Wednesday, April 11, 2007 [[Page D481]] Daily Digest HIGHLIGHTS Senate passed S. 5, Stem Cell Enhancement Act. Senate passed S. 30, HOPE Act. Senate Chamber Action Routine Proceedings, pages S4319-S4397 Measures Introduced: Eight bills were introduced, as follows: S. 1085- 1092. Page S4379 Measures Reported: S. 343, to extend the District of Columbia College Access Act of 1999. (S. Rept. No. 110-52) Report to accompany S. 558, to provide parity between health insurance coverage of mental health benefits and benefits for medical and surgical services. (S. Rept. No. 110-53) Page S4379 Measures Passed: Regional Strategy in Africa: Senate agreed to S. Res. 76, calling on the United States Government and the international community to promptly develop, fund, and implement a comprehensive regional strategy in Africa to protect civilians, facilitate humanitarian operations, contain and reduce violence, and contribute to conditions for sustainable peace in eastern Chad, northern Central African Republic, and Darfur, Sudan, after agreeing to the following amendments proposed thereto: Pages S4385-86 Harkin (for Lugar) Amendment No. 840, to urge the Government of the Central African Republic to address human rights abuses in the northwestern region of that country. Page S4385 Harkin (for Lugar) Amendment No. 841, to amend the title. Page S4385 Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act: By 63 yeas and 34 nays (Vote No. 127), Senate passed S. 5, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide for human embryonic stem cell research, and pursuant to the order of March 29, 2007, requiring 60 votes for the passage of this bill, it is passed. Pages S4319-71, S4386-91 HOPE Act: By 70 yeas and 28 nays (Vote No. 128), Senate passed S. 30, to intensify research to derive human pluripotent stem cell lines, and pursuant to the order of March 29, 2007, requiring 60 votes for the passage of this bill, it is passed. Pages S4319-71, S4386-91 Holocaust Memorial Day: Committee on Foreign Relations was discharged from further consideration of S. Res. 142, observing Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Memorial Day, and calling on the remaining member countries of the International Commission of the International Tracing Service to ratify the May 2006 amendments to the 1955 Bonn Accords immediately to allow open access to the Bad Arolsen archives, and the resolution was then agreed to. Page S4391 Intelligence Authorization Act: A unanimous-consent agreement was reached providing that at approximately 10:30 a.m., on Thursday, April 11, 2007, Senate resume consideration of the motion to proceed to consideration of S. 372, to authorize appropriations for fiscal year 2007 for the intelligence and intelligence-related activities of the United States Government, the Intelligence Community Management Account, and the Central Intelligence Agency Retirement and Disability System, and Senate vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed thereon. Page S4386 Appointments: United States Commission on International Religious Freedom: The Chair, on behalf of the President pro tempore, upon the recommendation of the Democratic Leader, pursuant to Public Law 105-292, as amended by Public Law 106-55, and as further amended by Public Law 107-228, appointed the following individual to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom: Dr. Don H. Argue, of Washington (for a term of May 15, 2007-May 14, 2009). Page S4385 [[Page D482]] Nomination Confirmed: Senate confirmed the following nomination: James R. Clapper, Jr., of Virginia, to be Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence. Pages S4386, S4397 Nominations Received: Senate received the following nominations: Peter Michael McKinley, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Peru. Charles L. Hopkins, of Massachusetts, to be an Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Operations, Preparedness, Security and Law Enforcement). 29 Air Force nominations in the rank of general. 1 Army nomination in the rank of general. 6 Navy nominations in the rank of admiral. Routine lists in the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Public Health Service. Pages S4391-97 Nominations Withdrawn: Senate received notification of withdrawal of the following nominations: William Ludwig Wehrum, Jr., of Tennessee, to be an Assistant Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, which was sent to the Senate on January 9, 2007. Alex A. Beehler, of Maryland, to be Inspector General, Environmental Protection Agency, which was sent to the Senate on January 9, 2007. Page S4397 Nomination Discharged: The following nomination was discharged from further committee consideration and placed on the Executive Calendar: Claude M. Kicklighter, of Georgia, to be Inspector General, Department of Defense, which was sent to the Senate on February 26, 2007, from the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. Pages S4386, S4397 Messages from the House: Page S4374 Executive Communications: Pages S4374-79 Additional Cosponsors: Pages S4380-82 Statements on Introduced Bills/Resolutions: Pages S4382-83 Additional Statements: Page S4373 Amendments Submitted: Pages S4383-84 Notices of Hearings/Meetings: Page S4384 Authorities for Committees to Meet: Pages S4384-85 Privileges of the Floor: Page S4385 Record Votes: Two