Central Nevada Rural Cemeteries Act

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 10 a.m., to conduct a hearing on ``Review of Current Investigations and Regulatory Actions Regarding the Mutual Fund Industry.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet on Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 10 a.m., on steroids.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 10, at 11:30 a.m., to consider pending calendar business.

Agenda

On Wednesday, March 10, at 11:30 a.m., the Committee will hold a Business Meeting in Dirksen 366 to consider the following items on the agenda:

Agenda Item 1: To consider the nomination of Susan Johnson Grant, to be Chief Financial Officer at the Department of Energy.

Agenda Item 8: S. 1307--A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Bureau of Reclamation, to assist in the implementation of fish passage and screening facilities at non-Federal water projects, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 9: S. 1355--A bill to authorize the Bureau of Reclamation to participate in the rehabilitation of the Wallowa Lake Dam in Oregon, and for other purposes.

Agenda Item 10: S. 1421--A bill to authorize the subdivision and dedication of restricted land owned by Alaska Natives.

Agenda Item 12: H.R. 620--To authorize the Secretary of the Interior to provide supplemental funding and other services that are necessary to assist the State of California or local educational agencies in California in providing educational services for students attending schools located within the Park.

Agenda Item 17: H.R. 2696--To establish institutes to demonstrate and promote the use of adaptive ecosystem management to reduce the risk of wildfires, and restore the health of fire-adapted forest and woodland ecosystems of the interior West.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the full Committee on Environment and Public Works be authorized to meet on Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 9:25 a.m., to conduct a business meeting to consider a GSA resolution and S. 1904, S. 2022, and S. 2043, and to conduct a hearing on the proposed FY 2005 EPA budget.

The hearing will be held in SD 406.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session on Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 2 p.m., in 215 Dirksen Senate Office Building, to hear testimony on ``United States Economic and Trade Policy in the Middle East.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 10, 2003, at 9:30 a.m., to hold a hearing on Nonproliferation and Arms Control Strategy.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Foreign Relations be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday. March 10, 2003, at 2:30 p.m., to hold a hearing on ``A Fresh Start for Haiti? Charting the Future of U.S.-Haitian Relations.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Indian Affairs be authorized to meet on Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., in room 485 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct an oversight hearing on the proposed reorganization of major agencies and functions related to Indian trust reform matters without the Department of the Interior.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 10 a.m. on ``Letting the People Decide: The Constitutional Amendment Authorizing Congress to Prohibit Physical Desecration of the flag of the United States,'' in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226.

Witness List:

Panel I: The Honorable Daniel J. Bryant, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Policy, Department of Justice, Washington, DC.

Panel II: Maj. Gen. Patrick Brady, Chairman of the Board, Citizens Flag Alliance, Recipient, Medal of Honor, Summer, WA; John Andretti, NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Driver, Mooresville, NC; Richard D. Parker, Williams Professor of Law, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA; Gary E. May, Associate Professor of Social Work, University of Southern Indiana (1981-1985), Evansville, IN; and Lawrence Korb, Former Assistant Secretary of Defense, Navy Veteran, Alexandria, VA.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet to conduct a hearing on Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 2:30 p.m. on ``Judicial Nominations'' in the Dirksen Senate Office Building Room 226.

Witness List:

Panel I: Senators.

Panel II: Peter W. Hall, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit.

Panel III: Jane J. Boyle, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas; Marcia G. Cooke, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Florida; and Walter D. Kelley, Jr., to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Rules and Administration be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., to conduct a hearing on the scope and operation of organizations registered under Section 527 of the Internal Revenue Code.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Veterans' Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 10, 2004, for a joint hearing with the House of Representatives's Committee on Veterans' Affairs, to hear the legislative presentation of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The hearing will take place in room 216 of the Hart Senate Office Building at 10 a.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Joint Economic Committee be authorized to conduct a hearing in Room 628 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Wednesday, March 10, 2004, from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 10, 2004, at 9:30 a.m., in open and closed session to receive testimony on the Nuclear Nonproliferation Programs of the Department of Energy and the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program of the Department of Defense, in review of the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 2005.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Subcommittee on International Trade and Finance of the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 1 p.m. to conduct a hearing on ``Argentina's Financial Crisis.''

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the subcommittee on public lands and forests of the committee on Energy and Natural Resources be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on Wednesday, March 10th, at 2:30 p.m.

The purpose of the hearings is to receive testimony on the following bills: S. 1354, to resolve certain conveyances and provide for alternative land selections under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act related to Cape Fox Corporation and Sealaska Corporation, and for other purposes; S. 1575 and H.R. 1092, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to sell certain parcels of federal land in Carson City and Douglas County, NV; S. 1778, to authorize a land conveyance between the United States and the City of Craig, AK, and for other purposes; S. 1819 and H.R. 272, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land to Lander County, NV, and the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to Eureka County, NV, for continued use as cemeteries; and H.R. 3249, to extend the term of the Forest Counties Payments Committee.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the subcommittee on Seapower of the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on March 10, 2004, at 2 p.m., in open session to receive testimony on the posture of the U.S. Transportation Command, in review of the Defense authorization request for fiscal year 2005 and the future years defense program.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the subcommittee on Science, Technology and Space be authorized to meet on Wednesday, March 10, 2004, at 2:30 p.m. on NASA/Mars Exploration Program.

