[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 31 (Tuesday, February 24, 2015)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D167-D168]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
AGRICULTURAL ACT
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine Agricultural Act of 2014 implementation after one 
year, after receiving testimony from Thomas Vilsack, Secretary of 
Agriculture; Rich Felts, Felts Farms LLC, Liberty, Kansas; Ronnie Lee, 
National Cotton Council and Southern Peanut Farmers Federation, 
Bronwood, Georgia; Clay Mitchell, Buckingham, Iowa; and Michael 
DeRuiter, Hart, Michigan.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the nominations of Jeffery S. Hall, of Kentucky, 
who was introduced by Senator McConnell, and Dallas P. Tonsager, of 
South Dakota, both to be a Member of the Farm Credit Administration 
Board, Farm Credit Administration, after the nominees testified and 
answered questions in their own behalf.
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, 
and Related Programs concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget 
estimates and justification for fiscal year 2016 for the Department of 
State, after receiving testimony from John Kerry, Secretary of State.
WORLDWIDE THREATS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee began a closed hearing to 
examine worldwide threats, after receiving testimony from James R. 
Clapper, Director of National Intelligence; and Lieutenant General 
Vincent Stewart, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency, 
Department of Defense.
  Hearing recessed subject to the call and will meet again in open 
session on Thursday, February 26, 2015.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Armed Services: Committee adopted its rules of procedure 
for the 114th Congress.
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered 
favorably reported S. 527, to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the 
Foot Soldiers who participated in Bloody Sunday, Turnaround Tuesday, or 
in the final Selma to Montgomery Voting Rights March in March of 1965, 
which served as a catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
SEMIANNUAL MONETARY POLICY REPORT TO THE CONGRESS
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the 
Congress, after receiving testimony from Janet L. Yellen, Chair, Board 
of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.
U.S. HUMAN EXPLORATION GOALS AND COMMERCIAL SPACE COMPETITIVENESS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Space, Science, and Competitiveness concluded a hearing to examine 
United States human exploration goals and commercial space 
competitiveness, after receiving testimony from Walter Cunningham 
(USMC, Ret.), former NASA Astronaut and Apollo 7 Pilot, and John Elbon, 
Boeing Space Exploration, both of Houston, Texas; Buzz Aldrin (USAF, 
Ret.), former NASA Astronaut and Apollo 11 Pilot, Satellite Beach, 
Florida; Michael J. Massimino, former NASA Astronaut and Mission 
Specialist for Space Shuttle Program, Columbia University, New York, 
New York; and Scott Pace, George Washington University Elliott School 
of International Affairs Space Policy Institute, and Eric W. Stallmer, 
Commercial Spaceflight Federation, both of Washington, DC.
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR BUDGET
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal 
year 2016 for the Department of the Interior, after receiving testimony 
from Sally Jewell, Secretary, and Mike Connor, Deputy Secretary, both 
of the Department of the Interior.
TAX REFORM, GROWTH AND EFFICIENCY
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine tax 
reform, growth and efficiency, after receiving testimony from Jane G. 
Gravelle, Senior Specialist in Economic Policy, Congressional Research 
Service, Library of Congress; Michael J. Boskin, Stanford University 
Hoover Institution, Stanford, California; John W. Diamond, Rice 
University's Baker Institute for Public Policy, and Tax Policy 
Advisers, LLC, Houston, Texas; and Laura D'Andrea Tyson, University of 
California Hass School of Business, Berkeley.
DEPARTMENT OF STATE BUDGET
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine a review of resources, priorities

[[Page D168]]

and programs in the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 
2016 for the Department of State, after receiving testimony from John 
Kerry, Secretary of State.
EFFICIENCY, EFFECTIVENESS, AND INDEPENDENCE OF INSPECTORS GENERAL
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine improving the efficiency, effectiveness, 
and independence of inspectors general, after receiving testimony from 
Michael E. Horowitz, Inspector General, Department of Justice; Steve A. 
Linick, Inspector General, Department of State, and Inspector General, 
Broadcasting Board of Governors; John Roth, Inspector General, 
Department of Homeland Security; and Patrick P. O'Carroll, Jr., 
Inspector General, Social Security Administration.
RECALIBRATING REGULATION OF COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine recalibrating regulation of colleges and 
universities, focusing on a report from the Task Force on Government 
Regulation of Higher Education, after receiving testimony from William 
E. Kirwan, University System of Maryland, Adelphi; and Nicholas S. 
Zeppos, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee.
HUMAN TRAFFICKING IN THE UNITED STATES
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
human trafficking in the United States, focusing on protecting the 
victim, including S. 178, to provide justice for the victims of 
trafficking, and S. 166, to stop exploitation through trafficking, 
after receiving testimony from Senators Collins, Gillibrand, Ayotte, 
and Mikulski; Michael Ferjak, Iowa Department of Justice Senior 
Criminal Investigator and Human Trafficking Enforcement and Prosecution 
Initiative Director, Des Moines; Holly Austin Smith, Walking Prey, 
Richmond, Virginia; Malika Saada Saar, Human Rights Project for Girls, 
Washington, DC; and Jayne Bigelsen, Covenant House, New York, New York.
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.