[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 111 (Wednesday, July 16, 2014)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D796-D798]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
STRENGTHENING TRADE ENFORCEMENT
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Department of Homeland 
Security concluded a hearing to examine strengthening trade enforcement 
to protect American enterprise and grow American jobs, after receiving 
testimony from John Wagner, Acting Assistant Commissioner, Office of 
Field Operations, and Richard DiNucci, Acting Assistant Commissioner, 
Office of International Trade, both of Customs and Border Protection, 
and Lev Kubiak, Assistant Director of International Affairs, 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, all of the Department of Homeland 
Security; Rick Blume, Nucor Corporation, Charlotte, North Carolina; 
Edward T. Hayes, Leake & Andersson, LLP, New Orleans, Louisiana; Joe 
Sanroma, American Honey Producers Association, Bunkie, Louisiana; and 
John C. Steinberger, Adduci, Mastriani & Schaumberg, L.L.P., 
Washington, DC.
BANKS SYSTEMIC IMPORTANCE
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on 
Financial Institutions and Consumer Protection concluded a hearing to 
examine what makes a bank systemically important, after receiving 
testimony from Richard J. Herring, University of Pennsylvania Wharton 
School, Bryn Mawr; James B. Thomson, University of Akron College of 
Business Administration, Akron, Ohio; Robert DeYoung, University of 
Kansas School of Business, Baldwin City; and Paul H. Kupiec, American 
Enterprise Institute, Fairfax, Virginia.
DOMESTIC SPACE ACCESS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a joint hearing with the Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic 
Forces to examine options for assuring domestic space access, including 
how acquisition best practices can benefit future efforts, after 
receiving testimony from Alan Estevez, Principal Deputy Under Secretary 
for Acquisition, Logistics and Technology, and General William L. 
Shelton, Commander, Air Force Space Command, both of the Department of 
Defense; Robert Lightfoot, Associate Administrator, National 
Aeronautics and Space Administration; Cristina Chaplain, Director, 
Acquisition and Sourcing Management, Government Accountability Office; 
Major General Howard J. Mitchell, USAF (Ret.), The Aerospace 
Corporation, and Yool Kim, RAND Corporation, both of Arlington, 
Virginia; and Daniel L. Dumbacher, Purdue University, West Lafayette, 
Indiana.
THE FUTURE OF THE VIDEO MARKETPLACE
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine consumer choice, consolidation and the future 
video marketplace, after receiving testimony from David L. Cohen, 
Comcast Corporation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Justin Hurwitz, 
University of Nebraska College of Law, Lincoln; John T. Stankey, AT&T 
Inc., Dallas, Texas; Jeffrey H. Blum, DISH Network L.L.C., and Gene 
Kimmelman, Public Knowledge, both of Washington, DC; and Shawn Ryan, 
Writers Guild of America, West, Inc., Sherman Oaks, California.
WATER AND WILDLIFE BILLS
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on Water and 
Wildlife concluded a hearing to examine S. 571, to amend the Federal 
Water Pollution Control Act to establish a deadline for restricting 
sewage dumping into the Great Lakes and to fund programs and activities 
for improving wastewater discharges into the Great Lakes, S. 1153, to 
establish an improved regulatory process for injurious wildlife to 
prevent the introduction and establishment in the United States of 
nonnative wildlife and wild animal pathogens and parasites that are 
likely to cause harm, S. 1175, to require the Secretary of the Treasury 
to establish a program to provide loans and loan guarantees to enable 
eligible public entities to acquire interests in real property that are 
in compliance with habitat conservation plans approved by the Secretary 
of the Interior under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, S. 1202, to 
establish an integrated Federal program to respond to ongoing and 
expected impacts of extreme weather and climate change by protecting, 
restoring, and conserving the natural resources of the United States, 
and to maximize government efficiency and reduce costs, in cooperation 
with State, local, and tribal governments and other entities, S. 1232, 
to amend the Federal Water Pollution Control Act to protect and restore 
the Great Lakes, H.R. 1300, to amend the Fish and Wildlife Act of 1956 
to reauthorize the volunteer programs and community partnerships for 
the benefit of national wildlife refuges, S. 1381, to amend the Lacey 
Act Amendments of 1981 to clarify provisions enacted by the Captive 
Wildlife Safety Act, to further the conservation of certain wildlife 
species, S. 1650, to amend the Migratory Bird Treaty Act to exempt 
certain Alaska Native articles from prohibitions against sale of items 
containing nonedible migratory bird parts, S. 2225, to provide for a 
smart water resource management pilot program,

[[Page D797]]

