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 D916-D918 on June 27, 2007.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of Jill E. Sommers, of Kansas, who was introduced by Senator Roberts, and Bartholomew H. Chilton, of Delaware, each to be a Commissioner of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered favorably reported the following:
S. 704, to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit manipulation of caller identification information, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 950, to develop and maintain an integrated system of coastal and ocean observations for the Nation's coasts, oceans, and Great Lakes, to improve warnings of tsunami, hurricanes, El Nino events, and other natural hazards, to enhance homeland security, to support maritime operations, to improve management of coastal and marine resources; with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 1650, to establish a digital and wireless network technology program, with amendments;
S. 1661, to communicate United States travel policies and improve marketing and other activities designed to increase travel in the United States from abroad, with amendments; and
Certain promotion lists in the United States Coast Guard.
NORTHWESTERN NEW MEXICO RURAL WATER PROJECTS ACT
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a hearing to examine S. 1171, to amend the Colorado River Storage Project Act and Public Law 87-483 to authorize the construction and rehabilitation of water infrastructure in Northwestern New Mexico, to authorize the use of the reclamation fund to fund the Reclamation Water Settlements Fund, to authorize the conveyance of certain Reclamation land and infrastructure, to authorize the Commissioner of Reclamation to provide for the delivery of water, after receiving testimony from Robert Johnson, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation, and Carl Artman, Assistant Secretary for Indian Affairs, both of the Department of the Interior; New Mexico State Representative Patricia A. Lundstrom, Gallup, on behalf of Northwest New Mexico Council of Governments; John R. D'Antonio, Jr., New Mexico State Engineer, Santa Fe; Herbert R. Guenther, Arizona Department of Water Resources, Phoenix; Mark Sanchez, Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, Albuquerque, New Mexico; and Joe Shirley, Jr., Navajo Nation, Window Rock, Arizona.
WATER QUALITY
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on Transportation Safety, Infrastructure Security, and Water Quality to examine protecting water quality at America's beaches, focusing on the implementation of the BEACH Act (Public Law 106-284), including the extent to which EPA has implemented the Act's provisions, EPA's BEACH Act grant allocation formula, and the experiences of the Great Lakes states in developing and implementing beach monitoring and notification programs using their grant funds, after receiving testimony from Representatives Pallone and Bilbray; Benjamin H. Grumbles, Assistant Administrator for Water, Environmental Protection Agency; Anu K. Mittal, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Government Accountability Office; Cindy Zipf, Clean Ocean Action, Sandy Hook, New Jersey; Carlton Dufrechou, Lake Pontchartrain Basin Foundation, Metairie, Louisiana; and Mara Dias, Surfrider Foundation, East Hampton, New York.
STEALTH TAX
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the Alternative Minimum TAX (AMT), focusing on middle-class taxpayers and possible reforms of the AMT, after receiving testimony from Frank Degen, National Association of Enrolled Agents, Setauket, New York; Leonard E. Burman, Urban Institute Tax Policy Center, and Kevin A. Hassett, American Enterprise Institute, both of Washington, D.C.; and Michael J. Graetz, Yale Law School, New Haven, Connecticut.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported the following:
S. 392, to ensure payment of United States assessments for United Nations peacekeeping operations for the 2005 through 2008 time period;
S. 966, to enable the Department of State to respond to a critical shortage of passport processing personnel, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 1138, to enhance nuclear safeguards and to provide assurances of nuclear fuel supply to countries that forgo certain fuel cycle activities;
S. 1500, to support democracy and human rights in Zimbabwe;
S. 1565, to provide for the transfer of naval vessels to certain foreign recipients;
S. 1687, to provide for global pathogen surveillance and response;
S. 1698, to provide that no funds appropriated or otherwise made available by any Act for contributions for international organizations may be made available to support the United Nations Human Rights Council, with an amendment;
S. Res. 203, calling on the Government of the People's Republic of China to use its unique influence and economic leverage to stop genocide and violence in Darfur, Sudan, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. Res. 253, expressing the sense of the Senate that the establishment of a Museum of the History of American Diplomacy through private donations is a worthy endeavor;
H. Con. Res. 7, calling on the League of Arab States to acknowledge the genocide in the Darfur region of Sudan and to step up their efforts to stop the genocide in Darfur, with an amendment; and
The nominations of Reuben Jeffery III, of the District of Columbia, to be United States Alternate Governor of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, James R. Kunder, of Virginia, to be Deputy Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development, June Carter Perry, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Sierra Leone, Wanda L. Nesbitt, of Pennsylvania, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Frederick B. Cook, of Florida, to be Ambassador to the Central African Republic, Robert B. Nolan, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Lesotho, Maurice S. Parker, of California, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Swaziland, William John Garvelink, of Michigan, to be Ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, William R. Brownfield, of Texas, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Colombia, Peter Michael McKinley, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Peru, Patrick Dennis Duddy, of Maine, to be Ambassador to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Anne Woods Patterson, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Nancy J. Powell, of Iowa, to be Ambassador to Nepal, Joseph Adam Ereli, of the District of Columbia, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Bahrain, Richard Boyce Norland, of Iowa, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Uzbekistan, Stephen A. Seche, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Yemen, John L. Withers II, of Maryland, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Albania, Charles Lewis English, of New York, to be Ambassador to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cameron Munter, of California, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Serbia, Roderick W. Moore, of Rhode Island, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Montenegro, J. Christian Kennedy, of Indiana, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as Special Envoy for Holocaust Issues, Hector E. Morales, of Texas, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Inter-American Foundation for a term expiring September 20, 2010, and promotion lists in the Foreign Service dated May 7, 2007, and May 22, 2007.
