[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 97 (Thursday, June 25, 2009)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D766-D767]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: COMMERCE, JUSTICE, SCIENCE, AND RELATED AGENCIES, AND 
INTERIOR, ENVIRONMENT, AND RELATED AGENCIES
Committee on Appropriations: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following bills:
  H.R. 2847, making appropriations for the Commerce, Justice, Science, 
and Related Agencies for the fiscal year 2010, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute; and
  An original bill making appropriations for the Interior, Environment, 
and Related Agencies.
AUTHORIZATION: NATIONAL DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following bills:
  An original bill entitled ``National Defense Authorization Act for 
Fiscal Year 2010'';
  An original bill entitled ``Department of Defense Authorization Act 
for Fiscal Year 2010'';
  An original bill entitled ``Military Construction Authorization Act 
for Fiscal Year 2010''; and
  An original bill entitled ``Department of Energy National Security 
Act for Fiscal Year 2010''.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the nominations of Raphael William Bostic, of 
California, to be

[[Page D767]]

Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research, and David H. 
Stevens, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary for Housing and Federal 
Housing Commissioner, both of the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development.
HIGHWAY TRUST FUND
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine impacts of highway trust fund insolvency, after 
receiving testimony from Ray LaHood, Secretary of Transportation; Kathy 
Ruffalo, Ruffalo and Associates, LLC, on behalf of National Surface 
Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission, and Peter J. Basso, 
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, 
both of Washington, DC; and Donald M. James, Vulcan Materials Company, 
Birmingham, Alabama.
MOUNTAINTOP REMOVAL COAL MINING ON WATER QUALITY
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on Water and 
Wildlife concluded a hearing to examine the impacts of mountaintop 
removal coal mining on water quality in Appalachia, after receiving 
testimony from John Pomponio, Director, Environmental Assessment and 
Innovation Division, Environmental Protection Agency; Randy Huffman, 
West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection, Charleston; Maria 
Gunnoe, Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition, Bob White, West Virginia; 
Paul L. Sloan, Tennessee Department on Environment and Conservation, 
Nashville; and Margaret A. Palmer, University of Maryland Center for 
Environmental Science, Solomons.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Maria Otero, to be Under Secretary for 
Democracy and Global Affairs, who was introduced by Senator Harkin, and 
Philip L. Verveer, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of 
service as Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Communications 
and Information Policy in the Bureau of Economic, Energy, and Business 
Affairs and U.S. Coordinator for International Communications and 
Information Policy, both of the Department of State, after the nominees 
testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
continued consideration of Affordable Health Choices Act, but did not 
complete action thereon.
TRIBAL LAW AND ORDER ACT
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
S. 797, to amend the Indian Law Enforcement Reform Act, the Indian 
Tribal Justice Act, the Indian Tribal Justice Technical and Legal 
Assistance Act of 2000, and the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets 
Act of 1968 to improve the prosecution of, and response to, crimes in 
Indian country, after receiving testimony from Thomas J. Perrelli, 
Associate Attorney General, Department of Justice; Larry EchoHawk, 
Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, and W. Patrick Ragsdale, Deputy 
Director, Office of Justice Services, both of the Department of the 
Interior; Anthony Brandenburg, Chief Judge, Intertribal Court of 
Southern California; Alonzo Coby, Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, Fort Hall, 
Idaho, on behalf of the Fort Hall Business Council; Troy A. Eid, 
Greenberg Traurig, LLP, Denver, Colorado; and Theodore R. Quasula, 
Quasula Consulting, Henderson, Nevada.
THE MATTHEW SHEPARD HATE CRIMES PREVENTION ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
``The Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act of 2009'', after 
receiving testimony from Eric H. Holder, Jr., Attorney General, 
Department of Justice; Gail Heriot, Member, United States Commission on 
Civil Rights; Janet Langhart Cohen, Langhart Communications, LLC, Chevy 
Chase, Maryland; Mark Achtemeier, University of Dubuque Theological 
Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa; and Brian W. Walsh, The Heritage Foundation, 
and Michael Lieberman, Anti-Defamation League, on behalf of the 
Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, both of Washington, DC.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of B. Todd Jones, to be United States Attorney for the 
District of Minnesota, and John P. Kacavas, to be United States 
Attorney for the District of New Hampshire.