S. 2530, to amend title 18, United States Code, to prohibit the 
importation or exportation of mussels of certain genus, and S. 2560, to 
authorize the United States Fish and Wildlife Service to seek 
compensation for injuries to trust resources and use those funds to 
restore, replace, or acquire equivalent resources, after receiving 
testimony from Senators Kirk, Blumenthal, and Heller; Michael H. 
Shapiro, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator, Office of Water, 
Environmental Protection Agency; Steve Guertin, Deputy Director, Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior; Tony Wasley, Nevada 
Department of Wildlife Director, Reno; and Bruce A. Stein, National 
Wildlife Federation, and Chad W. Lord, National Parks Conservation 
Association, both of Washington, DC.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the 
nominations of Robert W. Holleyman II, of Louisiana, to be a Deputy 
United States Trade Representative, with the rank of Ambassador, who 
was introduced by Senator Landrieu, and Cary Douglas Pugh, of Virginia, 
to be a Judge of the United States Tax Court, after the nominees 
testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
  The Protocol Amending the Convention between the United States of 
America and the Kingdom of Spain for the Avoidance of Double Taxation 
and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income 
and its Protocol, signed at Madrid on February 22, 1990 (Treaty 
Doc.113-04);
  The Convention between the United States of America and the Republic 
of Poland for the Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of 
Fiscal Evasion with Respect to Taxes on Income, signed on February 13, 
2013, at Warsaw (Treaty Doc. 113-05);
  H.R. 4028, to amend the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 
to include the desecration of cemeteries among the many forms of 
violations of the right to religious freedom;
  S. 2577, to require the Secretary of State to offer rewards totaling 
up to $5,000,000 for information on the kidnapping and murder of 
Naftali Fraenkel, a dual United States-Israeli citizen, that began on 
June 12, 2014;
  S. Res. 498, expressing the sense of the Senate regarding United 
States support for the State of Israel as it defends itself against 
unprovoked rocket attacks from the Hamas terrorist organization;
  S. Res. 500, expressing the sense of the Senate with respect to 
enhanced relations with the Republic of Moldova and support for the 
Republic of Moldova's territorial integrity; and
  The nominations of Alfonso E. Lenhardt, of New York, to be Deputy 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, Marcia Denise Occomy, of the District of Columbia, to be 
United States Director of the African Development Bank, and Leslie Ann 
Bassett, of California, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Paraguay, 
Department of State.
REENERGIZING U.S.-INDIA TIES
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South 
and Central Asian Affairs concluded a hearing to examine reenergizing 
United States-India ties, after receiving testimony from Nisha D. 
Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State, Bureau of South and Central Asian 
Affairs; Amy Searight, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense; and Frank 
G. Wisner, Squire Patton Boggs, Richard M. Rossow, Center for Strategic 
and International Studies, Vikram J. Singh, Center for American 
Progress, and Lisa Curtis, The Heritage Foundation, all of Washington, 
DC.
CHALLENGES AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine challenges at the border, focusing on 
examining and addressing the root of the causes behind the rise in 
apprehensions at the Southern Border, after receiving testimony from 
Michael Shifter, Inter-American Dialogue, Eric L. Olson, Woodrow Wilson 
International Center for Scholars Latin American Program, Eric 
Farnsworth, Council of the Americas, and Richard Jones, Catholic Relief 
Services, all of Washington, D.C.; and Bryan Roberts, Econometrica, 
Inc., Bethesda, Maryland.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR'S LAND BUY-BACK PROGRAM
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight hearing 
to examine the Department of the Interior's land buy-back program, 
after receiving testimony from Michael L. Connor, Deputy Secretary of 
the Interior; Carole Lankford, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes 
of the Flathead Reservation, Pablo, Montana; Susan Waukon, Ho Chunk 
Nation Legislature, Black River Falls, Wisconsin; Jennifer M. Keough, 
The Garden City Group, Inc., Seattle, Washington; Helo Hancock, Coeur 
d'Alene Tribe, Plummer, Idaho; and George Waters, George Waters 
Consulting Services, Washington, DC.

[[Page D798]]


STATE OF VETERANS' AFFAIRS HEALTH CARE
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight 
hearing to examine the state of Veterans' Affairs health care, after 
receiving testimony from Sloan D. Gibson, Acting Secretary, and Philip 
Matkowsky, Assistant Deputy Under Secretary for Health for 
Administrative Operations, Veterans Health Administration, both of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs.
PHONE SCAMS
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
phone scams, focusing on progress and potential solutions, after 
receiving testimony from Lois Greisman, Associate Director, Division of 
Marketing Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade 
Commission; Joseph S. Campbell, Deputy Assistant Director, Criminal 
Investigative Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of 
Justice; Kevin Rupy, United States Telecom Association, Washington, 
D.C.; and a public witness, Cincinnati, Ohio.