record votes were taken today. (Total--128) Pages S4389, S4390 Adjournment: Senate convened at 9:30 a.m., and adjourned at 6:42 p.m., until 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, April 12, 2007. (For Senate's program, see the remarks of the Acting Majority Leader in today's Record on page S4386.) Committee Meetings (Committees not listed did not meet) APPROPRIATIONS: NATIONAL GUARD AND RESERVES Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2008, after receiving testimony in behalf of funds for their respective activities from Lieutenant General Jack Stultz, Chief, Army Reserve; Vice Admiral John G. Cotton, Chief, Naval Reserve; Lieutenant General John W. Bergman, Commander, Marine Forces Reserve; Lieutenant General John A. Bradley, Chief, Air Force Reserve; Lieutenant General H. Steven Blum, Chief, National Guard Bureau; Lieutenant General Clyde Vaughn, Vice Chief, Army National Guard; and Lieutenant General Craig McKinley, Vice Chief, Air National Guard. APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2008 for the Department of Energy, and the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Public Law 109-58), after receiving testimony from Kevin Kolevar, Director, Office of Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability, Alexander Karsner, Assistant Secretary, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Dennis R. Spurgeon, Assistant Secretary, Office of Nuclear Energy, and Thomas D. Shope, Assistant Secretary, Office of Fossil Energy, all of the Department of Energy. APPROPRIATIONS: OMB Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2008 for the Office of Management and Budget, after receiving testimony from Robert J. Portman, Director, and Robert Shea, Associate Director for Management, both of the Office of Management and Budget. BUDGET: DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities concluded a hearing to examine nonproliferation programs at the National Nuclear Security Administration and the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program and the Proliferation Security Initiative at the Department of Defense in the [[Page D483]] review of the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2008 and the Future Years Defense Programs, after receiving testimony from Senator Lugar and former Senator Nunn; William H. Tobey, Deputy Administrator for Defense Nuclear Nonproliferation, National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy; and Joseph A. Benkert, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Global Security Affairs. BUDGET: DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces concluded a hearing to examine Ballistic Missile Defense Programs in review of the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2008 and the Future Years Defense Program, after receiving testimony from Lieutenant General Henry A. Obering III, USAF, Director, Missile Defense Agency, Lieutenant General Kevin T. Campbell, USA, Commanding General, United States Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Charles E. McQueary, Director, Operational Test and Evaluation, and Brian R. Green, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Strategic Capabilities, all of the Department of Defense; and Paul L. Francis, Director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management, Government Accountability Office. PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the availability and affordability of property and casualty insurance in the Gulf Coast and other coastal regions, after receiving testimony from Senator Nelson (FL); Edward P. Lazear, Chairman, Council of Economic Advisers; Florida Governor Charlie Crist, Tallahassee; Walter A. Bell, Alabama Insurance Commissioner, Montgomery; Marc Racicot, American Insurance Association, Franklin W. Nutter, Reinsurance Association of America, Charles Chamness, National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies, and James M. Loy, ProtectingAmerica.org, all of Washington, D.C.; Robert P. Hartwig, Insurance Information Institute, New York, New York; David Guidry, Guico Machine Works, on behalf of Greater New Orleans, Inc., New Orleans, Louisiana; and Harold Polsky, Bedford, Virginia. PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURANCE INDUSTRY Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded an oversight hearing to examine the property and casualty insurance industry, after receiving testimony from Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood, Jackson; Julie Benafield Bowman, Arkansas Insurance Commissioner, Little Rock, on behalf of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners; and J. Robert Hunter, Consumer Federation of America, and David W. Regan, National Automobile Dealers Association, both of Washington, D.C. AIRLINE SERVICE IMPROVEMENTS Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded a hearing to examine airline service improvements, including S. 678, to amend title 49, United States Code, to ensure air passengers have access to necessary services while on a grounded air carrier and are not unnecessarily held on a grounded air carrier before or after a flight, after receiving testimony from Michael Reynolds, Deputy Assistant Secretary, and Calvin L. Scovel III, Inspector General, both of the Department of Transportation; Edmund Mierzwinksi, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Paul