daniel N. Wenk, Deputy Director, National Park Service, 
Department of the Interior; Joel Holtrop, Deputy Chief, National Forest 
System, U.S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture; Warren Judge, 
North Carolina Board of Commissioners, Dare County; Derb S. Carter, 
Jr., Southern Environmental Law Center, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on 
behalf of sundry organizations; Coline Jenkins, Elizabeth Cady Stanton 
Trust, Greenwich, Connecticut; and William H. Braunlich, Monroe County 
Historical Society, Monroe County, Michigan.
NOMINATION
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nomination of Thomas J. Madison, of New York, to 
be Administrator of the Federal Highway Administration, Department of 
Transportation, after the nominee, who was introduced by Senator 
Schumer, testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
ordered favorably reported the following:
  S. 2583, to amend the Improper Payments Information Act of 2002 (31 
U.S.C. 3321 note) in order to prevent the loss of billions in taxpayer 
dollars, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 3341, to reauthorize and improve the Federal Financial Assistance 
Management Improvement Act of 1999;
  H.R. 3068, to prohibit the award of contracts to provide guard 
services under the contract security guard program of the Federal 
Protective Service to a business concern that is owned, controlled, or 
operated by an individual who has been convicted of a felony, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  H.R. 404, to require the establishment of customer service standards 
for Federal agencies, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 3328, to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to provide for a 
one-year extension of other transaction authority;
  S. 3241, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1717 Orange Avenue in Fort Pierce, Florida, as the 
``CeeCee Ross Lyles Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 6150, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 14500 Lorain Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio, as the 
``John P. Gallagher Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 6085, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 42222 Rancho Las Palmas Drive in Rancho Mirage, 
California, as the ``Gerald R. Ford Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 5477, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 120 South Del Mar Avenue in San Gabriel, California, 
as the ``Chi Mui Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 5631, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 1155 Seminole Trail in Charlottesville, Virginia, as 
the ``Corporal Bradley T. Arms Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 5483, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 10449 White Granite Drive in Oakton, Virginia, as 
the ``Private First Class David H. Sharrett II Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 6061, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 219 East Main Street in West Frankfort, Illinois, as 
the ``Kenneth James Gray Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 4210, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 401 Washington Avenue in Weldon, North Carolina, as 
the ``Dock M. Brown Post Office Building''; and

[[Page D984]]


  The nominations of Gus P. Coldebella, of Massachusetts, to be General 
Counsel, Department of Homeland Security, James A. Williams, of 
Virginia, to be Administrator of General Services, Carol A. Dalton, 
Anthony C. Epstein, and Heidi M. Pasichow, all to be an Associate Judge 
of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
FEMA
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Ad Hoc 
Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery concluded a hearing to examine 
planning for post-catastrophe housing needs, focusing on whether the 
Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has developed an effective 
strategy for housing large numbers of citizens displaced by a disaster, 
after receiving testimony from Harvey E. Johnson, Jr., Deputy 
Administrator, and David Garratt, Deputy Assistant Administrator for 
Disaster Assistance, both of the Federal Emergency Management Agency 
(FEMA), Department of Homeland Security; and Jan C. Opper, Associate 
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Disaster Policy and Management, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development.
SUBCOMMITTEE ASSIGNMENTS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
announced the following subcommittee assignments:
Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery: Senators Landrieu (Chairman), 
Carper, Pryor, Domenici, and Stevens.
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
hiring at the Department of Justice, focusing on an investigation into 
the hiring of attorneys for key career positions throughout the 
Department, after receiving testimony from Glenn A. Fine, Inspector 
General, Department of Justice.
GREAT LAKES-ST. LAWRENCE RIVER BASIN WATER RESOURCES COMPACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
S.J. Res. 45, expressing the consent and approval of Congress to an 
inter-state compact regarding water resources in the Great Lakes-St. 
Lawrence River Basin, after receiving testimony from Senator Voinovich; 
Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, Madison, on behalf of the Council of 
Great Lakes Governors; Mayor George Heartwell, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 
on behalf of the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence Cities Initiative; Kay 
L. Nelson, Northwest Indiana Forum, Portage, on behalf of the Business 
and Environmental Stakeholders of the State of Indiana; and Cameron 
Davis, Alliance for the Great Lakes, Chicago, Illinois.
HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT
Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine S. 3212, to amend the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to provide 
for auditable, independent verification of ballots, to ensure the 
security of voting systems, after receiving testimony from Todd Rokita, 
Indiana Secretary of State, Indianapolis, on behalf of the National 
Association of Secretaries of State; Barbara R. Arnwine, Lawyers' 
Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and Jim Dickson, American 
Association of People with Disabilities, both of Washington, D.C.; Juan 
E. Gilbert, Auburn University Department of Computer Science and 
Software Engineering, Auburn, Alabama; and Doug Lewis, National 
Association of Election Officials--The Election Center, Houston, Texas.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee ordered 
favorably reported S. 3362, to reauthorize and improve the SBIR and 
STTR programs.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on 
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the 
intelligence community.
  Committee recessed subject to call.