[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 179 (Tuesday, December 17, 2013)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1205-D1206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATION
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nomination of Arun Madhavan Kumar, of 
California, to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce and Director General 
of the United States and Foreign Commercial Service, after the nominee 
testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the nominations of Steven Croley, of Michigan, to be General 
Counsel, and Christopher Smith, of Texas, to be an Assistant Secretary 
for Fossil Energy, both of the Department of Energy, and Esther Puakela 
Kia'aina, of Hawaii, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Interior.
NOMINATION
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nominations of Janice Marion Schneider, of New 
York, to be Assistant Secretary for Land and Minerals Management, and 
Neil Gregory Kornze, of Nevada, to be Director of the Bureau of Land 
Management, who was introduced by Senators Reid and Heller, both of the 
Department of the Interior, and Marc A. Kastner, of Massachusetts, to 
be Director of the Office of Science, and Ellen Dudley Williams, of 
Maryland, to be Director of the Advanced Research Projects Agency--
Energy, both of the Department of Energy, after the nominees testified 
and answered questions in their own behalf.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nominations of Rhea Sun Suh, of Colorado, to be 
Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife, who was 
introduced by Senator Bennet, Victoria Marie Baecher Wassmer, of 
Illinois, to be Chief Financial

[[Page D1206]]

Officer, and Thomas A. Burke, of Maryland, to be an Assistant 
Administrator, both of Environmental Protection Agency, and Roy K. J. 
Williams, of Ohio, to be Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic 
Development, who was introduced by Senators Brown and Portman, after 
the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
CRISIS IN THE CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on African Affairs 
concluded a hearing to examine responding to the humanitarian, security 
and governance crisis in the Central African Republic, after receiving 
testimony from Earl Gast, Assistant Administrator for Africa, United 
States Agency for International Development; Linda Thomas Greenfield, 
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs; Alexis Arieff, 
Analyst in African Affairs, Congressional Research Service, Library of 
Congress; Lisabeth List, Doctors Without Borders, New York, New York; 
and Mark Schneider, International Crisis Group, Washington, DC.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Helen Meagher La Lime, of the District of 
Columbia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Angola, Larry Edward 
Andre, Jr., of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of 
Mauritania, Eric T. Schultz, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the 
Republic of Zambia, and Cynthia H. Akuetteh, of the District of 
Columbia, to be Ambassador to the Gabonese Republic, and to serve 
concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador to the 
Republic of the Democratic Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, all of 
the Department of State, after the nominees testified and answered 
questions in their own behalf.
NAVY YARD TRAGEDY
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine the Navy Yard tragedy, focusing on the 
physical security for Federal facilities, including challenges facing 
the Federal Protective Service with contract guards and risk 
assessments at Federal facilities, after receiving testimony from 
Caitlin Durkovich, Assistant Secretary for Infrastructure Protection, 
and Leonard E. Patterson, Director, Federal Protective Service, both of 
the National Protection and Programs Directorate, Department of 
Homeland Security; Stephen F. Lewis, Deputy Director for Personnel, 
Industrial and Physical Security Policy, Directorate of Security Policy 
and Oversight, Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for 
Intelligence; Mark L. Goldstein, Director, Physical Infrastructure 
Team, Government Accountability Office; Stephen Amitay, National 
Association of Security Companies, Washington, DC; and David L. Wright, 
American Federation of Government Employees, Excelsior Springs, 
Missouri.
LIMITING PATENT ABUSE
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
protecting small businesses and promoting innovation by limiting patent 
troll abuse, including S. 1720, to promote transparency in patent 
ownership and make other improvements to the patent system, S. 1013, to 
amend title 35, United States Code, to add procedural requirements for 
patent infringement suits, and S. 1612, to deter abusive patent 
litigation by targeting the economic incentives that fuel frivolous 
lawsuits, after receiving testimony from John J. Dwyer, Jr., New 
England Federal Credit Union, Williston, Vermont; Michael Makin, 
Printing Industries of America, Sewickley, Pennsylvania; Dana Rao, 
Adobe Systems, Inc., San Jose, California; Philip S. Johnson, Coalition 
for 21st Century Patent Reform, New Brunswick, New Jersey; Steve 
Bossone, Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Harry A. 
Wolin, AMD, Austin, Texas; and Q. Todd Dickinson, American Intellectual 
Property Law Association, Arlington, Virginia.
FEDERAL ARBITRATION ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the Federal Arbitration Act and access to justice, focusing on if 
recent Supreme Court decisions undermine the rights of consumers, 
workers, and small businesses, including S. 878, to amend title 9 of 
the United States Code with respect to arbitration, after receiving 
testimony from Leslie C. Overton, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, 
Antitrust Division, Department of Justice; Alan S. Carlson, Italian 
Colors Restaurant, Oakland, California; Myriam Gilles, Yeshiva 
University Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, New York, New York; 
Vildan A. Teske, Crowder, Teske, Katz and Micko, PLLP, Minneapolis, 
Minnesota; Archis A. Parasharami, Mayer Brown LLP, Washington, D.C.; 
and Peter B. Rutledge, University of Georgia School of Law, Athens.
NOMINATIONS
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Daniel Bennett Smith, of Virginia, to be 
Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research, and 
Caroline Diane Krass, of the District of Columbia, to be General 
Counsel of the Central Intelligence Agency, who was introduced by 
Senator Bennet, after the nominees testified and answered questions in 
their own behalf.