[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 152 (Wednesday, September 24, 2008)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1160-D1162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATION
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the nomination of Mark Everett Keenum, of 
Mississippi, to be a Member of the Farm Credit Administration Board, 
Farm Credit Administration, after the nominee, who was introduced by 
Senator Harkin, testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
AUTOMOBILE TRADE
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Interstate Commerce, Trade, and Tourism concluded a hearing to examine 
the imbalance in United States-Korea automobile trade, after receiving 
testimony from Robert B. Cassidy, Kelley Drye Warren LLP, John T. 
Bozzella, Chrysler LLC, Ron Gettelfinger, International Union, United 
Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, 
Charles W. McMillion, MBG Information Services, and Myron Brilliant, 
United States Chamber of Commerce, on behalf of sundry organizations, 
all of Washington, D.C.
NUCLEAR FUEL TRANSPORTATION SAFETY AND SECURITY
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the safety and security of spent nuclear fuel 
transportation, after receiving testimony from Senators Reid and 
Ensign; Edward F. Sproat III, Director, Office of Civilian Radioactive 
Waste Management, Department of Energy; Michael Weber, Director, 
Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, United States Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission; Edward Pritchard, Director, Office of Safety 
Assurance and Compliance, Federal Railroad Administration, and Ted 
Willke, Associate Administrator for Hazardous Materials Safety, 
Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration, both of the 
Department of Transportation; Sandra Schubert, Environmental Working 
Group, Kevin D. Crowley, National Academies, and Edward R. Hamberger, 
Association of American Railroads, all of Washington, D.C.; and James 
David Ballard, California State University, Northridge, Department of 
Sociology.
ENVIRONMENTAL RECORD
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the Bush Administration's environmental record at 
the Department of the Interior and the Environmental Protection Agency 
(EPA), after receiving testimony from Carl Pope, Sierra Club, and Jamie 
Rappaport Clark,

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Defenders of Wildlife, both of Washington, D.C.; Jim Ball, Evangelical 
Environmental Network, Suwanee, Georgia; and Allen Schaeffer, Diesel 
Technology Forum, Frederick, Maryland.
AFRICAN RESOURCES
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on African Affairs 
concluded a hearing to examine Africa's management of its extractive 
industries, including the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative 
(EITI) which aims to strengthen governance by improving transparency 
and accountability in the extractives sector by setting a global 
standard for companies to publish the fees they pay and for governments 
to disclose the money they receive, after receiving testimony from Todd 
Moss, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; Paul 
Collier, University of Oxford Center for the Study of African 
Economies, Oxford, United Kingdom; David L. Goldwyn, Goldwyn 
International Strategies, Washington, D.C.; and Simon Taylor, Global 
Witness, London, United Kingdom.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of James Franklin Jeffrey, of Virginia, to be 
Ambassador to the Republic of Turkey, who was introduced by Senator 
Warner, and Gene Allan Cretz, of New York, to be Ambassador to Libya, 
after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own 
behalf.
DOMESTIC PARTNERSHIP BENEFITS AND OBLIGATIONS ACT
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine domestic partner benefits for federal 
employees, including S. 2521, to provide benefits to domestic partners 
of Federal employees, after receiving testimony from Howard C. 
Weizmann, Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management; Yvette C. 
Burton, IBM Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender (GLBT) and Human 
Capital Management Segments, New York, New York; Colleen M. Kelley, 
National Treasury Employees Union, and Sherri Bracey, American 
Federation of Government Employees (AFL-CIO), both of Washington, D.C.; 
and Frank A. Hartigan, San Francisco, California.
PREPAREDNESS PLANNING
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Ad Hoc 
Subcommittee on State, Local, and Private Sector Preparedness and 
Integration concluded a hearing to examine the Federal Emergency 
Management Agency's (FEMA) future preparedness planning, after 
receiving testimony from Marko Bourne, Director, Policy and Program 
Analysis, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland 
Security; Nancy J. Dragani, Ohio Emergency Management Agency, Columbus, 
on behalf of the National Emergency Management Association; Larry 
Gispert, Hillsborough County, Tampa, Florida, on behalf of the 
International Association of Emergency Managers; and Jane Bullock, 
Bullock and Haddow, Washington, D.C.
EXTRACTING NATURAL RESOURCES
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law 
concluded a hearing to examine extracting natural resources in foreign 
countries, focusing on corporate responsibility and the rule of law 
relative to human rights issues, after receiving testimony from Jeffrey 
Krilla, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human 
Rights and Labor; * Ka Hsaw Wa, EarthRights International, Bennett 
Freeman, Calvert Group, and Arvind Ganesan, Human Rights Watch, all of 
Washington, D.C.; and Nnimmo Bassey, Environmental Rights Action/
Friends of the Earth Nigeria, Lagos, Nigeria.
  * Ka Hsaw Wa is a pseudonym used to protect his ability to 
investigate human rights abuses and to protect his family members still 
living in Burma.
VISA WAIVER PROGRAM
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and 
Homeland Security concluded a hearing to examine the Visa Waiver 
Program, focusing on actions needed to improve management of the 
expansion process and to assess and mitigate risks to ensure the safety 
of all Americans, after receiving testimony from Stewart A. Baker, 
Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security for the Office of Policy 
Directorate; and Jess T. Ford, Director, International Affairs and 
Trade, Government Accountability Office.
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine cooperation and collaboration by the Departments of Veterans 
Affairs and Defense on information technology efforts to accelerate the 
exchange of health information between the Departments and to develop 
systems or capabilities that allow for the ability of systems to use 
data that are exchanged, after receiving testimony from Valerie C. 
Melvin, Director, Human Capital and Management Information Systems 
Issues, Government Accountability Office; S. Ward Casscells, Assistant 
Secretary for Health Affairs, and Charles Campbell, Chief Information 
Officer, Military Health System, both of the Department of Defense; and 
Michael J. Kussman, Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health, 
Veterans Health Administration.

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END-OF-LIFE/PALLIATIVE CARE
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
ways to respect Americans' legal and medical care choices at the end of 
life, after receiving testimony from W.A. Drew Edmondson, Oklahoma 
Attorney General, Oklahoma City; Joan Curran, Gundersen Lutheran Health 
System, LaCrosse, Wisconsin; Joseph D. O'Connor, American Bar 
Association Commission on Law and Aging, Bloomington, Indiana; Diane E. 
Meier, Mount Sinai School of Medicine Departments of Geriatrics and 
Medicine, New York, New York; Joan M. Teno, Brown University Warren 
Alpert School of Medicine, Providence, Rhode Island; and Patricia A. 
Bomba, Excellus BlueCross BlueShield, Rochester, New York.