[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 78 (Wednesday, May 20, 2009)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D589-D591]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, 
and Related Programs concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget 
estimates for fiscal year 2010 for the Department of State, after 
receiving testimony from Hillary Rodham Clinton, Secretary of State.
APPROPRIATIONS: FOREST SERVICE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and 
Related Agencies concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget 
estimates for fiscal year 2010 for the Forest Service, after receiving 
testimony from Abigail Kimbell, Chief, Forest Service, Department of 
Agriculture.
MILITARY SPACE PROGRAMS BUDGET
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces concluded 
open and closed hearings to examine the Defense Authorization request 
for fiscal year 2010 and Future Years Defense Program for military 
space programs, after receiving testimony from Gary E. Payton, Deputy 
Under Secretary of the Air Force for Space Programs, General C. Robert 
Kehler, USAF, Commander, Air Force Space Command, Lieutenant General 
Larry D. James, USAF, Commander, 14th Air Force, Air Force Space 
Command, and Commander, Joint Functional Component Command for Space, 
Strategic Command, and Vice Admiral Harry B. Harris, Jr., USN, Deputy 
Chief of Naval Operations for Communication Networks, all of the 
Department of Defense; and Cristina T. Chaplain, Director, Acquisition 
and Sourcing Management, Government Accountability Office.
ACTIVE COMPONENT, RESERVE COMPONENT, AND CIVILIAN PERSONNEL PROGRAM 
BUDGET
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Personnel concluded a 
hearing to examine the Defense Authorization request for fiscal year 
2010 and Future Years Defense Program for active component, reserve 
component, and civilian personnel programs, after receiving testimony 
from Lieutenant General Michael D. Rochelle, USA, Deputy Chief of Staff 
G-1, United States Army, Lieutenant General Richard Y. Newton III, 
USAF, Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower and Personnel, United States 
Air Force, Vice Admiral Mark E. Ferguson III, USN, Chief of Naval 
Personnel, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Manpower, Personnel, 
Training, and Education, United States Navy, and Lieutenant General 
Ronald S. Coleman, USMC, Deputy Commandant for Manpower and Reserve 
Affairs, United States Marine Corps, all of the Department of Defense; 
and Colonel Steven P. Strobridge, USAF (Ret.), Military Officers 
Association of America, Dierdre Parke Holleman, Retired Enlisted 
Association, Master Chief Joseph L. Barnes, USN (Ret.), Fleet Reserve 
Association, Captain Ike Puzon, USNR (Ret.), Naval Reserve Association 
and Guard/Reserve Committee, all of The Military Coalition; and Captain 
Bradley J. Snyder, USA (Ret.), Armed Forces Services Corporation.

[[Page D590]]


TROUBLED ASSET RELIEF PROGRAM
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded 
an oversight hearing to examine the Troubled Asset Relief Program 
(TARP), after receiving testimony from Tim Geithner, Secretary of the 
Treasury.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
   S. 380, to expand the boundaries of the Thunder Bay National 
Marine Sanctuary and Underwater Preserve, with an amendment;
  S. 212, to expand the boundaries of the Gulf of the Farallones 
National Marine Sanctuary and the Cordell Bank National Marine 
Sanctuary, with an amendment;
  S. 859, to amend the provisions of law relating to the John H. 
Prescott Marine Mammal Rescue Assistance Grant Program;
  S. 601, to establish the Weather Mitigation Research Office, with 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1023, to establish a non-profit corporation to communicate 
United States entry policies and otherwise promote leisure, 
business, and scholarly travel to the United States, with an 
amendment;
  S. 38, to establish a United States Boxing Commission to 
administer the Act;
  S. 685, to require new vessels for carrying oil fuel to have 
double hulls, with an amendment; and
  The nominations of J. Randolph Babbitt, of Virginia, to be 
Administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration, and John D. 
Porcari, of Maryland, to be Deputy Secretary, both of the Department 
of Transportation, Rebecca M. Blank, of Maryland, to be Under 
Secretary for Economic Affairs, and Lawrence E. Strickling, of 
Illinois, to be Assistant Secretary for Communications and 
Information, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, both 
of the Department of Commerce, Aneesh Chopra, of Virginia, to be 
Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, 
and routine lists in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration.
COMPREHENSIVE HEALTH REFORM
Committee on Finance: Committee met in closed session to examine 
financing comprehensive health reform.
STRATEGY FOR SOMALIA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on African Affairs 
concluded a hearing to examine developing a coordinated and sustainable 
strategy for Somalia, after receiving testimony from Johnnie Carson, 
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; Ken Menkhaus, 
Davidson College, Davidson, North Carolina; and Shannon Scribner, Oxfam 
America, Washington, DC.
PAKISTAN AND AFGHANISTAN
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee met in closed session to 
receive a briefing to examine developments on the ground in Pakistan 
and Afghanistan from representatives from the Joint Chiefs of Staffs.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the nominations of Robert Orris Blake, Jr., of Maryland, to be 
Assistant Secretary for South Asian Affairs, and Judith A. McHale, of 
Maryland, to be Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, both of the 
Department of State.
INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS BUDGET
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2010 
for international affairs, after receiving testimony from Hillary R. 
Clinton, Secretary of State.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
ordered favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 599, to amend chapter 81 of title 5, United States Code, to 
create a presumption that a disability or death of a Federal 
employee in fire protection activities caused by any certain 
diseases is the result of the performance of such employee's duty, 
with an amendment;
  S. 629, to facilitate the part-time reemployment of annuitants, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 707, to enhance the Federal Telework Program, with an 
amendment;
  S. 1064, Enhanced Oversight of State and Local Economic Recovery 
Act, with amendments;
  S. 920, to amend section 11317 of title 40, United States Code, to 
improve the transparency of the status of information technology 
investments, to require greater accountability for cost overruns on 
Federal information technology investment projects, to improve the 
processes agencies implement to manage information technology 
investments, to reward excellence in information technology 
acquisition, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 942, to prevent the abuse of Government charge cards;
  S. 469, to amend chapter 83 of title 5, United States Code, to 
modify the computation for part-time service under the Civil Service 
Retirement System;
  S. 692, to provide that claims of the United States to certain 
documents relating to Franklin Delano Roosevelt shall be treated as 
waived and relinquished in certain circumstances;
  H.R. 918, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 300 East 3rd Street in Jamestown, New York, as 
the ``Stan Lundine Post Office Building'';

