[Congressional Record Volume 156, Number 118 (Thursday, August 5, 2010)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D919-D921]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NEW START TREATY
Committee on Armed Services: Committee received a closed briefing on 
Russian force structure in support of the 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) from Robert 
D. Walpole, Principal Deputy Director, National Counter proliferation 
Center; and Charles F. Monson, Deputy National Intelligence Officer for 
Weapons of Mass Destruction (Ballistic and Land-attack Cruise 
Missiles), National Intelligence Council.
MANUFACTURING
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on 
Economic Policy concluded a hearing to examine the Obama Administration 
Manufacturing Agenda, after receiving testimony from William A. 
Strauss, Senior Economist and Economic Advisor, Federal Reserve Bank of 
Chicago; and Nicole Y. Lamb-Hale, Assistant Secretary for Manufacturing 
and Services, and Roger D. Kilmer, Director, Hollings Manufacturing 
Extension Partnership, National Institute of Standards and Technology, 
both of the Department of Commerce.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following bills:
  S. 679, to establish a research, development, demonstration, and 
commercial application program to promote research of appropriate 
technologies for heavy duty plug-in hybrid vehicles;
  S. 1117, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide 
assistance in implementing cultural heritage, conservation, and 
recreational activities in the Connecticut River watershed of the 
States of New Hampshire and Vermont, with an amendment in the nature of 
a substitute;
  S. 1320, to provide assistance to owners of manufactured homes 
constructed before January 1, 1976, to purchase Energy Star-qualified 
manufactured homes, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1596, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire the 
Gold Hill Ranch in Coloma, California, with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute;
  S. 2900, to establish a research, development, and technology 
demonstration program to improve the efficiency of gas turbines used in 
combined cycle and simple cycle power generation systems;
   S. 3075, to withdraw certain Federal land and interests in that land 
from location, entry, and patent under the mining laws and disposition 
under the mineral and geothermal leasing laws, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 3396, to amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to establish 
within the Department of Energy a Supply Star program to identify and 
promote practices, companies, and products that use highly efficient 
supply chains in a manner that conserves energy, water, and other 
resources, with amendments;
  S. 3460, to require the Secretary of Energy to provide funds to 
States for rebates, loans, and other incentives to eligible individuals 
or entities for the

[[Page D920]]

purchase and installation of solar energy systems for properties 
located in the United States, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  H.R. 2442, to amend the Reclamation Wastewater and Groundwater Study 
and Facilities Act to expand the Bay Area Regional Water Recycling 
Program, with amendments;
  H.R. 2522, to raise the ceiling on the Federal share of the cost of 
the Calleguas Municipal Water District Recycling Project;
  H.R. 3388, to modify the boundary of Petersburg National Battlefield 
in the Commonwealth of Virginia;
  H.R. 4395, to revise the boundaries of the Gettysburg National 
Military Park to include the Gettysburg Train Station;
  S. 2798, to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire through the 
facilitation of insect and disease infestation treatment of National 
Forest System and adjacent land, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 3404, to amend the Reclamation Projects Authorization and 
Adjustment Act of 1992 to require the Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through the Bureau of Reclamation, to take actions to improve 
environmental conditions in the vicinity of the Leadville Mine Drainage 
Tunnel in Lake County, Colorado, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 3452, to designate the Valles Caldera National Preserve as a unit 
of the National Park System, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  H.R. 2430, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to continue 
stocking fish in certain lakes in the North Cascades National Park, 
Ross Lake National Recreation Area, and Lake Chelan National Recreation 
Area, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute; and
  H.R. 5026, to amend the Federal Power Act to protect the bulk-power 
system and electric infrastructure critical to the defense of the 
United States against cybersecurity and other threats and 
vulnerabilities, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of Michael C. Camunez, of California, to be Assistant 
Secretary of Commerce, and Charles P. Blahous III, of Maryland, and 
Robert D. Reischauer, of Maryland, both to be a Member of the Board of 
Trustees of the Federal Hospital Insurance Trust Fund, a Member of the 
Board of Trustees of the Federal Supplementary Medical Insurance Trust 
Fund, and a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Federal Old-Age and 
Survivors Insurance Trust Fund and the Federal Disability Insurance 
Trust Fund.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Norman L. Eisen, of the District of 
Columbia, to be Ambassador to the Czech Republic, Duane E. Woerth, of 
Nebraska, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as 
Representative of the United States of America on the Council of the 
International Civil Aviation Organization, and Alexander A. Arvizu, of 
Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Albania, and Joseph A. 
Mussomeli, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Slovenia, 
all of the Department of State, after the nominees testified and 
answered questions in their own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 2925, to establish a grant program to benefit victims of sex 
trafficking, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 518, to establish the Star-Spangled Banner and War of 1812 
Bicentennial Commission; and
  The nominations of Mary Helen Murguia, of Arizona, to be United 
States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit, Edmond E-Min Chang, to be 
United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, 
Leslie E. Kobayashi, to be United States District Judge for the 
District of Hawaii, Denise Jefferson Casper, to be United States 
District Judge for the District of Massachusetts, Carlton W. Reeves, to 
be United States District Judge for the Southern District of 
Mississippi, and Donald Martin O'Keefe, to be United States Marshal for 
the Northern District of California, Craig Ellis Thayer, to be United 
States Marshal for the Eastern District of Washington, Joseph Anthony 
Papili, to be United States Marshal for the District of Delaware, James 
Alfred Thompson, to be United States Marshal for the District of Utah, 
Melinda L. Haag, to be United States Attorney for the Northern District 
of California, Barry R. Grissom, to be United States Attorney for the 
District of Kansas, David J. Hickton, to be United States Attorney for 
the Western District of Pennsylvania, and James Thomas Fowler, to be 
United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Tennessee, all of the 
Department of Justice.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
  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

[[Page D921]]

service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and 
indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans;
  S. 3234, to improve employment, training, and placement services 
furnished to veterans, especially those serving in Operation Iraqi 
Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, with an amendment;
  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, with an amendment;
  S. 3447, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve 
educational assistance for veterans who served in the Armed Forces 
after September 11, 2001;
  S. 3517, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 
processing of claims for disability compensation filed with the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, with an amendment;
  S. 3609, to extend the temporary authority for performance of medical 
disability examinations by contract physicians for the Department of 
Veterans Affairs;
  S. 3486, to amend title 38, United States Code, to repeal the 
prohibition on collective bargaining with respect to matters and 
questions regarding compensation of employees of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs other than rates of basic pay; and
  An original bill to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve 
Servicemembers' Group Life Insurance and Veterans' Group Life Insurance 
and to modify the provision of compensation and pension to surviving 
spouses of veterans in the months of the deaths of the veterans.