[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 74 (Thursday, May 23, 2013)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D498-D499]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE AGENCIES
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural 
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 
concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
year 2014 for various agencies within the Department of Agriculture, 
after receiving testimony from Darci Vetter, Acting Under Secretary, 
Farm and Foreign Agricultural Services, Ann Mills, Acting Under 
Secretary, Natural Resources and Environment, Doug O'Brien, Acting 
Under Secretary, Rural Development, and Michael Young, Budget Officer, 
all of the Department of Agriculture.
NOMINATION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the nomination of Penny Pritzker, of Illinois, to 
be Secretary of Commerce, after the nominee, who was introduced by 
Senators Durbin and Kirk, testified and answered questions in her own 
behalf.
EXTRACTION OF GAS FROM SHALE
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the extraction of gas from shale, focusing on 
current practices within the industry and environmental concerns to be 
addressed, after receiving testimony from Tim Spisak, Deputy Assistant 
Director of Minerals and Realty Management, Bureau of Land Management, 
Department of the Interior; Stan Belieu, Nebraska Oil and Gas 
Conservation Commission Deputy Director, Sidney, on behalf of the 
Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission and the Ground Water 
Protection Council; Barry T. Smitherman, Texas Railroad Commission 
Chairman, Austin; Jack Williams, XTO Energy, Fort Worth, Texas; Chuck 
Davidson, Noble Energy, Inc., Alan Crain, Baker Hughes Incorporated, 
and Marc Edwards, Halliburton, all of Houston, Texas; Clay Bretches, 
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, The Woodlands, Texas; David L. Porges, 
EQT Corporation, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Mark Brownstein, 
Environmental Defense Fund US Climate and Energy Program, and Amy Mall, 
Natural Resources Defense Council, both of New York, New York; Deborah 
J. Nardone, Sierra Club Beyond Natural Gas Campaign, San Francisco, 
California; and Donald S. Garvin, Jr., West Virginia Environmental 
Council, Buckhannon.

[[Page D499]]


NOMINATION
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nomination of Allison M. Macfarlane, of 
Maryland, to be a Member of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, after 
the nominee, who was introduced by Senator Cardin, testified and 
answered questions in her own behalf.
UNITED STATES-EUROPEAN UNION ECONOMIC RELATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine United States-European Union economic relations, focusing on 
crisis and opportunity, after receiving testimony from Robert D. 
Hormats, Under Secretary of State for Economic Growth, Energy and the 
Environment; Lael Brainard, Under Secretary of the Treasury for 
International Affairs; and Jim Kolbe, The German Marshall Fund of the 
United States, and Douglas Rediker, Peterson Institute for 
International Economics, both of Washington, D.C.
IMPROVING RURAL FEDERAL HEALTH CARE
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Federal Programs and the Federal 
Workforce concluded a hearing to examine improving Federal health care 
in rural America, focusing on developing the workforce and building 
partnerships, after receiving testimony from Robert A. Petzel, Under 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health, Veterans Health 
Administration; Yvette Roubideaux, Acting Director, Indian Health 
Service, and Tom Morris, Associate Administrator, Office of Rural 
Health Policy, Health Resources and Services Administration, both of 
the Department of Health and Human Services; Matt Kuntz, National 
Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Montana, Helena; and Ralph Ibson, 
Wounded Warrior Project, Washington, DC.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of Charles R. Breyer, of California, Rachel Elise Barkow, 
of New York, and William H. Pryor, Jr., of Alabama, all to be a Member 
of the United States Sentencing Commission.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Derek Anthony West, of California, to be Associate 
Attorney General, Department of Justice, and Valerie E. Caproni, of the 
District of Columbia, who was introduced by Senator Gillibrand, and 
Vernon S. Broderick, both to be a United States District Judge for the 
Southern District of New York, after the nominees testified and 
answered questions in their own behalf.
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.