[[Page D591]]


  H.R. 1595, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 3245 Latta Road in Rochester, New York, as the 
``Brian K. Schramm Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 663, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 12877 Broad Street in Sparta, Georgia, as the 
``Yvonne Ingram-Ephraim Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 1284, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 103 West Main Street in McLain, Mississippi, as 
the ``Major Ed W. Freeman Post Office''; and
  The nominations of David Heyman, of the District of Columbia, to 
be Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, Cass R. Sunstein, of 
Massachusetts, to be Administrator of the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, Robert M. 
Groves, of Michigan, to be Director of the Census, Department of 
Commerce, Marisa J. Demeo, of the District of Columbia, and Florence 
Y. Pan, of the District of Columbia, each to be an Associate Judge 
of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT PROGRAM
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Ad Hoc 
Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery concluded a hearing to examine the 
role of Community Development Block Grant Program in disaster recovery, 
after receiving testimony from Frederick Tombar, Senior Advisor, Office 
of the Secretary, Department of Housing and Urban Development; 
Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour, Jackson; Paul Rainwater, Louisiana 
Recovery Authority, Baton Rouge; Charles S. Stone, State of Texas 
Office of Rural Community Affairs, and Karen Paup, Texas Low Income 
Housing Information Service, both of Austin; Dominique Duval-Diop, 
PolicyLink, and Melanie Ehrlich, Citizens' Road Home Action Team, both 
of New Orleans, Louisiana; and Reilly Morse, Mississippi Center for 
Justice Katrina Recovery Office, Biloxi.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported S. 982, to protect the public health by providing 
the Food and Drug Administration with certain authority to regulate 
tobacco products, with amendments; and
  The nominations of Linda A. Puchala, of Maryland, to be a Member 
of the National Mediation Board, John Q. Easton, of Illinois, to be 
Director of the Institute of Education Science, Department of 
Education, and Seth David Harris, of New Jersey, to be Deputy 
Secretary of Labor.
SECURING THE BORDER AND POINTS OF ENTRY
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and 
Border Security concluded a hearing to examine securing the border and 
America's points of entry, after receiving testimony from former 
Representative Hayworth; John P. Torres, Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Operations, David V. Aguilar, Chief, Office of Border Patrol, and 
Thomas Winkowski, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations, 
all of United States Customs and Border Protection, Department of 
Homeland Security; Mayor Chad Foster, Eagle Pass, Texas; Richard Wiles, 
El Paso County Sheriff, El Paso, Texas; Douglas S. Massey, Princeton 
University Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, 
Princeton, New Jersey; and Sam F. Vale, Starr-Camargo Bridge Co., Rio 
Grande City, Texas.
HEALTH CARE FRAUD
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs concluded a 
hearing to examine criminal prosecution as a deterrent to health care 
fraud, after receiving testimony from Lanny A. Breur, Assistant 
Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice; Sean 
Dilweg, Wisconsin State Commissioner of Insurance, Madison; Malcolm K. 
Sparrow, Harvard University John F. Kennedy School of Government, 
Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Sheri Farrar, Health Care Services 
Corporation, Chicago, Illinois.
PENSION PLANS
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
pension plans, after receiving testimony from Barbara D. Bovbjerg, 
Director, Education, Workforce, and Income Security, Government 
Accountability Office; Rebecca Anne Batts, Inspector General, Vincent 
K. Snowbarger, Acting Director, and Charles E.F. Millard, former 
Director, all of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; and Dallas 
Salisbury, Employee Benefit Research Institute, Washington, DC.