[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 92 (Wednesday, June 10, 2015)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D678-D679]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, 
Science, and Related Agencies approved for full committee consideration 
an original bill entitled, ``Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related 
Agencies Appropriations Act, 2016''.
PASSENGER RAIL SAFETY
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine passenger rail safety, focusing on accident 
prevention and on-going efforts to implement train control technology, 
after receiving testimony from Robert C. Lauby, Associate Administrator 
for Railroad Safety and Chief Safety Officer, Federal Railroad 
Administration, Department of Transportation; Charles Mathias, 
Associate Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Federal 
Communications Commission; T. Bella Dinh-Zarr, Vice Chairman, National 
Transportation Safety Board; and DJ Stadtler, Amtrak, Washington, D.C.
PENDING LEGISLATION
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on National 
Parks concluded a hearing to examine S. 145, to require the Director of 
the National Park Service to refund to States all State funds that were 
used to reopen and temporarily operate a unit of the National Park 
System during the October 2013 shutdown, S. 146, to authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture to enter into 
agreements with States and political subdivisions of States providing 
for the continued operation, in whole or in part, of public land, units 
of the National Park System, units of the National Wildlife Refuge 
System, and units of the National Forest System in the State during any 
period in which the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of 
Agriculture is unable to maintain normal level of operations at the 
units due to a lapse in appropriations, S. 319, to designate a mountain 
in the State of Alaska as Mount Denali, S. 329, to amend the Wild and 
Scenic Rivers Act to designate certain segments of the Farmington River 
and Salmon Brook in the State of Connecticut as components of the 
National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, S. 403, to revise the 
authorized route of the North Country National Scenic Trail in 
northeastern Minnesota and to extend the trail into Vermont to connect 
with the Appalachian National Scenic Trail, S. 521, to authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of 
President Station in Baltimore, Maryland, S. 610, to authorize the 
Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of P.S. 
103 in West Baltimore, Maryland and for other purposes, S. 782, to 
direct the Secretary of the Interior to establish a bison management 
plan for Grand Canyon National Park, S. 873, to designate the 
wilderness within the Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in the 
State of Alaska as the Jay S. Hammond Wilderness Area, and S. 1483, to 
direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and 
feasibility of designating the James K. Polk Home in Columbia, 
Tennessee, as a unit of the National Park System, after receiving 
testimony from Senator Murphy; and Victor Knox, Associate Director, 
Park Planning, Facilities and Lands, National Park Service, Department 
of the Interior.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably 
reported S. 1140, to require the Secretary of the Army and the 
Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency to propose a 
regulation revising the definition of the term ``waters of the United 
States'', with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nomination of Anne Elizabeth Wall, of Illinois, to be a Deputy Under 
Secretary of the Treasury.
VERIFICATION AND ASSESSMENT
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee received a closed briefing on 
verification and assessment, focusing on how to create a successful 
inspection regime from Joseph R. DeTrani, Intelligence and National 
Security Alliance, Washington, D.C., and Gary Samore, Belfer Center for 
Science and International Affairs, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of Peter V. Neffenger, 
of Ohio, to be an Assistant Secretary of Homeland Security, and David 
S. Shapira, of Pennsylvania, to be a Governor of the United States 
Postal Service, for a term expiring December 8, 2019, who was 
introduced by Senators Casey and Toomey, after the nominees testified 
and answered questions in their own behalf.

[[Page D679]]


SPENDING IN THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management concluded a 
hearing to examine spending in the Federal government, focusing on an 
outside perspective, after receiving testimony from Romina Boccia, The 
Heritage Foundation Institute for Economic Freedom and Opportunity, 
Chris Edwards, Cato Institute, Steve Ellis, Taxpayers for Common Sense, 
and Thomas A. Schatz, Citizens Against Government Waste, all of 
Washington, D.C.; and Donald F. Kettl, University of Maryland School of 
Public Policy, Annapolis.
HEALTH INFORMATION EXCHANGE
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine health information exchange, focusing on 
a path towards improving the quality and value of health care for 
patients, after receiving testimony from Thomas H. Payne, University of 
Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, on behalf of the American 
Medical Informatics Association; Craig D. Richardville, Carolinas 
HealthCare System, Charlotte, North Carolina, on behalf of the Premier 
Healthcare Alliance Member Technology Improvement Committee; Christine 
Bechtel, National Partnership for Women and Families, Olney, Maryland, 
on behalf of the Health IT Policy Committee Consumer Work Group; and 
Neal L. Patterson, Cerner Corporation, Kansas City, Missouri.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported S. 
248, to clarify the rights of Indians and Indian tribes on Indian lands 
under the National Labor Relations Act.
VICTIM SERVICES IN INDIAN COUNTRY OVERSIGHT
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight hearing 
to examine addressing the need for victim services in Indian Country, 
after receiving testimony from Darren Cruzan, Director, Office of 
Justice Services, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior; 
Gerad Godfrey, Office of the Governor of Alaska Rural Business and 
Intergovernmental Affairs Senior Advisor, Anchorage; A.T. Stafne, 
Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation, Poplar, 
Montana; and Dianne Barker Harrold, Pawnee Nation of Oklahoma, Ft. 
Gibson.
FEDERAL REGULATORY SYSTEM
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the Federal regulatory system to improve accountability, transparency 
and integrity, including S. 1178, to prohibit implementation of a 
proposed rule relating to the definition of the term ``waters of the 
United States'' under the Clean Water Act, or any substantially similar 
rule, until a Supplemental Scientific Review Panel and Ephemeral and 
Intermittent Streams Advisory Committee produce certain reports, after 
receiving testimony from William L. Kovacs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, 
Robert Weissman, Public Citizen, Ellen Steen, American Farm Bureau 
Federation, and Charles J. Cooper, Cooper and Kirk, PLLC, all of 
Washington, D.C.; and Patrick Parenteau, Vermont Law School 
Environmental and Natural Resources Law Clinic, South Royalton, 
Vermont.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Luis Felipe Restrepo, of Pennsylvania, to be United 
States Circuit Judge for the Third Circuit, who was introduced by 
Senators Casey and Toomey, and Travis Randall McDonough, to be United 
States Circuit Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee, and Waverly 
D. Crenshaw, Jr., to be United States District Judge for the Middle 
District of Tennessee, who were both introduced by Senators Alexander 
and Corker, after the nominees testified and answered questions in 
their own behalf.
UNWANTED CALLS
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the proliferation of unwanted calls, after receiving testimony from 
Lois Greisman, Associate Director, Division of Marketing Practices, 
Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission; Joe Dandurand, 
Missouri Deputy Attorney General, Jefferson City; Henning Schulzrinne, 
Columbia University, New York, New York; and Linda Blase, Dallas, 
Texas.