[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 79 (Thursday, May 21, 2009)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D603-D606]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, Education, and Related Agencies concluded a hearing to 
examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2010 for the National 
Institutes of Health, after receiving testimony from Raynard S. 
Kington, Acting Director, Anthony S. Fauci, Director, National 
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, Elizabeth G. Nabel, 
Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and John E. 
Niederhuber, Director, National Cancer Institute, all of the National 
Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.
APPROPRIATIONS: NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, 
Science, and Related Agencies concluded a hearing to examine proposed 
budget estimates for fiscal year 2010 for the National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration, after receiving testimony from Christopher J. 
Scolese, Acting Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration.
APPROPRIATIONS: FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural 
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 
concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
year 2010 for the Food and Drug Administration, after

[[Page D604]]

receiving testimony from Joshua M. Sharfstein, Acting Commissioner, and 
Patrick McGarey, Director, and Norris Cochran, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary, both of the Office of Budget, all of the Food and Drug 
Administration, Department of Health and Human Services.
APPROPRIATIONS: GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE, GOVERNMENT PRINTING 
OFFICE, AND THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Legislative Branch 
concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
year 2010 for the Government Accountability Office, the Government 
Printing Office, and the Congressional Budget Office, after receiving 
testimony from Gene L. Dodaro, Acting Comptroller General, Government 
Accountability Office; Robert C. Tapella, Public Printer, Government 
Printing Office; and Douglas W. Elmendorf, Director, Congressional 
Budget Office.
DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE BUDGET
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the Defense Authorization request for fiscal year 2010 and the Future 
Years Defense Program for the Department of the Air Force, after 
receiving testimony from Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force, 
and General Norton A. Schwartz, USAF, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, 
both of the Department of Defense.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the nominations of Peter M. Rogoff, of Virginia, to 
be Federal Transit Administrator, Department of Transportation, 
Francisco J. Sanchez, of Florida, to be Under Secretary of Commerce for 
International Trade, Sandra Brooks Henriquez, of Massachusetts, to be 
Assistant Secretary of Housing and Urban Development for Public and 
Indian Housing, and Michael S. Barr, of Michigan, to be Assistant 
Secretary of the Treasury for Financial Institutions.
IMPORTED DRYWALL HEALTH AND PRODUCT SAFETY ISSUES
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Consumer Protection, Product Safety, and Insurance concluded a hearing 
to examine health and product safety issues associated with imported 
drywall, after receiving testimony from Senator Landrieu; Lori 
Saltzman, Director, Division of Health Sciences, United States Consumer 
Product Safety Commission; Michael McGeehin, Director, Division of 
Environmental Hazards and Health Effects, National Center for 
Environmental Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 
Department of Health and Human Services; Elizabeth Southerland, Acting 
Deputy Director, Office of Superfund Remediation and Technology 
Innovation, Environmental Protection Agency; David Krause, Florida 
Department of Health State Toxicologist, Tallahassee; Randy Noel, The 
National Association of Home Builders, LaPlace, Louisiana; and Richard 
J. Kampf, Cape Coral, Florida.
NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION BUDGET
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Science and Space concluded a hearing to examine the President's 
proposed budget request for fiscal year 2010 for the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration, after receiving testimony from 
Christopher J. Scolese, Acting Administrator, National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded an 
oversight hearing to examine the Economic Development Administration, 
after receiving testimony from Sandra R. Walters, Chief Financial 
Officer, Chief Administrative Officer, Economic Development 
Administration, Department of Commerce; James Kennedy, Butler County 
Commissioner, Butler, Pennsylvania, on behalf of the National 
Association of Regional Councils; LaVern W. Phillips, Woodward 
Industrial Foundation, Woodward, Oklahoma; and Leanne Mazer, Tri-County 
Council for Western Maryland, Frostburg, on behalf of the National 
Association of Development Organizations.
U.S.-PANAMA TRADE PROMOTION AGREEMENT
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine The 
United States-Panama Trade Promotion Agreement, after receiving 
testimony from Everett Eissenstat, Assistant United States Trade 
Representative for the Americas; James Owens, Caterpillar, Inc., 
Peoria, Illinois, on behalf of the United States Chamber of Commerce 
Business Roundtable; Thea Mei Lee, AFL-CIO, Washington, D.C.; and Sam 
Carney, National Pork Producers Council, Adair, Iowa.
STRATEGY FOR AFGHANISTAN AND PAKISTAN
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine a new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, after receiving 
testimony from Admiral Michael G. Mullen, USN, Chairman of the Joint 
Chiefs of Staff, Department of Defense.

