[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 76 (Wednesday, May 19, 2010)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D561-D564]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: WASHINGTON METROPOLITAN AREA TRANSIT AUTHORITY (METRO)
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Transportation, Housing 
and Urban Development, and Related Agencies concluded a hearing to 
examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2011 
for the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (Metro), after 
receiving testimony from Senator Cardin; and Peter Benjamin, and 
Richard Sarles, both of Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority 
(METRO), Jackie Jeter, Amalgamated Transit Union, Jack Corbett, 
MetroRiders.org, and Francis DeBernardo, Riders' Advisory Council, all 
of Washington, DC.
MOTOR VEHICLE SAFETY ACT
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine S. 3302, to amend title 49, United States Code, to 
establish new automobile safety standards, make better motor vehicle 
safety information available to the National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration and the public, and S. 3271, to amend section 30166 of 
title 49, United States Code, to require the installation of

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event data recorders in all motor vehicles manufactured for sale in the 
United States, after receiving testimony from David L. Strickland, 
Administrator, and Joan Claybrook, former Administrator, both of the 
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Department of 
Transportation; Dave McCurdy, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, and 
Clarence M. Ditlow, Center for Auto Safety, both of Washington, DC; and 
Michael J. Stanton, Association of International Automobile 
Manufacturers, Inc. (AIAM), Arlington, Virginia.
PROPOSED CONSTITUTION OF U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the proposed Constitution of the U.S. Virgin 
Islands, S. 2941, to provide supplemental ex gratia compensation to the 
Republic of the Marshall Islands for impacts of the nuclear testing 
program of the United States, H.R. 3940, to amend Public Law 96-597 to 
clarify the authority of the Secretary of the Interior to extend grants 
and other assistance to facilitate political status public education 
programs for the peoples of the non-self-governing territories of the 
United States, and H.R. 2499, to provide for a federally sanctioned 
self-determination process for the people of Puerto Rico, after 
receiving testimony from Delegates Pierluisi, Bordallo and Christensen; 
Jonathan G. Cedarbaum, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Department of 
Justice; Nikolao Pula, Director, Office of Insular Affairs, Department 
of the Interior; Puerto Rico Governor Luis G. Fortuno, Hector J. Ferrer 
Rios, Popular Democratic Party, and Ruben Berrios Martinez, Puerto 
Rican Independence Party, all of San Juan; Gerard Luz Amwur James II, 
Fifth Constitutional Convention of the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Croix; 
and John M. Silk, Republic of the Marshall Islands Minister of Foreign 
Affairs, Majuro.
NATIONAL PARKS BILLS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on National 
Parks concluded a hearing to examine S. 349, to establish the 
Susquehanna Gateway National Heritage Area in the State of 
Pennsylvania, S. 1596, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to 
acquire the Gold Hill Ranch in Coloma, California, S. 1651, to modify a 
land grant patent issued by the Secretary of the Interior, S. 1750, to 
authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource 
study of the General of the Army George Catlett Marshall National 
Historic Site at Dodona Manor in Leesburg, Virginia, S. 1801, to 
establish the First State National Historical Park in the State of 
Delaware, S. 1802 and H.R. 685, bills to require the Secretary of the 
Interior to conduct a special resource study regarding the proposed 
United States Civil Rights Trail, S. 2953 and H.R. 3388, bills to 
modify the boundary of Petersburg National Battlefield in the 
Commonwealth of Virginia, S. 2976, to designate as wilderness certain 
land and inland water within the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore 
in the State of Michigan, S. 3159 and H.R. 4395, bills to revise the 
boundaries of the Gettysburg National Military Park to include the 
Gettysburg Train Station, S. 3168, to authorize the Secretary of the 
Interior to acquire certain non-Federal land in the State of 
Pennsylvania for inclusion in the Fort Necessity National Battlefield, 
and S. 3303, to establish the Chimney Rock National Monument in the 
State of Colorado, after receiving testimony from Senators Boxer, 
Carper, Casey, Burris and Bennet; Stephen E. Whitesell, Associate 
Director, Park Planning, Facilities and Lands, National Park Service, 
Department of the Interior; Joel Holtrop, Deputy Chief, National Forest 
System, Forest Service, Department of Agriculture; Robert Moomaw, 
Archuleta County Commissioner, Pagosa Springs, Colorado; Timothy 
Slavin, Delaware Division of Historical and Cultural Affairs, Dover; 
and Mark N. Platts, Susquehanna Gateway Heritage Area, Wrightsville, 
Pennsylvania.
REBUILDING AND DEVELOPMENT IN HAITI
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine empowering Haiti to rebuild better, including S. 3317, to 
authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2010 through 2014 to promote 
long-term, sustainable rebuilding and development in Haiti, after 
receiving testimony from T. Christopher Milligan, Coordinator for 
Disaster Response in Haiti, United States Agency for International 
Development; Kenneth Merten, United States Ambassador to the Republic 
of Haiti, Department of State; Andrew S. Natsios, Georgetown University 
School of Foreign Service, and Mark L. Schneider, International Crisis 
Group, both of Washington, DC.; and Sean Penn, J/P Haitian Relief 
Organization, San Francisco.
START TREATY
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine a Treaty between the United States of America and the Russian 
Federation on Measures for the Further Reduction and Limitation of 
Strategic Offensive Arms, signed in Prague on April 8, 2010, with 
Protocol (Treaty Doc. 111-05), focusing on the history and lessons of 
the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, after receiving testimony from 
James A. Baker III, Baker Botts L.L.P., Houston, Texas.

