[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 56 (Wednesday, April 18, 2012)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D364-D365]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: UNITED STATES FOREST SERVICE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Department of the 
Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies concluded a hearing to 
examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2013 for the United 
States Forest Service, after receiving testimony from Tom Tidwell, 
Chief, and Susan Spear, Acting Director, Budget, both of the United 
States Forest Service, Department of Agriculture.
APPROPRIATIONS: MISSILE DEFENSE AGENCY
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Department of Defense 
concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
year 2013 for the Missile Defense Agency, after receiving testimony 
from Lieutenant General Patrick J. O'Reilly, Director, Missile Defense 
Agency, Department of Defense.
APPROPRIATIONS: GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Financial Service and 
General Government to examine the General Services Administration, 
focusing on a review of the recent Inspector General management 
deficiency report and an assessment of the fiscal year 2013 General 
Services Administration funding request, after receiving testimony from 
Brian D. Miller, Inspector General, and Daniel Tangherlini, Acting 
Administrator, both of the General Services Administration.
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT AND BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Readiness and Management 
Support concluded a hearing to examine financial management and 
business transformation at the Department of Defense, focusing on 
challenges in attaining audit readiness and improving business 
processes and systems, after receiving testimony from Robert F. Hale, 
Under Secretary (Comptroller), Elizabeth A. McGrath, Deputy Chief 
Management Officer, Joseph W. Westphal, Under Secretary of the Army and 
Chief Management Officer, Mary Sally Matiella, Assistant Secretary of 
the Army for Financial Management and Comptroller, Robert O. Work, 
Under Secretary of the Navy, Gladys J. Commons, Assistant Secretary of 
the Navy for Financial Management and Comptroller, David Tillotson III, 
Deputy Chief Management Officer of the Air Force, and Jamie M. Morin, 
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Financial Management and 
Comptroller, all of the Department of Defense; and Asif A. Khan, 
Director, Financial Management and Assurance, Government Accountability 
Office.
NATIONAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION MANAGEMENT OF NATIONAL SECURITY 
LABORATORIES
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces concluded 
a hearing to examine the National Security Administration management of 
its National Security Laboratories, after receiving testimony from 
Charles F. McMillan, Laboratory Director, Los Alamos National 
Laboratory, Paul J. Hommert, President and Director, Sandia National 
Laboratories, and Penrose C. Albright, Director, Lawrence Livermore 
National Laboratory, all of the National Nuclear Security 
Administration, and Charles V. Shank, and C. Kumar N. Patel, both a Co-
Chairman, National Research Council Committee on Review of the Quality 
of the Management and of the Science and Engineering Research at the 
National Security Laboratories, all of the Department of Energy.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Budget: Committee began consideration of the 
concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2013, but did not 
complete action thereon, and recessed subject to the call.
PROTECTING COMMUTERS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and 
Security concluded a hearing to examine protecting commuters, focusing 
on ensuring accountability and oversight in tolling, after receiving 
testimony from Bill Baroni, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey 
Deputy Executive Director, New York; Eugene A. Conti, Jr., North 
Carolina Department of Transportation Secretary, Raleigh, on behalf of 
the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials; 
Steve Grabell, NFI, Vineland, New Jersey, on behalf of the American 
Trucking Associations; and Chris Plaushin, AAA, Washington, DC.
GENERAL SERVICES ADMINISTRATION OVERSIGHT
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded an 
oversight hearing to examine the General Services Administration, after 
receiving testimony from Brian D. Miller, Inspector General, and Daniel 
Tangherlini, Acting Administrator, both of the General Services 
Administration.

