Hearings of Friday, April 24
Introduction. At the request of co-chairs Kathleen Brown and Jon Corzine, who could not be present, Commissioner Rudy Penner opened the hearings shortly after 9:00 a.m. on Friday, April 24, in the Truman Room of the White House Conference Center, 726 Jackson Place, NW, Washington, DC. In addition to the co-chairs, other Commissioners not present were Woody Brittain, Luis Nogales, and Steve Rattner. Sitting at the table with the Commissioners was William Dinkelacker, Designated Federal Official from the Department of the Treasury. As required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the meeting had been announced in the Federal Register, and the meeting was open to the public.
-- an agenda;
-- biographical information about
the speakers;
-- the fact sheet about the Commission;
-- a list of written testimony and statements received by the Commission;
-- the press release announcing the meeting; and
-- draft minutes of the March 6 and March 7 sessions.
In addition, written testimony of witnesses was distributed during the day.
Purpose. The purpose of the hearings was to take testimony from the witnesses about capital budgeting, and ask them questions.
Testimony. The following persons appeared before the Commission:
9:00 Gary Gensler, Assistant Secretary
for Financial Markets, and Roger Anderson, Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Federal Finance, Department of the Treasury
10:00 Franklin D. Raines, Director, Office of Management and Budget
11:00 June E. O'Neill, Director, and James Blum, Deputy Director, Congressional Budget Office
1:00 Robert D. Reischauer, Senior Fellow,
Economic Studies, Brookings Institution; former
Director, Congressional Budget Office (1989-1995)
1:40 Charles L. Schultze, Senior Fellow
Emeritus, Economic Studies, Brookings Institution;
former president, American Economic Association; former chairman, Council
of
Economic Advisers (Carter Administration); former director, U.S. Bureau
of the Budget
(Johnson Administration)
2:20 Robert Eisner, Professor Emeritus
of Economics, Northwestern University; former
president, American Economic Association
Written testimony was submitted by Ms. O'Neill, Mr. Schultze, and Mr. Eisner. Copies of the written testimony are available upon request to the Commission.
Mr. Eisner's testimony ended about 3:00 p.m. The Commission took a short break, reconvened at 3:15, and discussed capital budgeting issues. They also decided to change the agenda for Saturday, April 25. They agreed to meet at 9:30 a.m. to discuss capital budgeting issues for about an hour, then adjourn.
The hearings adjourned at 3:55 p.m.
Meeting of Saturday, April 25
Introduction. Commissioner Rudy Penner opened the meeting at 9:30 a.m. in the Truman Room of the White House Conference Center, 726 Jackson Place, NW, Washington, DC. again at the request of the co-chairs, who could not be present. The meeting was open to the public. All Commissioners were present except Ms. Brown, Mr. Corzine, Mr. Leone, Ms. Metzler, and Mr. Nogales. Sitting at the table with the Commissioners was William Dinkelacker, Designated Federal Official from the Department of the Treasury. As required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the meeting had been announced in the Federal Register.
The same handouts were available to the public as those on April 24. In addition, a list of the Commission working groups and support staff was also distributed.
Minutes of March 6 and 7.--The Commission approved the draft minutes of the March 6 and March 7 hearings and meeting.
Discussion. The Commission discussed capital budgeting issues and agreed to send to Barbara Basser-Bigio, staff for Mr. Corzine, suggestions for the table of contents for the Commission's report and propositions that the Commission might consider. The Commission also requested that a current listing of e-mail and other addresses of the Commissioners be sent to the members.
The meeting was adjourned at 10:45 a.m.