[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 112 (Wednesday, July 25, 2012)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D772-D774]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NUCLEAR WEAPON DETERRENT
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Energy and Water 
Development concluded a hearing to examine the proper size of the 
nuclear weapons stockpile to maintain a credible U.S. deterrent, after 
receiving testimony from General James E. Cartwright, USMC, (Ret.), 
former Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Department of Defense, and 
Thomas R. Pickering, former Under Secretary of State for Political 
Affairs, both of Global Zero United States Nuclear Policy Commission, 
and Keith B. Payne, Missouri State University Graduate Department of 
Defense and Strategic Studies, all of Washington, D.C.
IMPACT OF SEQUESTRATION ON EDUCATION
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Departments of Labor, 
Health and Human Services, and Education, and Related Agencies 
concluded a hearing to examine the impact of sequestration on 
education, after receiving testimony from Arne Duncan, Secretary of 
Education; June Atkinson, North Carolina State Superintendent of Public 
Instruction, Raleigh; Billy Walker, Randolph Field Independent School 
District, Universal City, Texas; Neal McCluskey, Cato Institute Center 
for Educational Freedom, Washington, D.C.; and Tammy L. Mann, The 
Campagna Center, Alexandria, Virginia.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nomination of Sean Sullivan, of Connecticut, to be a Member of the 
Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, and 878 nominations in the 
Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the International Space Station, focusing on 
research, collaboration, and discovery, after receiving testimony from 
William H. Gerstenmaier, Associate Administrator for Human Exploration 
and Operations, and Donald R. Pettit, Astronaut, both of the National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration; Thomas Reiter, European Space 
Agency, Paris, France; and James D. Royston, Center for the Advancement 
of Science and Space, Kennedy Space Center, Florida.
SHORT-SUPPLY PRESCRIPTION DRUGS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine short-supply prescription drugs, after receiving 
testimony from Representative Cummings; Virginia Herold, California 
State Board of Pharmacy Executive Officer, Sacramento; David Mayhaus, 
Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio; John 
M. Gray, Healthcare Distribution Management Association, Arlington, 
Virginia; John Coster, National Community Pharmacists Association, 
Alexandria, Virginia; and Patricia Earl, National Coalition of 
Pharmaceutical Distributors, Bowling Green, Ohio.
WATER USE EFFICIENCY
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Water and 
Power concluded an oversight hearing to examine the role of water use 
efficiency and its impact on energy use, after receiving testimony from 
Henry L. Green, National Institute of Building Sciences, Washington, 
D.C.; Daniel W. Bena, PepsiCo, Inc., Purchase, New York; Russ Chaney, 
International Association of Plumbing and Mechanical Officials, 
Ontario, California; and Mary Ann Dickinson, Alliance for Water 
Efficiency, Chicago, Illinois.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following business items:
  S. 847, to amend the Toxic Substances Control Act to ensure that 
risks from chemicals are adequately understood and managed, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 357, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to identify and 
declare wildlife disease emergencies and to coordinate rapid response 
to those emergencies, with an amendment;
  S. 810, to prohibit the conducting of invasive research on great 
apes, with an amendment;
  S. 1494, to reauthorize and amend the National Fish and Wildlife 
Foundation Establishment Act, with an amendment;
  S. 2071, to grant the Secretary of the Interior permanent authority 
to authorize States to issue electronic duck stamps;
  S. 2156, to amend the Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp 
Act to permit the Secretary of the Interior, in consultation with the 
Migratory Bird Conservation Commission, to set prices for Federal 
Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamps and make limited waivers 
of stamp requirements for certain users, with an amendment;
  S. 2282, to extend the authorization of appropriations to carry out 
approved wetlands conservation projects under the North American 
Wetlands Conservation Act through fiscal year 2017;

[[Page D773]]