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REFUGEE PROTECTION ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
renewing America's commitment to the refugee convention, including S. 
3113, to amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to reaffirm the 
United States' historic commitment to protecting refugees who are 
fleeing persecution or torture, after receiving testimony from Dan 
Glickman, Refugees International, and Igor V. Timofeyev, Paul, 
Hastings, Janofsky and Walker LLP, both of Washington, DC.; and Patrick 
Giantonio, Vermont Immigration and Asylum Advocates, Burlington.
FILIBUSTER
Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee resumed hearings to 
examine the filibuster, focusing on the filibuster today and its 
consequences, after receiving testimony from former Vice President 
Walter F. Mondale; former Senator Don Nickles; Steven S. Smith, 
Washington University Murray Weidenbaum Center on the Economy, 
Government, and Public Policy, St. Louis, Missouri; and Norman J. 
Ornstein, American Enterprise Institute, Washington, DC.
NOMINATION
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nomination of Marie Collins Johns, of the 
District of Columbia, to be Deputy Administrator of the Small Business 
Administration, after the nominee, who was introduced by Representative 
Carson, testified and answered questions in her own behalf.
DISASTER ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the Small Business Administration (SBA) Disaster 
Assistance Program and the impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on 
small businesses, after receiving testimony from James Rivera, 
Associate Administrator for Disaster Assistance, Small Business 
Administration; William B. Shear, Director, Financial Markets and 
Community Investment, Government Accountability Office; and Jaimie 
Bergeron, Fleur de Lis Car Care Center, Lake View, Louisiana.
VETERANS BILLS
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine S. 1866, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for 
the eligibility of parents of certain deceased veterans for interment 
in national cemeteries, S. 1939, to amend title 38, United States Code, 
to clarify presumptions relating to the exposure of certain veterans 
who served in the vicinity of the Republic of Vietnam, S. 1940, to 
require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a study on the 
effects on children of exposure of their parents to herbicides used in 
support of the United States and allied military operations in the 
Republic of Vietnam during the Vietnam era, S. 2751, to designate the 
Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in Big Spring, Texas, as 
the George H. O'Brien, Jr., Department of Veterans Medical Center, S. 
3035, to require a report on the establishment of a Polytrauma 
Rehabilitation Center or Polytrauma Network Site of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs in the northern Rockies or Dakotas, S. 3107, to amend 
title 38 , United States Code, to provide for an increase, effective 
December 1, 2010, in 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. 3192, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the 
tolling of the timing of review for appeals of final decisions of the 
Board of Veterans' Appeals, S. 3234, to improve employment, training, 
and placement services furnished to veterans, especially those serving 
in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, S. 3286, to 
require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a pilot program 
on the award of grants to State and local government agencies and 
nonprofit organizations to provide assistance to veterans with their 
submittal of claims to the Veterans Benefits Administration, S. 3314, 
to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Appalachian 
Regional Commission to carry out a program of outreach for veterans who 
reside in Appalachia, S. 3325, to amend title 38, United States Code, 
to authorize the waiver of the collection of copayments for telehealth 
and telemedicine visits of veterans, S. 3330, to amend title 38, United 
States Code, to make certain improvements in the administration of 
medical facilities of the Department of Veterans Affairs, S. 3348, to 
amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the treatment of 
documents that express disagreement with decisions of the Board of 
Veterans' Appeals and that are misfiled with the Board within 120 days 
of such decisions as motions for reconsideration of such decisions, S. 
3352, to amend title 38, United States Code, to exempt reimbursements 
of expenses related to accident, theft, loss, or casualty loss from 
determinations of annual income with respect to pensions for veterans 
and surviving spouses and children of veterans, S. 3355, to provide for 
an Internet website for information on benefits, resource, services, 
and opportunities for veterans and their families and caregivers, S. 
3367, to amend title 38, United States Code, to increase the rate of 
pension for disabled veterans who are married to one another and both 
of whom require regular aid and attendance, S. 3368, to amend title 38, 
United States

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Code, to authorize certain individuals to sign claims filed with the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs on behalf of claimants, S. 3370, to amend 
title 38, United States Code, to improve the process by which an 
individual files jointly for social security and dependency and 
indemnity compensation, S. 1780, to amend title 38, United States Code, 
to deem certain service in the reserve components as active service for 
purposes of laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, and 
S. 3377, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 
multifamily transitional housing loan program of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs by requiring the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 
issue loans for the construction of, rehabilitation of, or acquisition 
of land for multifamily transitional housing projects instead of 
guaranteeing loans for such purposes, after receiving testimony from 
Thomas J. Pamperin, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Policy and 
Program Management, Veterans Benefits Administration, and Robert Jesse, 
Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Health, and Richard J. Hipolit, 
and Walter A. Hall, both Assistant General Counsel, each of the 
Veterans Health Administration, all of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs; Raymond M. Jefferson, Assistant Secretary of Labor for 
Veterans' Employment and Training Service; and Ian de Planque, The 
American Legion, Tom Tarantino, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of 
America, Eric A. Hilleman, Veterans of Foreign Wars, all of Washington, 
DC; and Richard Weidman and Alan Oates, both of Vietnam Veterans of 
America, Silver Spring, Maryland.