The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“Senate Committee Meetings” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the Daily Digest section on pages D132-D134 on Feb. 13, 2008.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
WOUNDED AND ILL SERVICE MEMBERS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine improvements implemented and planned by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs for the care, management, and transition of wounded and ill military service members, after receiving testimony from Preston M. Geren, III, Secretary of the Army, David S. C. Chu, Under Secretary for Personnel and Readiness, and Lieutenant General Eric B. Schoomaker, USA, Surgeon General of the U.S. Army, all of the Department of Defense; and Gordon H. Mansfield, Deputy Secretary, and Rear Admiral Patrick W. Dunne, USN (Ret.), Assistant Secretary for Policy and Planning, both of the Department of Veterans Affairs.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported an original bill entitled ``Industrial Bank Holding Company Act of 2008''.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUDGET
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the President's budget request for fiscal year 2009 for the Department of the Interior, after receiving testimony from former Senator Dirk Kempthorne, Secretary of the Interior.
MEDICARE PRIVATE PLANS (PART II)
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded hearings to examine selling to seniors, focusing on the need for accountability and oversight of marketing and sales by Medicare private plans, after receiving testimony from Kerry Weems, Acting Administrator, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Department of Health and Human Services.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS BUDGET
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the President's budget request for fiscal year 2009 for foreign affairs, after receiving testimony from Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of State.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported the following:
H.R. 1469, to establish the Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation under the authorities of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Exchange Act of 1961, with amendments;
H.R. 2798, to reauthorize the programs of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 1418, to provide assistance to improve the health of newborns, children, and mothers in developing countries, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 2433, to require the President to develop and implement a comprehensive strategy to further the United States foreign policy objective of promoting the reduction of global poverty, the elimination of extreme global poverty, and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goal of reducing by one-half the proportion of people worldwide, between 1990 and 2015, who live on less than $1 per day, with amendments;
S. Res. 439, expressing the strong support of the Senate for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to enter into a Membership Action Plan with Georgia and Ukraine; and
The nominations of James K. Glassman, of Connecticut, to be Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy with the rank of Ambassador, Goli Ameri, of Oregon, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, David J. Kramer, of Massachusetts, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, James Francis Moriarty, of Massachusetts, to be Ambassador to the People's Republic of Bangladesh, Margaret Scobey, of Tennessee, to be Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt, Deborah K. Jones, of New Mexico, to be Ambassador to the State of Kuwait, Hector E. Morales, of Texas, to be Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the Organization of American States, with the rank of Ambassador, Larry Woodrow Walther, of Arkansas, to be Director of the Trade and Development Agency, Jeffrey J. Grieco, of Virginia, to be an Assistant Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, John E. Osborn, of Delaware, to be a Member of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, Elizabeth F. Bagley, of the District of Columbia, to be a Member of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, William J. Hybl, of Colorado, to be a Member of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, Mark McKinnon, of Texas, Joaquin F. Blaya, of Florida, Edward E. Kaufman, of Delaware, Susan M. McCue, of Virginia, Dennis M. Mulhaupt, of California, and Steven J. Simmons, of Connecticut, each to be a Member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, and Ana M. Guevara, of Florida, to be United States Alternate Executive Director of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HOMELAND SECURITY ROLE
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the role of the Department of Defense in homeland security, focusing on ways the military can and will contribute, after receiving testimony from Major General Arnold L. Punaro, USMCR (Ret.), Chairman, and Lieutenant General James E. Sherrard III, USAFR (Ret.), and Major General E. Gordon Stump, ANG
(Ret.), both Commissioners, all of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves.
FAMILY AND MEDICAL LEAVE ACT
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Subcommittee on Children and Families concluded a hearing to examine the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)(P.L. 103-3), focusing on a fifteen year history of support for workers, after receiving testimony from Victoria A. Lipnic, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Employment Standards Administration; Debra Ness, National Partnership for Women and Families, Marcel Reid, Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN), and Kristen Grimm, Spitfire Strategies, all of Washington, D.C.; and Katheryn Elliott, Central Michigan University Employee Relations, Mount Pleasant, on behalf of the Society for Human Resource Management (SPHR).
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: On Tuesday, February 12, committee concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of James Randal Hall, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia, who was introduced by Senators Chambliss and Isakson, Richard H. Honaker, to be United States District Judge for the District of Wyoming, who was introduced by Senators Enzi and Barrasso, Gustavus Adolphus Puryear IV, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee, who was introduced by Senators Alexander and Corker, and Brian Stacy Miller, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Arkansas, who was introduced by Senators Lincoln and Pryor, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
FEDERAL COCAINE SENTENCING LAWS
Committee on the Judiciary: On Tuesday, February 12, Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs concluded a hearing to examine federal cocaine sentencing laws, focusing on reforming the 100-to-1 crack/powder disparity, including S. 1383, to reduce the disparity in punishment between crack and powder cocaine offenses, to more broadly focus the punishment for drug offenders on the seriousness of the offense and the culpability of the offender, S. 1685, to reduce the sentencing disparity between powder and crack cocaine violations, and to provide increased emphasis on aggravating factors relating to the seriousness of the offense and the culpability of the offender, and S. 1711, to target cocaine kingpins and address sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine, after receiving testimony from Gretchen C. Shappert, United States Attorney, Western District of North Carolina, Department of Justice; Ricardo H. Hinojosa, Chair, United States Sentencing Commission; Nora D. Volkow, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services; Reggie B. Walton, Judge, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, on behalf of the Judicial Conference of the United States; and James E. Felman, American Bar Association, Washington, D.C.
STATE SECRETS PRIVILEGE
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the state secrets privilege, focusing on protecting national security while preserving accountability, including S. 2533, to enact a safe, fair, and responsible state secrets privilege Act, after receiving testimony from Carl J. Nichols, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Division, Department of Justice; Patricia M. Wald, former Chief Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Washington, D.C.; Louis Fisher, Specialist in Constitutional Law, Law Library, Library of Congress; Robert M. Chesney, Wake Forest University School of Law, Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and Michael A. Vatis, Steptoe and Johnson LLP, New York, New York.
VETERANS PROGRAMS BUDGET
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2009 for veterans programs, after receiving testimony from James B. Peake, Secretary of Veterans Affairs; Carl Blake, Paralyzed Veterans of America (PVA), Fredericksburg, Virginia; Raymond C. Kelley, American Veterans (AMVETS), Lanham, Maryland; John Rowan, Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), Middle Village, New York; and Kerry Baker, Disabled American Veterans (DAV), Christopher Needham, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States (VFW), and Peter S. Gaytan, American Legion, all of Washington, D.C.
FORECLOSURE AFTERMATH
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the housing foreclosure aftermath, focusing on concerns for elderly homeowners, after receiving testimony from Peggy Twohig, Associate Director, Division of Financial Practices, Federal Trade Commission; Thomas E. Perez, Maryland Department of Labor, Licensing, and Registration, Baltimore; Walter Malone, Malone and Malone Construction, Washington, D.C.; Catherine M. Doyle, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, Inc., Milwaukee, Wisconsin; John W. Anderson, Twin Oaks Realty, Minneapolis, Minnesota, on behalf of the National Association of Realtors; and Rachel M. Dollar, Smith Dollar, PC, Santa Rosa, California, on behalf of the Mortgage Bankers Association.
