[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 6, 2015)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D501-D503]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
GLOBAL HEALTH PROBLEMS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, 
and Related Programs concluded a hearing to examine global health 
problems, after receiving testimony from Deborah L. Birx, Ambassador-
at-Large, Coordinator, Government Activities to Combat HIV/AIDS, and 
Special Representative for Global Health Diplomacy, Department of 
State; Mark Dybul, The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and 
Malaria, Geneva, Switzerland; Elton John, Elton John AIDS Foundation, 
New York, New York; and Pastor Rick Warren, Saddleback Church, Lake 
Forest, California.
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Department of Defense 
concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates and 
justification for fiscal year 2016 for the Department of Defense, after 
receiving testimony from Ashton B. Carter, Secretary, and General 
Martin E. Dempsey, USA, Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, both of the 
Department of Defense.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the nominations of Daniel R. Elliott III, of Ohio, 
to be a Member of the Surface Transportation Board, and Mario Cordero, 
of California, to be a Federal Maritime Commissioner, after the 
nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE BUDGET
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 2015 for 
the Fish and Wildlife Service, and S. 1036, to require the Secretary of 
the Interior and the Secretary of Agriculture to provide certain 
Western States assistance in the development of statewide conservation 
and management plans or the protection and recovery of sage-grouse 
species, S. 855, to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to permit 
Governors of States to regulate intrastate endangered species and 
intrastate threatened species, S. 736, to amend the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973 to require disclosure to States of the basis of 
determinations under such Act, to ensure use of information provided by 
State, tribal, and county governments in decision making under such 
Act, S. 655, to prohibit the use of funds by the Secretary of the 
Interior to make a final determination on the listing of the northern 
long-eared bat under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, S. 468, to 
provide a categorical exclusion under the National Environmental Policy 
Act of 1969 to allow the Director of the Bureau of Land Management and 
the Chief of the Forest Service to remove Pinyon-Juniper trees to 
conserve and restore the habitat of the greater sage-grouse and the 
mule deer, S. 293, to amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to 
establish a procedure for approval of certain settlements, S. 292, to 
amend the Endangered Species Act of 1973 to require publication on the 
Internet of the basis for determinations that species are endangered 
species or threatened species, S. 112, to amend the Endangered Species 
Act of 1973 to require the Secretary of the Interior to publish and 
make available for public comment a draft economic analysis at the

[[Page D502]]

