[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 153 (Wednesday, October 30, 2013)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1031-D1034]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
JOBS ACT
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on 
Securities, Insurance, and Investment concluded a hearing to examine 
the JOBS Act at a year and a half, focusing on assessing progress and 
unmet opportunities, after receiving testimony from Keith Higgins, 
Director, Division of Corporation Finance, Securities and Exchange 
Commission; Alan Lewis, Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc., 
Denver, Colorado; Robert R. Kaplan, Jr., Kaplan Voekler Cunningham and 
Frank, PLC, Richmond, Virginia; Rick Fleming, North American Securities 
Administrators Association, Inc., Burke, Virginia; and Sherwood Neiss, 
Crowdfund Capital Advisors LLC, Miami, Florida.
TRANSATLANTIC TRADE AND INVESTMENT PARTNERSHIP
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the 
Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, after receiving 
testimony from Michael L. Ducker, FedEx Express, Memphis, Tennessee; 
Ryan McCormick, Montana Grain Growers Association, Great Falls; Dave 
Ricks, Lilly Biomedicines, Indianapolis, Indiana; and William P. 
Roenigk, National Chicken Council, Washington, DC.

[[Page D1032]]


BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 1562, to reauthorize the Older Americans Act of 1965, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1557, to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize 
support for graduate medical education programs in children's 
hospitals;
  S. 1561, to amend the Public Health Service Act to improve provisions 
relating to the sanctuary system for surplus chimpanzees, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  H.R. 2094, to amend the Public Health Service Act to increase the 
preference given, in awarding certain asthma-related grants, to certain 
States (those allowing trained school personnel to administer 
epinephrine and meeting other related requirements);
  S. 1302, to amend the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 
and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to provide for cooperative and 
small employer charity pension plans, with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute;
  H.R. 2747, to amend title 40, United States Code, to transfer certain 
functions from the Government Accountability Office to the Department 
of Labor relating to the processing of claims for the payment of 
workers who were not paid appropriate wages under certain provisions of 
such title; and
  The nominations of Michael Keith Yudin, of the District of Columbia, 
to be Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative 
Services, and James Cole, Jr., of New York, to be General Counsel, both 
of the Department of Education, and Chai Rachel Feldblum, of the 
District of Columbia, to be a Member of the Equal Employment 
Opportunity Commission.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 235, to provide for the conveyance of certain property located in 
Anchorage, Alaska, from the United States to the Alaska Native Tribal 
Health Consortium, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 611, to make a technical amendment to the T'uf Shur Bien 
Preservation Trust Area Act, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute; and
  S. 920, to allow the Fond du Lac Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in 
the State of Minnesota to lease or transfer certain land, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute.
INDIAN AFFAIRS LEGISLATION
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
S. 1074, to extend Federal recognition to the Chickahominy Indian 
Tribe, the Chickahominy Indian Tribe-Eastern Division, the Upper 
Mattaponi Tribe, the Rappahannock Tribe, Inc., the Monacan Indian 
Nation, and the Nansemond Indian Tribe, S. 1132, to provide for the 
recognition of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, and S. 161, to 
extend the Federal recognition to the Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa 
Indians of Montana, after receiving testimony from Senators Kaine, 
Burr, and Hagan; Kevin Washburn, Assistant Secretary of the Interior 
for Indian Affairs; Stephen R. Adkins, Chickahominy Indian Tribe, 
Charles City, Virginia; Paul Brooks, Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, 
Pembroke; and Gerald Gray, Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of 
Montana, Black Eagle.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of John B. Owens, of California, to be United States 
Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit, Matthew Frederick Leitman, Judith 
Ellen Levy, Laurie J. Michelson, and Linda Vivienne Parker, all to be a 
United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan, who 
were all introduced by Senator Levin, and Peter Joseph Kadzik, of New 
York, to be an Assistant Attorney General, Department of Justice, after 
the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
VETERANS HEALTH CARE AND BENEFITS LEGISLATION
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine S. 875, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require the 
reporting of cases of infectious diseases at facilities of the Veterans 
Health Administration, S. 1148, to amend title 38, United States Code, 
to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide notice of 
average times for processing claims, S. 1155, to provide for advance 
appropriations for certain information technology accounts of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, to include mental health professionals 
in training programs of the Department, S. 1165, to amend title 38, 
United States Code, to provide for certain requirements relating to the 
immunization of veterans, S. 1211, to amend title 38, United States 
Code, to prohibit the use of the phrases GI Bill and Post-
9/11 GI Bill to give a false impression of approval

