[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 66 (Thursday, May 10, 2012)]
[Daily Digest]
[Page D451]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: U.S. PACIFIC COMMAND
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Department of Defense 
received a closed briefing on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 
2013 for Pacific Command Programs from Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III, 
USN, Commander, United States Pacific Command, Department of Defense.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION REQUEST AND FUTURE YEARS DEFENSE PROGRAM
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Readiness and Management 
Support concluded a hearing to examine current readiness of U.S. forces 
in review of the Defense Authorization request for fiscal year 2013 and 
the Future Years Defense Program, after receiving testimony from 
General Lloyd J. Austin III, Vice Chief of Staff, United States Army, 
Admiral Mark Ferguson, Vice Chief of Naval Operations, General Joseph 
F. Dunford, Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, and General 
Philip M. Breedlove, Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, all of the 
Department of Defense.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the nominations of Patricia K. Falcone, of 
California, to be an Associate Director of the Office of Science and 
Technology Policy, Executive Office of the President, Marietta S. 
Robinson, of Michigan, to be a Commissioner of the Consumer Product 
Safety Commission, who was introduced by Senator Levin, and William P. 
Doyle, of Pennsylvania, and Richard A. Lidinsky, Jr., of Maryland, both 
to be a Federal Maritime Commissioner, who were both introduced by 
Senator Mikulski, after the nominees testified and answered questions 
in their own behalf.
HELIUM STEWARDSHIP ACT
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine S. 2374, to amend the Helium Act to ensure the 
expedient and responsible draw-down of the Federal Helium Reserve in a 
manner that protects the interests of private industry, the scientific, 
medical, and industrial communities, commercial users, and Federal 
agencies, after receiving testimony from Timothy R. Spisak, Deputy 
Assistant Director, Minerals and Realty Management, Bureau of Land 
Management, Department of the Interior; Moses Chan, National Research 
Council of the National Academies Committee on Understanding the Impact 
of Selling the Helium Reserve, Park, Pennsylvania; Tom Rauch, GE 
Healthcare, Waukesha, Wisconsin; David Joyner, Air Liquide Helium 
America, Inc., Houston, Texas; and Walter L. Nelson, Air Products and 
Chemicals, Inc., Allentown, Pennsylvania.
MEDICARE PHYSICIAN PAYMENTS
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine Medicare 
physician payments, focusing on understanding the past so we can 
envision the future, after receiving testimony from Gail R. Wilensky, 
Project HOPE, Tom Scully, Alston and Bird LLP, and Mark McClellan, 
Brookings Institute, all of Washington, D.C.; and Bruce C. Vladeck, 
Nexera, Inc., New York, New York.
NATO
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, focusing on Chicago and 
beyond, after receiving testimony from Philip H. Gordon, Assistant 
Secretary of State; James Townsend, Deputy Assistant Secretary of 
Defense; and Charles A. Kupchan, Council on Foreign Relations, Ian J. 
Brzezinski, Atlantic Council, and Hans Binnendijk, National Defense 
University, all of Washington, D.C.
HELPING THE MIDDLE CLASS BALANCE WORK AND FAMILY
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine helping the middle class balance work 
and family, after receiving testimony from Ann O'Leary, Center for the 
Next Generation, San Francisco, California; Judith L. Lichtman, 
National Partnership for Women and Families, Washington, D.C.; Juanita 
Phillips, Intuitive Research and Technology Corporation, Huntsville, 
Alabama, on behalf of the Society for Human Resource Management; and 
Kimberly Ortiz, Bronx, New York.