[[Page D365]]


TRADE OPPORTUNITIES FOR AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PRODUCERS
Committee on Finance: Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and 
Global Competitiveness concluded a hearing to examine the Asia Pacific, 
focusing on trade opportunities for agriculture and food producers from 
the Great Plains to the Pacific Northwest, after receiving testimony 
from Robert D. Hormats, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, 
Energy and the Environment; Islam Siddiqui, Chief Agricultural 
Negotiator, Office of the United States Trade Representative; Darci 
Vetter, Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture for Farm and Foreign 
Agricultural Services; Mark Powers, Northwest Horticultural Council, 
Yakima, Washington; Paul Casper, South Dakota Soybean Association, 
Sioux Falls; Steve Crider, Amy's Kitchen, Medford, Oregon; and Steve 
Thomson, King Estate Winery, Eugene, Oregon.
IRAN AND SYRIA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee received a closed briefing on 
an intelligence update on Iran and Syria from National Security 
Briefers.
U.S. AFRICAN POLICY
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on African Affairs 
concluded a hearing to examine the United States policy response to 
entrenched African leadership, including S. Res. 402, condemning Joseph 
Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army for committing crimes against 
humanity and mass atrocities, and supporting ongoing efforts by the 
United States Government and governments in central Africa to remove 
Joseph Kony and Lord's Resistance Army commanders from the battlefield, 
after receiving testimony from Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of 
State for African Affairs; Earl Gast, Assistant Administrator for 
Africa, United States Agency for International Development; Christopher 
Fomunyoh, National Democratic Institute, Washington, DC.; and Mo 
Ibrahim, London, United Kingdom.
ACCELERATED LEARNING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine effective strategies for accelerated 
learning, after receiving testimony from Thomas W. Rudin, The College 
Board, Washington, DC.; Carolyn Bacon Dickson, O'Donnell Foundation, 
Dallas, Texas; Peter Winograd, University of New Mexico Center for 
Education Policy Research, Albuquerque, New Mexico; Marybeth Shubert, 
Advanced Programs Initiative, Inc., Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Joel 
Vargas, Jobs for the Future, Boston, Massachusetts.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of James Xavier Dempsey, of California, Elisebeth 
Collins Cook, of Illinois, Rachel L. Brand, of Iowa, David Medine, of 
Maryland, to be Chairman, and Patricia M. Wald, of the District of 
Columbia, all to be a Member of the Privacy and Civil Liberties 
Oversight Board, after the nominees testified and answered questions in 
their own behalf.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP ECOSYSTEM
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine perspectives from the entrepreneurial ecosystem, 
focusing on creating jobs and growing businesses through 
entrepreneurship, after receiving testimony from Nishith Acharya, 
Director, Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Economic 
Development Administration, Department of Commerce; Mayor Craig Lowe, 
Gainesville, Florida; Evan Burfield, StartupDC, Washington, DC.; Scott 
Daugherty, North Carolina Small Business Technology Development Center, 
Raleigh; Christina Friederichs, Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring 
Program, Kansas City, Missouri; Scott D. Gerber, Young Entrepreneur 
Council, Hoboken, New Jersey; Juliet Gorman, Etsy, Brooklyn, New York; 
Patricia G. Greene, Babson College, Babson Park, Massachusetts; 
Jennifer Hyman, Rent the Runway, New York, New York; Alex Laskey, 
Opower, and Matt Mitchell, George Mason University Mercatus Center, 
both of Arlington, Virginia; Joe Nigro, Vsnap.com, Boston, 
Massachusetts; Vivek Wadhwa, Stanford University, Moffett Field, 
California; and Tim Williamson, The Idea Village, New Orleans, 
Louisiana.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on 
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the 
intelligence community.
  Committee recessed subject to the call.
FUTURE OF LONG-TERM CARE
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the future of long-term care, focusing on saving money by serving 
seniors, after receiving testimony from John O'Brien, Director of 
Healthcare and Insurance, U.S. Office of Personnel Management; Loren 
Colman, Minnesota Department of Human Services Assistant Commissioner 
for Continuing Care, St. Paul; Judith Feder, Georgetown University 
Georgetown Public Policy Institute, and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, American 
Action Forum, both of Washington, DC.; and Bruce A. Chernof, The SCAN 
Foundation, Long Beach, California.