[[Page D1033]]

or endorsement by the Department of Veterans Affairs, S. 1216, to 
improve and increase the availability of on-job training and 
apprenticeship programs carried out by the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs, S. 1262, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 
establish a veterans conservation corps, S. 1281, to prohibit 
discrimination on the basis of military service, S. 1295, to amend 
title 38, United States Code, to require the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs to provide veterans with notice, when veterans electronically 
file claims for benefits under laws administered by the Secretary, that 
relevant services may be available from veterans service organizations, 
S. 1296, to amend the Wounded Warrior Act to establish a specific 
timeline for the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs to achieve interoperable electronic health records, S. 1361, to 
direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to accept additional 
documentation when considering the application for veterans status of 
an individual who performed service as a coastwise merchant seaman 
during World War II, S. 1399, to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief 
Act to extend the interest rate limitation on debt entered into during 
military service to debt incurred during military service to 
consolidate or refinance student loans incurred before military 
service, S. 1411, to specify requirements for the next update of the 
current strategic plan for the Office of Rural Health of the Department 
of Veterans Affairs for improving access to, and the quality of, health 
care services for veterans in rural areas, S. 1434, to designate the 
Junction City Community-Based Outpatient Clinic located at 715 
Southwind Drive, Junction City, Kansas, as the Lieutenant General 
Richard J. Seitz Community-Based Outpatient Clinic, S. 1471, to 
authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs and the Secretary of the 
Army to reconsider decisions to inter or honor the memory of a person 
in a national cemetery, S. 1540, to amend title 38, United States Code, 
to include contracts and grants for residential care for veterans in 
the exception to the requirement that the Federal Government recover a 
portion of the value of certain projects, S. 1547, to require the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to review the dialysis pilot program 
implemented by the Department of Veterans Affairs and submit a report 
to Congress before expanding that program, S. 1556, to amend title 38, 
United States Code, to modify authorities relating to the collective 
bargaining of employees in the Veterans Health Administration, S. 1558, 
to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a program of 
outreach for veterans, S. 1559, to amend title 38, United States Code, 
to modify the method of determining whether Filipino veterans are 
United States residents for purposes of eligibility for receipt of the 
full-dollar rate of compensation under the laws administered by the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, S. 1573, to amend title 38, United 
States Code, to provide for the payment of temporary compensation to a 
surviving spouse of a veteran upon the death of the veteran, S. 1576, 
to redesignate the Department of Veterans Affairs Healthcare System 
located at 10000 Bay Pines Boulevard in Bay Pines, Florida, as the 
``C.W. Bill Young Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center'', S. 
1578, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to cover the costs 
associated with the care of veterans at medical foster homes, S. 1579, 
to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to improve the protections 
provided to members of the uniformed services and their families, S. 
1580, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require recipients of 
per diem payments from the Secretary of Veterans Affairs for the 
provision of services for homeless veterans to comply with codes 
relevant to operations and level of care provided, S. 1581, to 
authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to provide counseling and 
treatment for sexual trauma to members of the Armed Forces, to require 
the Secretary to screen veterans for domestic abuse, to require the 
Secretary to submit reports on military sexual trauma and domestic 
abuse, S. 1582, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to submit 
reports on the provision of services by the Department of Veterans 
Affairs to veterans with hearing loss and other auditory system 
injuries and the measures that can be taken jointly by the Department 
of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense with respect to 
hearing loss and other auditory system injuries, S. 1583, to require 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to conduct an education program and 
peer support program for the education and training of family members 
and caregivers of veterans with mental health disorders, S. 1584, to 
amend title 38, United States Code, to provide replacement automobiles 
for certain disabled veterans and members of the Armed Forces, S. 1585, 
to amend title 38, United States Code, to update the Service-Disabled 
Veterans Insurance program to base premium rates on the Commissioners 
2001 Standard Ordinary Mortality Table instead of the Commissioners 
1941 Standard Ordinary Table of Mortality, S. 1586, to amend title 38, 
United States Code, to improve dental health care for veterans, S. 
1588, to amend title 38, United States Code, to expand eligibility for 
reimbursement for emergency medical treatment to certain veterans that 
were unable to receive care from the Department of Veterans Affairs in 
the 24-month period preceding the furnishing of such emergency 
treatment, S. 1589, to amend title 38, United States Code, to require 
the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to ensure the Department of Veterans 
Affairs has an up-to-date policy on

[[Page D1034]]

reporting of cases of infectious diseases, to require an independent 
assessment of the Veterans Integrated Service Networks and medical 
centers of the Department, S. 1593, to amend the Servicemembers Civil 
Relief Act to enhance the protections accorded to servicemembers and 
their spouses with respect to mortgages, an original bill entitled, 
``Veterans Health Care Eligibility Expansion and Enhancement Act'', and 
an original bill to establish in the Department of Veterans Affairs a 
national center for the diagnosis, treatment, and research of health 
conditions of the descendants of veterans exposed to toxic substances 
during service in the Armed Forces, to provide certain services to 
those descendants, after receiving testimony from Senators Reed, 
Nelson, Franken, Coats, and Heinrich; Robert I. Jesse, Principal Deputy 
Under Secretary for Health, David R. McLenachen, Director, Pension 
Fiduciary Service, Veterans Benefits Administration, Richard Hipolit, 
Assistant General Counsel, and Jane Clare Joyner, Deputy Assistant 
General Counsel, all of the Department of Veterans Affairs; and Colonel 
Robert F. Norton, USA (Ret.), Military Officers Association of America, 
Adrian M. Atizado, Disabled American Veterans, and Richard Weidman, 
Vietnam Veterans of America, all of Washington, DC.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported 
H.R. 3302, to name the Department of Veterans Affairs medical center in 
Bay Pines, Florida, as the ``C.W. Bill Young Department of Veterans 
Affairs Medical Center''.