  S. 3370, to authorize the Administrator of General Services to convey 
a parcel of real property in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to the Amy Biehl 
High School Foundation;
  S. 2251, to designate the United States courthouse located at 709 
West 9th Street, Juneau, Alaska, as the Robert Boochever United States 
Courthouse;
  S. 2326, to designate the new United States courthouse in Buffalo, 
New York, as the ``Robert H. Jackson United States Courthouse'';
  S. 1735, to approve the transfer of Yellow Creek Port properties in 
Iuka, Mississippi;
  Proposed resolutions relating to the General Services Administration;
  Proposed resolutions relating to the Corps Study, City of Norfolk, 
Virginia and Port Fourchon, Louisiana; and
  The nomination of Major General John Peabody, United States Army, to 
be a Member and President of the Mississippi River Commission.
EDUCATION TAX INCENTIVES AND TAX REFORM
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
education tax incentives and tax reform, focusing on how tax 
information could help families pay for college, after receiving 
testimony from James R. White, Director, Strategic Issues, Government 
Accountability Office; Waded Cruzado, Montana State University, 
Bozeman; Lynne Munson, Common Core, and Scott A. Hodge, Tax Foundation, 
both of Washington, D.C.; and Susan Dynarski, University of Michigan 
Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, Ann Arbor.
IRAN'S SUPPORT FOR TERRORISM IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South 
and Central Asian Affairs concluded a hearing to examine Iran's support 
for terrorism in the Middle East, after receiving testimony from James 
F. Jeffrey, former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Department of State, 
Alexandria, Virginia; and Daniel Byman, Georgetown University Edmund A. 
Walsh School of Foreign Service, Danielle Pletka, American Enterprise 
Institute, and Matthew Levitt, The Washington Institute for Near East 
Policy, all of Washington, D.C.
ECONOMIC STATECRAFT
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine S. 2215, to create jobs in the United States by increasing 
United States exports to Africa by at least 200 percent in real dollar 
value within 10 years, focusing on economic statecraft, and S. 3326, to 
amend the African Growth and Opportunity Act to extend the third-
country fabric program and to add South Sudan to the list of countries 
eligible for designation under that Act, to make technical corrections 
to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States relating to the 
textile and apparel rules of origin for the Dominican Republic-Central 
America-United States Free Trade Agreement, to approve the renewal of 
import restrictions contained in the Burmese Freedom and Democracy Act 
of 2003, after receiving testimony from Francisco J. Sanchez, Under 
Secretary of Commerce for International Trade; and Elizabeth L. 
Littlefield, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Fred Hochberg, 
Export-Import Bank, Stephen Hayes, Corporate Council on Africa, Mwangi 
S. Kimenyi, The Brookings Institution, and Scott Eisner, U.S. Chamber 
of Commerce African Affairs and International Operations, all of 
Washington, D.C.
ASSESSING GRANTS MANAGEMENT
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Financial Management, Government Information, Federal 
Services, and International Security concluded a hearing to examine 
assessing grants management practices at Federal agencies, focusing on 
the amount of undisbursed funding remaining in expired grant accounts, 
and recent and historical funding levels for federal grants, after 
receiving testimony from Danny I. Werfel, Controller, Office of Federal 
Financial Management, Office of Management and Budget; Elizabeth M. 
Harman, Assistant Administrator, Grant Programs Directorate, Federal 
Emergency Management Agency, Department of Homeland Security; Nancy 
Gunderson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for 
Grants and Acquisition Policy and Accountability; and Stanley J. 
Czerwinski, Director, Strategic Issues, Government Accountability 
Office.
JUDICIAL INDEPENDENCE THROUGH CIVICS EDUCATION
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
ensuring judicial independence through civics education, after 
receiving testimony from former Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day 
O'Connor, Washington, D.C.
ENHANCING WOMEN'S RETIREMENT SECURITY
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
enhancing women's retirement security, focusing on how women's access 
to and participation in employer-sponsored retirement plans and 
retirement incomes compare to men's, and how later-in-life events 
affect women's retirement income security, after receiving testimony 
from Barbara D. Bovbjerg, Managing Director, Education, Workforce,

[[Page D774]]

and Income Security, Government Accountability Office; LaTina Burse 
Greene, Assistant Deputy Commissioner for Retirement and Disability 
Policy, Social Security Administration; Kelly O'Donnell, Financial 
Engines, Boston, Massachusetts; and Sabrina L. Schaeffer, Independent 
Women's Forum, and Joan Entmacher, National Women's Law Center, both of 
Washington, D.C.