Mr. President, I rise today for myself and Senator Ensign to introduce this bill, which will address important public land issues in central Nevada. As you might know, the Federal Government controls over 87 percent of the State of Nevada. Many of our colleagues from other States may not understand the challenge this presents for communities in Nevada. With such large tracts of land controlled by Federal agencies, it can be difficult to acquire land for vital efforts in both the public and private sectors.

This bill will convey two cemeteries in central Nevada from the Federal Government back to the local communities. Kingston is a small town in southern Lander County, and Beowawe is a small community located in Eureka County. The original communities were home to pioneers and immigrants who settled the isolated high desert valleys of the central Great Basin. In the late 1800s, the pioneers established and managed the cemeteries to provide a final resting place for friends and family. Much of the original Kingston Cemetery is on land now managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The Maiden's Grave Cemetery in Beowawe is on land currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Under current law, these agencies must sell the cemeteries back to the communities at fair market value. However, these historic cemeteries were established prior to the designation of the Federal agencies that now manage them. For over 2 years, Lander County has been required to lease much of the Kingston Cemetery from the Forest Service. The Forest Service recently sold approximately 1 acre to the Town of Kingston, but this conveyance did not allow for the protection of uncharted graves, nor for the implementation of the community's original site plan.

It is wrong that Beowawe and Kingston should have to buy or lease cemeteries from Federal agencies that did not even exist at the time that the cemeteries were established. Our bill simply provides for the conveyance of the Maiden's Grave Cemetery to Eureka County and the balance of the original location of the Kingston Cemetery to Lander County, Nevada.

The conveyances provided by this bill will benefit our Federal land managers as well as our rural communities. The disposal of these small parcels of land for no consideration will benefit the United States because they represent isolated tracts that prove difficult to manage for public use. I sincerely hope that my colleagues recognize the benefit that the conveyances would provide to the local communities and support passage of this legislation.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I rise today for myself and Senator Ensign to introduce this bill, which will address important public land issues in central Nevada. As you might know, the Federal Government controls over 87 percent of the State of Nevada. Many of our colleagues from other States may not understand the challenge this presents for communities in Nevada. With such large tracts of land controlled by Federal agencies, it can be difficult to acquire land for vital efforts in both the public and private sectors.

This bill will convey two cemeteries in central Nevada from the Federal Government back to the local communities. Kingston is a small town in southern Lander County, and Beowawe is a small community located in Eureka County. The original communities were home to pioneers and immigrants who settled the isolated high desert valleys of the central Great Basin. In the late 1800s, the pioneers established and managed the cemeteries to provide a final resting place for friends and family. Much of the original Kingston Cemetery is on land now managed by the U.S. Forest Service. The Maiden's Grave Cemetery in Beowawe is on land currently managed by the Bureau of Land Management.

Under current law, these agencies must sell the cemeteries back to the communities at fair market value. However, these historic cemeteries were established prior to the designation of the Federal agencies that now manage them. For over 2 years, Lander County has been required to lease much of the Kingston Cemetery from the Forest Service. The Forest Service recently sold approximately 1 acre to the Town of Kingston, but this conveyance did not allow for the protection of uncharted graves, nor for the implementation of the community's original site plan.

It is wrong that Beowawe and Kingston should have to buy or lease cemeteries from Federal agencies that did not even exist at the time that the cemeteries were established. Our bill simply provides for the conveyance of the Maiden's Grave Cemetery to Eureka County and the balance of the original location of the Kingston Cemetery to Lander County, Nevada.

The conveyances provided by this bill will benefit our Federal land managers as well as our rural communities. The disposal of these small parcels of land for no consideration will benefit the United States because they represent isolated tracts that prove difficult to manage for public use. I sincerely hope that my colleagues recognize the benefit that the conveyances would provide to the local communities and support passage of this legislation.

I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The hearing will be held on Wednesday, March 10th, at 2:30 p.m. in room SD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills: S. 1354, to resolve certain conveyances and provide for alternative land selections under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act related to Cape Fox Corporation and Sealaska Corporation, and for other purposes; S. 1575 and H.R. 1092, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to sell certain parcels of Federal land in Carson City and Douglas County, Nevada; S. 1778, to authorize a land conveyance between the United States and the City of Craig, Alaska, and for other purposes; S. 1819 and H.R. 272, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land to Lander County, Nevada, and the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to Eureka County, Nevada, for continued use as cemeteries; and H.R. 3249, to extend the term of the Forest Counties Payments Committee.

Because of the limited time available for the hearing, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing record should send two copies of their testimony to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510-6150.

For further information, please contact Frank Gladics at 202-224- 2878.

Mr. President, I would like to announce for the information of the Senate and the public that a hearing has been scheduled before the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources.

The hearing will be held on Wednesday, February 4, at 2:30 p.m. in room SAD-366 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.

The purpose of the hearing is to receive testimony on the following bills: S. 1354, to resolve certain conveyances and provide for alternative land selections under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act related to Cape Fox Corporation and Sealaska Corporation, and for other purposes; S. 1575 and H.R. 1092, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to sell certain parcels of Federal land in Carson City and Douglas County, Nevada; S. 1778, to authorize a land conveyance between the United States and the City of Craig, Alaska, and for other purposes; and S. 1819 and H.R. 272, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain land to Lander County, Nevada, and the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to Eureka County, Nevada, for continued use as cemeteries.

Because of the limited time available for the hearing, witnesses may testify by invitation only. However, those wishing to submit written testimony for the hearing should send two copies of their testimony to the Committee of Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510-6150.

For further information, please contact Frank Gladics at 202-224- 2878.