time a proposed rule to designate critical habitat is published, and S. 
1081, to end the use of body-gripping traps in the National Wildlife 
Refuge System, after receiving testimony from Dan Ashe, Director, Fish 
and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior; Gordon Cruickshank, 
Valley County Board of Commissioners Chairman, Valley County, Idaho, on 
behalf of the National Association of Counties; David Bernhardt, 
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, Arlington, Virginia; and Donald Barry, 
Defenders of Wildlife, Washington, D.C.
MULTILATERAL AND BILATERAL INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS AND 
POLICIES OVERSIGHT
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Multilateral 
International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International 
Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy concluded an oversight 
hearing to examine multilateral and bilateral international development 
programs and policies, after receiving testimony from Bathsheba N. 
Crocker, Assistant Secretary for International Organization Affairs, 
Isobel Coleman, Ambassador for UN Management and Reform, Judith G. 
Garber, Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Oceans and International 
Environmental and Scientific Affairs, and Kurt Tong, Principal Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs, all of 
the Department of State; and Brett D. Schaefer, The Heritage 
Foundation, and Reid Detchon, United Nations Foundation, both of 
Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
ordered favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 280, to improve the efficiency, management, and interagency 
coordination of the Federal permitting process through reforms overseen 
by the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1180, to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to direct the 
Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency to modernize 
the integrated public alert and warning system of the United States, 
with an amendment;
  S. 750, to achieve border security on certain Federal lands along the 
Southern border, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 282, to provide taxpayers with an annual report disclosing the 
cost and performance of Government programs and areas of duplication 
among them, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1109, to require adequate information regarding the tax treatment 
of payments under settlement agreements entered into by Federal 
agencies;
  S. 1172, to improve the process of presidential transition, with 
amendments;
  S. 434, to strengthen the accountability of individuals involved in 
misconduct affecting the integrity of background investigations, to 
update guidelines for security clearances, to prevent conflicts of 
interest relating to contractors providing background investigation 
fieldwork services and investigative support services;
  H.R. 623, to amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to authorize the 
Department of Homeland Security to establish a social media working 
group, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 179, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service 
located at 14 3rd Avenue, NW, in Chisholm, Minnesota, as the ``James L. 
Oberstar Memorial Post Office Building'';
  S. 994, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service 
located at 1 Walter Hammond Place in Waldwick, New Jersey, as the 
``Staff Sergeant Joseph D'Augustine Post Office Building'';
  H.R. 651, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 820 Elmwood Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island, as 
the ``Sister Ann Keefe Post Office''; and
  The nominations of David Michael Bennett, of North Carolina, Mickey 
D. Barnett, of New Mexico, Stephen Crawford, of Maryland, and James C. 
Miller, III, of Virginia, each to be a Governor of the United States 
Postal Service.
REAUTHORIZING THE HIGHER EDUCATION ACT
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, 
focusing on the role of consumer information in college choice, after 
receiving testimony from Mark Schneider, American Institutes for 
Research, Deborah A. Santiago, Excelencia in Education, both of 
Washington, D.C.; Stacy Lightfoot, Public Education Foundation, 
Chattanooga, Tennessee; and Taleah Mitchell, Seattle, Washington.
ENSURING AN INFORMED CITIZENRY
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
ensuring an informed citizenry, focusing on examining the 
Administration's efforts to improve open government, after receiving 
testimony from Melanie Ann Pustay, Director, Office of Information 
Policy, Department of Justice; Nikki Gramian, Acting Director, Office 
of Government Information Services, National Archives and Records 
Administration; Joyce Barr, Assistant Secretary of State for 
Administration; Karen Kaiser, The Associated Press, New York, New York, 
on behalf of The Sunshine in Government Initiative; and Thomas

[[Page D503]]

Blanton, George Washington University National Security Archive, 
Washington, D.C.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Dale A. Drozd, to be United States District Judge 
for the Eastern District of California, who was introduced by Senator 
Boxer, Lawrence Joseph Vilardo, to be United States District Judge for 
the Western District of New York, who was introduced by Senator 
Schumer, and LaShann Moutique DeArcy Hall, who was introduced by 
Senator Gillibrand, and Ann Donnelly, who was introduced by Senator 
Schumer, both to be a United States District Judge for the Eastern 
District of New York, after the nominees testified and answered 
questions in their own behalf.
IMPACT OF FEDERAL LABOR AND SAFETY LAWS ON THE U.S. SEAFOOD INDUSTRY
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the impact of federal labor and safety laws on the 
United States seafood industry, including S. 190, to amend the Federal 
Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to ensure the safety of imported seafood, 
after receiving testimony from Steven M. Solomon, Deputy Associate 
Commissioner, Regulatory Affairs, Food and Drug Administration, 
Department of Health and Human Services; Portia Wu, Assistant Secretary 
of Labor for Employment and Training; Mike Strain, Louisiana Department 
of Agriculture and Forestry Commissioner, Baton Rouge; John Connelly, 
National Fisheries Institute, Washington, D.C.; and Frank B. Randol, 
Randol, Inc, Lafayette, Louisiana.
AGING IN PLACE
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
aging in place, focusing on advances in technology that help seniors 
live independently, after receiving testimony from Maureen McCarthy, 
Deputy Chief Patient Care Services Officer, Veterans Health 
Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs; Laurie M. Orlov, Aging 
in Place Technology Watch, Port St. Lucie, Florida; Carol Kim, 
University of Maine, Orono; Marjorie Skubic, University of Missouri, 
Columbia; and Charles S. Strickler, Manakin-Sabot, Virginia.