[Congressional Record Volume 155, Number 122 (Thursday, August 6, 2009)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D987-D988]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
AVIATION SAFETY
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Aviation Operations, Safety, and Security concluded a hearing to 
examine aviation safety, focusing on the relationship between network 
airlines and regional airlines, after receiving testimony from Steve 
Dickson, Delta Air Lines, Atlanta, Georgia; Don Gunther, Continental 
Airlines, Inc., Houston, Texas; Peter M. Bowler, American Eagle 
Airlines, Inc., Fort Worth, Texas; and Phil Trenary, Pinnacle Airlines 
Corp., Memphis, Tennessee.
SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH PROGRAM
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine waste, fraud, and abuse in the Small Business 
Innovation Research (SBIR) Program, focusing on successes and 
challenges, data collection issues that affect program monitoring and 
evaluation, and how agencies make eligibility determinations for the 
program, after receiving testimony from Patricia A. Dalton, Managing 
Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Government Accountability 
Office; Thomas J. Howard, Acting Inspector General, National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration; Allison C. Lerner, Inspector 
General, National Science Foundation; and Alfred J. Longhi, Jr., New 
York, New York.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nominations of John R. Norris, of the District 
of Columbia, to be a Member of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
for the remainder of the term expiring June 30, 2012, who was 
introduced by Senators Grassley and Harkin, Jose Antonio Garcia, of 
Florida, to be Director of the Office of Minority Economic Impact, 
Department of Energy, who was introduced by Senators Nelson (FL) and 
Martinez, and Joseph G. Pizarchik, of Pennsylvania, to be Director of 
the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Department of 
the Interior, after the nominees testified and answered questions in 
their own behalf.
CLIMATE CHANGE AND CLEAN ENERGY
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine climate change and clean energy, after receiving 
testimony from Jon Wellinghoff, Chairman, Federal Energy

[[Page D988]]

Regulatory Commission; David Sandalow, Assistant Secretary of Energy 
for Policy and International Affairs; Thomas L. Strickland, Assistant 
Secretary of the Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks; Fred Krupp, 
Environmental Defense Fund, New York, New York; and William J. Fehrman, 
MidAmerican Energy Company, Des Moines, Iowa.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the nominations of John R. Fernandez, of Indiana, to be 
Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development, and Gary S. 
Guzy, of the District of Columbia, to be Deputy Director of the Office 
of Environmental Quality.
UNITED STATES POSTAL SERVICE OVERSIGHT
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal 
Services, and International Security concluded an oversight hearing to 
examine the United States Postal Service, focusing on its financial 
condition and outlook and the Government Accountability Office's 
decision to place the Postal Service's financial condition on the High-
Risk List, after receiving testimony from John E. Potter, Postmaster 
General, and David C. Williams, Inspector General, both of the United 
States Postal Service; Ruth Y. Goldway, Commissioner, Postal Regulatory 
Commission; Nancy H. Kichak, Associate Director for Strategic Human 
Resources Policy, Office of Personnel Management; Phillip Herr, 
Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues, Government Accountability 
Office; Fredric V. Rolando, National Association of Letter Carriers, 
William Burrus, American Postal Workers Union, and Dale Goff, National 
Association of Postmasters of the United States, all of Washington, 
D.C.; James West, Williams-Sonoma Inc., San Francisco, California; and 
Mark Suwyn, NewPage Corporation, Miamisburg, Ohio.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S.J. Res. 14, to acknowledge a long history of official depredations 
and ill-conceived policies by the Federal Government regarding Indian 
tribes and offer an apology to all Native Peoples on behalf of the 
United States;
  H.R. 1129, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide an 
annual grant to facilitate an iron working training program for Native 
Americans, with an amendment; and
  S. 443, to transfer certain land to the United States to be held in 
trust for the Hoh Indian Tribe, to place land into trust for the Hoh 
Indian Tribe, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
NATIVE HAWAIIAN GOVERNING ENTITY
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
S. 1011, to express the policy of the United States regarding the 
United States relationship with Native Hawaiians and to provide a 
process for the recognition by the United States of the Native Hawaiian 
governing entity, after receiving testimony from Sam Hirsch, Deputy 
Associate Attorney General, Department of Justice; Haunani Apoliona, 
Office of Hawaiian Affairs, and Micah A. Kane, Hawaiian Homes 
Commission, both of the State of Hawai`i, and Robin Puanani Danner and 
Steven J. Glenn, both of the Council for Native Hawaiian Advancement, 
all of Honolulu; Stuart Minor Benjamin, Duke Law School, Durham, North 
Carolina; and H. Christopher Bartolomucci, Hogan and Hartson L.L.P., 
Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of David J. Kappos, of New York, to be Under Secretary of 
Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States 
Patent and Trademark Office, Steven M. Dettelbach, to be United States 
Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio, Carter M. Stewart, to be 
United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and David 
Edward Demag, to be United States Marshal for the District of Vermont, 
all of the Department of Justice.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution ordered 
favorably reported S.J. Res. 7, proposing an amendment to the 
Constitution of the United States relative to the election of Senators.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nominations of Winslow Lorenzo Sargeant, of 
Wisconsin, to be Chief Counsel for Advocacy, who was introduced by 
Senators Feingold and Kohl, and Peggy E. Gustafson, of Illinois, to be 
Inspector General, who was introduced by Senator McCaskill, both of the 
Small Business Administration, after the nominees testified and 
answered questions in their own behalf.