Hudson, Aviation Consumer Action Project, and James C. May, Air Transport Association of America, Inc., all of Washington, D.C.; Kevin P. Mitchell, Business Travel Coalition, Radnor, Pennsylvania; Kate Hanni, Coalition for Airline Passengers' Bill of Rights, Napa, California; and Rahul Chandran, Center on International Cooperation, New York, New York. MEDICARE ADVANTAGE PROGRAM Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the Medicare Advantage Program, after receiving testimony from Peter R. Orszag, Director, Congressional Budget Office; Glenn M. Hackbarth, Chairman, Medicare Payment Advisory Commission; Debra A. Draper, Center for Studying Health System Change, Washington, D.C.; and I. Steven Udvarhelyi, Independence Blue Cross, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. DARFUR Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to examine an alternative plan to stop genocide relating to Darfur, after receiving testimony from Andrew S. Natsios, President's Special Envoy to Sudan, Department of State; and Susan E. Rice, The Brookings Institution, Lawrence G. Rossin, Save Darfur Coalition, and J. Stephen Morrison, Center for Strategic and International Studies, all of Washington, D.C. NOMINATIONS Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of Debra Ann Livingston, of New York, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit, Roslynn Renee Mauskopf, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, Richard Sullivan, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of New York, who were each introduced by Senator Feingold, and Joseph S. Van Bokkelen, to be [[Page D484]] United States District Judge for the Northern District of Indiana, who was introduced by Senator Lugar, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf. IMPROPER USE OF NATIONAL SECURITY LETTERS Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution concluded a hearing to examine the Inspector General's findings of improper use of National Security Letters by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, after receiving testimony from former Representative Barr; George Christian, Library Connection, Inc., Windsor, Connecticut, on behalf of the American Library Association; and Suzanne E. Spaulding, Bingham Consulting Group, and Peter P. Swire, Center for American Progress, both of Washington, D.C. SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee concluded an oversight hearing to examine the operations and governance of the Smithsonian Institution, focusing on the condition of the Smithsonian's facilities and whether the Smithsonian has taken steps to maximize facility resources, including the current estimated costs of the needed facilities projects, and the extent to which the Smithsonian developed and implemented strategies to fund these projects, after receiving testimony from Mark L. Goldstein, Director, Physical Infrastructure Issues, Government Accountability Office; and Roger W. Sant, Patricia Q. Stonesifer, Cristian Samper, and Anne Sprightley Ryan, all of the Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. House of Representatives Chamber Action The House was not in session today. The House is scheduled to meet at 2 p.m. on Monday, April 16, 2007, pursuant to the provisions of H. Con. Res. 103. Committee Meetings No committee meetings were held. COMMITTEE MEETINGS FOR THURSDAY, APRIL 12, 2007 (Committee meetings are open unless otherwise indicated) Senate Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans' Affairs, and Related Agencies, to hold hearings to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2008 for the Department of Veterans Affairs, 10 a.m., SD-124. Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies, to hold hearings to examine the current pet food recall, 2 p.m., SD-192. Committee on Armed Services: with the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to hold joint hearings to examine testimony on the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs disability rating systems and the transition of service members from the Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 9:30 a.m., SH-216. Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on Security and International Trade and Finance, to hold hearings to examine the issue of piracy, focusing on intellectual property theft's impact on America's place in the global economy and strategies for improving enforcement, 2 p.m., SD-538. Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: to hold hearings to examine Transportation Workers Identification Credentials (TWIC) implementations, 10 a.m., SR-253. Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: to hold hearings to examine S. 987, to enhance the energy security of the United States by promoting biofuels, 10 a.m., SD-366. Committee on Finance: to hold hearings to examine filing federal income tax returns, 10 a.m., SD-G50. Subcommittee on Energy, Natural Resources, and Infrastructure, to hold hearings to examine international perspectives on alternative energy policy, focusing on incentives and mandates and their impacts, 2:15 p.m., SD-215. Full Committee, business meeting to mark up S. 3, to amend part D of title XVIII of the Social Security Act to provide for fair prescription drug prices for Medicare beneficiaries, 6:40 p.m., SD- 215. Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: to hold hearings to examine closing the gap relating to equal pay for women workers, 2 p.m., SD-628. Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Ad Hoc Subcommittee on Disaster Recovery, to hold hearings to examine a dialogue on removing obstacles to [[Page D485]] the recovery effort, focusing on the Government Accountability Office's analysis of the Gulf Coast recovery, 2 p.m., SD-342. Committee on Indian Affairs: business meeting to consider pending calendar business; to be followed immediately by an oversight hearing on Tribal Colleges and Universities, 9:30 a.m., SR-485. Committee on the Judiciary: to hold hearings to examine S. 376, to amend title 18, United States Code, to improve the provisions relating to the carrying of concealed weapons by law enforcement officers, S. 1079, to establish the Star-Spangled Banner and War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, S. 221, to amend title 9, United States Code, to provide for greater fairness in the arbitration process relating to livestock and poultry contracts, S. 849, to promote accessibility, accountability, and openness in Government by strengthening section 552 of title 5, United States Code (commonly referred to as the Freedom of Information Act), S. 119, to prohibit profiteering and fraud relating to military action, relief, and reconstruction efforts, S. 621, to establish commissions to review the facts and circumstances surrounding injustices suffered by European Americans, European Latin Americans, and Jewish refugees during World War II, S. 735, to amend title 18, United States Code, to improve the terrorist hoax statute, S. 236, to require reports to Congress on Federal agency use of data mining, H.R. 740, to amend title 18, United States Code, to prevent caller ID spoofing, S. Res. 112, designating April 6, 2007, as ``National Missing Persons Day'', and the nominations of Robert Gideon Howard, Jr., of Arkansas, to be United States Marshal for the Eastern District of Arkansas, Frederick J. Kapala, of Illinois, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Illinois, Halil Suleyman Ozerden, of Mississippi, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Mississippi, and Benjamin Hale Settle, of Washington, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Washington; and the possibility of the issuance of certain subpoenas in connection with the investigation into the replacement of United States Attorneys, 10 a.m., SD-226. Committee on Veterans' Affairs: with the Committee on Armed Services, to hold joint hearings to examine testimony on the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs disability rating systems and the transition of service members from the Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 9:30 a.m., SH-216. Select Committee on Intelligence: to hold closed hearings to examine certain intelligence matters, 2:30 p.m., SH-219. House No committee meetings are scheduled. Joint Meetings Joint Hearing: Senate Committee on Armed Services, with the Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to hold joint hearings to examine testimony on the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs disability rating systems and the transition of service members from the Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 9:30 a.m., SH-216. Joint Hearing: Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs, with the Committee on Armed Services, to hold joint hearings to examine testimony on the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs disability rating systems and the transition of service members from the Department of Defense to the Department of Veterans Affairs, 9:30 a.m., SH-216. CONGRESSIONAL RECORD (USPS 087ÿ09390). The Periodicals postage is paid at Washington, D.C. The public proceedings of each House of Congress, as reported by the Official Reporters thereof, are printed pursuant to directions of the Joint Committee on Printing as authorized by appropriate provisions of Title 44, United States Code, and published for each day that one or both Houses are in session, excepting very infrequent instances when two or more unusually small consecutive issues are printed one time. 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Following each session of Congress, the daily Congressional Record is revised, printed, permanently bound and sold by the Superintendent of Documents in individual parts or by sets. With the exception of copyrighted articles, there are no restrictions on the republication of material from the Congressional Record. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to the Superintendent of Documents, Congressional Record, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D.C. 20402, Along with the entire mailing label from the last issue received. [[Page D486]] _______________________________________________________________________ Next Meeting of the SENATE 9:30 a.m., Thursday, April 12 Senate Chamber Program for Thursday: After the transaction of any morning business (not to extend beyond 60 minutes), Senate will vote on the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to consideration of S. 372, Intelligence Authorization Act. Next Meeting of the HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 2 p.m., Monday, April 16 House Chamber Program for Monday: To be announced.