VIOLENT ISLAMIST EXTREMISM
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded hearings to examine violent Islamist extremism, focusing on the European experience, after receiving testimony from Jean-Louis Bruguiere, Investigating Magistrate, Paris, France; Lidewijde Ongering, Deputy National Coordinator for Counterterrorism, The Hague, Netherlands; Marc Sageman, Sageman Consulting, LLC, Rockville, Maryland; and Lynn M. Martin, former Secretary of Labor, and Farooq Kathwari, Ethan Allen Interiors Inc., both of Chicago, Illinois, both on behalf of the Chicago Council on Global Affairs.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered favorably reported the following:
S. 1695, to amend the Public Health Service Act to establish a pathway for the licensure of biosimilar biological products, to promote innovation in the life sciences, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 1693, to enhance the adoption of a nationwide interoperable health information technology system and to improve the quality and reduce the costs of health care in the United States, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 793, to provide for the expansion and improvement of traumatic brain injury programs;
S. 1011, to change the name of the National Institute on Drug Abuse to the National Institute on Diseases of Addiction and to change the name of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to the National Institute on Alcohol Disorders and Health, with an amendment; and
The nominations of Stan Z. Soloway, of the District of Columbia, and Richard Allan Hill , of Montana, and James Palmer, of California, each to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service.
OVERSIGHT OF THE FEDERAL DEATH PENALTY
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution concluded an oversight hearing to examine the Department of Justice's implementation of federal death penalty statutes, after receiving testimony from Barry M. Sabin, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice; Roberto J. Sanchez Ramos, Secretary of Justice of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, San Juan; Paul K. Charlton, former United States Attorney, Phoenix, Arizona; William Otis, former Chief of the Appellate Division, United States Attorney's Office, Falls Church, Virginia; David I. Bruck, Washington and Lee School of Law, Lexington, Virginia; and David B. Muhlhausen, Heritage Foundation Center for Data Analysis, and Hilary O. Shelton, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, both of Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the following:
S. 423, to increase, effective as of December 1, 2007, 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. 1163, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve compensation and specially adapted housing for veterans in certain cases of impairment of vision involving both eyes, and to provide for the use of the National Directory of New Hires for income verification purposes;
S. 479, to reduce the incidence of suicide among veterans;
S. 1315, to amend title 38, United States Code, to enhance life insurance benefits for disabled veterans, with amendments;
S. 1233, to provide and enhance intervention, rehabilitative treatment, and services to veterans with traumatic brain injury, with amendments; and
The nomination of Charles L. Hopkins, of Massachusetts, to be an Assistant Secretary of Veterans Affairs (Operations, Preparedness, Security and Law Enforcement).
DOCTORS AND THE DRUG INDUSTRY
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the relationship between medical doctors and the drug industry, after receiving testimony from Maine State Representative Sharon Anglin Treat, Hallowell, on behalf of the National Legislative Association on Prescription Drug Prices; Jerome P. Kassirer, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston, Massachusetts; J. Gregory Rosenthal, Retinal Service of Vision Associates, Toledo, Ohio; and Peter Lurie, Public Citizen's Health Research Group, Robert M. Sade, American Medical Association, and Marjorie E. Powell, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, all of Washington, D.C.
