[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 33 (Thursday, February 26, 2015)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D184-D185]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, 
Science, and Related Agencies concluded a hearing to examine proposed 
budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2016 for the 
Department of Commerce, after receiving testimony from Penny Pritzker, 
Secretary of Commerce.
WORLDWIDE THREATS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded open and closed 
hearings to examine worldwide threats, after receiving testimony from 
Lieutenant General Vincent R. Stewart, Director, Defense Intelligence 
Agency, Department of Defense; and James R. Clapper, Director of 
National Intelligence.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  H.R. 23, to reauthorize the National Windstorm Impact Reduction 
Program, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  H.R. 34, to authorize and strengthen the tsunami detection, forecast, 
warning, research, and mitigation program of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  H.R. 719, to require the Transportation Security Administration to 
conform to existing Federal law and regulations regarding criminal 
investigator positions, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  H.R. 720, to improve intergovernmental planning for and communication 
during security incidents at domestic airports, with an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute;

[[Page D185]]


  S. 142, to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to 
promulgate a rule to require child safety packaging for liquid nicotine 
containers, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 143, to allow for improvements to the United States Merchant 
Marine Academy;
  S. 253, to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to consolidate the 
reporting obligations of the Federal Communications Commission in order 
to improve congressional oversight and reduce reporting burdens, with 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 304, to improve motor vehicle safety by encouraging the sharing of 
certain information, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 373, to provide for the establishment of nationally uniform and 
environmentally sound standards governing discharges incidental to the 
normal operation of a vessel, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute; and
  The nominations of Tho Dinh-Zarr, of Texas, to be a Member, and 
Christopher A. Hart, of Colorado, to be Chairman, both of the National 
Transportation Safety Board, Carlos A. Monje, Jr., of Louisiana, to be 
Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Transportation Policy, Manson 
K. Brown, of the District of Columbia, to be Assistant Secretary of 
Commerce for Environmental Observation and Prediction, National Oceanic 
and Atmospheric Administration, William P. Doyle, of Pennsylvania, to 
be a Federal Maritime Commissioner, and nomination for promotions in 
the United States Coast Guard.
FOREST SERVICE 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 Forest Service, after receiving testimony from Tom 
Tidwell, Chief, and Tony Dixon, Director, Business Operations, 
Strategic Planning, Budget and Accountability, both of the Forest 
Service, Department of Agriculture.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported an 
original bill entitled, ``End Modern Slavery and Trafficking Initiative 
Act of 2015''.
MEDICAL AND PUBLIC HEALTH PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine medical and public health preparedness 
and response, focusing on future threats, after receiving testimony 
from Nicole Lurie, Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, 
Robin A. Robinson, Deputy Assistant Secretary and BARDA Director, 
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, 
Stephen C. Redd, Director, Office of Public Health Preparedness and 
Response, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and Luciana 
Borio, Assistant Commissioner for Counterterrorism Policy, Director, 
Office of Counterterrorism and Emerging Threats, Deputy Chief Scientist 
(Acting), Food and Drug Administration, all of the Department of Health 
and Human Services.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 178, to provide justice for the victims of trafficking, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
   S. 166, to stop exploitation through trafficking, with an amendment; 
and
  The nominations of Loretta E. Lynch, of New York, to be Attorney 
General, Michelle K. Lee, of California, to be Under Secretary of 
Commerce for Intellectual Property and Director of the United States 
Patent and Trademark Office, Alfred H. Bennett, George C. Hanks, Jr., 
and Jose Rolando Olvera, Jr., each to be a United States District Judge 
for the Southern District of Texas, Jill N. Parrish, to be United 
States District Judge for the District of Utah, and Nancy B. Firestone, 
of Virginia, Thomas L. Halkowski, of Pennsylvania, Patricia M. 
McCarthy, of Maryland, Jeri Kaylene Somers, of Virginia, and Armando 
Omar Bonilla, of the District of Columbia, each to be a Judge of the 
United States Court of Federal Claims.
VETERANS' PROGRAMS BUDGET
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2016 
for Veterans' programs and fiscal year 2017 advance appropriations 
request, after receiving testimony from Robert A. McDonald, Secretary 
of Veterans Affairs; and Carl Blake, Paralyzed Veterans of America, Joy 
Ilem, DAV, Raymond C. Kelley, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United 
States, Ian de Planque, The American Legion, and Richard Weidman, 
Vietnam Veterans of America, all of Washington, DC.
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.