[[Page D605]]


FINANCIAL REGULATORY LESSONS FROM ABROAD
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine financial regulatory lessons from 
abroad, after receiving testimony from David Green, former Head of 
International Policy, Financial Services Authority, London, United 
Kingdom; Jeffrey Carmichael, Promontory Financial Group Australasia, 
Republic of Singapore; W. Edmund Clark, TD Bank Financial Group, 
Toronto, Ontario; and David G. Nason, Promontory Financial Group LLC, 
Washington, D.C.
TRUST LANDS FOR INDIAN TRIBES
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
executive branch authority to acquire trust lands for Indian tribes, 
after receiving testimony from Lawrence E. Long, South Dakota Attorney 
General, Sacramento, California, on behalf of the Conference of Western 
Attorneys General; Edward P. Lazarus, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer and Feld, 
LLP, Los Angeles, California; and W. Ron Allen, National Congress of 
American Indians, Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee announced the following 
subcommittee assignments:
  Subcommittee on Administrative Oversight and the Courts: Senators 
Whitehouse (Chair), Feinstein, Feingold, Schumer, Cardin, Kaufman, 
Sessions, Grassley, Kyl, and Graham.
  Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights: 
Senators Kohl (Chair), Schumer, Whitehouse, Wyden, Klobuchar, Kaufman, 
Specter, Hatch, Grassley, and Cornyn.
  Subcommittee on the Constitution: Senators Feingold (Chair), 
Feinstein, Durbin, Cardin, Whitehouse, Specter, Coburn, Kyl, Cornyn, 
and Graham.
  Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs: Senators Specter (Chair), Kohl, 
Feinstein, Feingold, Schumer, Durbin, Cardin, Klobuchar, Kaufman, 
Graham, Hatch, Grassley, Sessions, and Coburn.
  Subcommittee on Immigration, Refugees and Border Security: Senators 
Schumer (Chair), Leahy, Feinstein, Durbin, Whitehouse, Wyden, Cornyn, 
Grassley, Kyl, and Sessions.
  Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security: Senators Cardin 
(Chair), Kohl, Feinstein, Schumer, Durbin, Wyden, Kaufman, Kyl, Hatch, 
Sessions, Cornyn, and Coburn.
  Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law: Senators Durbin (Chair), 
Feingold, Cardin, Kaufman, Specter, Coburn, Cornyn, and Graham.
  Senators Leahy and Sessions are ex-officio members of each of the 
Subcommittees.
RECOVERY ACT CONTRACTING AND ROLE OF SMALL BUSINESS
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the role of small business in recovery act 
contracting, after receiving testimony from Joseph G. Jordan, Associate 
Administrator, Government Contracting and Business Development, Small 
Business Administration; Gerardo Franco, Chief, Procurement Assistance 
Division, Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, 
Department of Transportation; Sharon Arnold, SSACC, Inc., Pontiac, 
Illinois; Joe Flynn, University of Tennessee Center for Industrial 
Services, Nashville, on behalf of the Association of Procurement 
Technical Assistance Centers; Sylvia Medina, North Wind, Inc., Idaho 
Falls, Idaho, on behalf of Women Impacting Public Policy; and Theresa 
Alfaro Daytner, Daytner Construction Group, Mt. Airy, Maryland.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following items:
  S. 252, to amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance the 
capacity of the Department of Veterans Affairs to recruit and retain 
nurses and other critical health-care professionals, to improve the 
provision of health care veterans;
  S. 407, to increase, effective as of December 1, 2009, the rates of 
compensation for veterans with service-connected disabilities and the 
rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for the survivors of 
certain disabled veterans;
  S. 423, to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize advance 
appropriations for certain medical care accounts of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs by providing two-fiscal year budget authority;
  S. 475, to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to guarantee the 
equity of spouses of military personnel with regard to matters of 
residency;
  S. 669, to amend title 38, United States Code, to clarify the 
conditions under which certain persons may be treated as adjudicated 
mentally incompetent for certain purposes;
  S. 728, to amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance veterans' 
insurance benefits, with an amendment; and
  S. 801, to amend title 38, United States Code, to waive charges for 
humanitarian care provided by the Department of Veterans Affairs to 
family members accompanying veterans severely injured after September 
11, 2001, as they receive medical care from the Department and to 
provide assistance to family caregivers.

[[Page D606]]


NOMINATIONS
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Stephen Woolman Preston, of the District of 
Columbia, to be General Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency, and 
Robert S. Litt, of Maryland, to be General Counsel of the Office of the 
Director of National Intelligence, after the nominees testified and 
answered questions in their own behalf.