[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 115 (Wednesday, July 22, 2015)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D860-D862]
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 Financial Services and 
General Government approved for full committee consideration an 
original bill entitled, ``Financial Services and General Government 
Appropriations Act, 2016''.
FINANCIAL STABILITY OVERSIGHT COUNCIL
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on 
Securities, Insurance, and Investment concluded a hearing to examine 
the Financial Stability Oversight Council designation process, after

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receiving testimony from Patrick Pinschmidt, Deputy Assistant Secretary 
of the Treasury for Financial Stability Oversight Council.
NOMINATION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the nomination of Marie Therese Dominguez, of 
Virginia, to be Administrator of the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials 
Safety Administration, Department of Transportation, after the nominee, 
who was introduced by Senator Warner, testified and answered questions 
in her own behalf.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nominations of Paul Wayne Jones, of Maryland, to be 
Ambassador to the Republic of Poland, Hans G. Klemm, of Michigan, to be 
Ambassador to Romania, Kathleen Ann Doherty, of New York, to be 
Ambassador to the Republic of Cyprus, James Desmond Melville, Jr., of 
New Jersey, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Estonia, and Samuel D. 
Heins, of Minnesota, to be Ambassador to the Kingdom of Norway, who was 
introduced by Senators Franken and Klobuchar, all of the Department of 
State, and Thomas O. Melia, of Maryland, to be an Assistant 
Administrator of the United States Agency for International 
Development, after the nominees testified and answered questions in 
their own behalf.
PROTECTING THE ELECTRIC GRID
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine protecting the electric grid from the 
potential threats of solar storms and electromagnetic pulse, after 
receiving testimony from Joseph McClelland, Director, Office of Energy 
Infrastructure Security, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, 
Department of Energy; Christopher P. Currie, Director, Homeland 
Security and Justice, Government Accountability Office; R. James 
Woolsey, Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Washington, D.C.; 
Richard L. Garwin, IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown 
Heights, New York; and Bridgette Bourge, National Rural Electric 
Cooperative Association, Arlington, Virginia.
HIGHER EDUCATION ACT
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine reauthorizing the Higher Education Act, 
focusing on exploring barriers and opportunities within innovation, 
after receiving testimony from Jamie P. Merisotis, Lumina Foundation, 
Indianapolis, Indiana; Barbara Gellman-Danley, Higher Learning 
Commission, Chicago, Illinois; Paul LeBlanc, Southern New Hampshire 
University, Manchester; and Michael B. Horn, Clayton Christensen 
Institute, San Mateo, California.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
   S. 1704, to amend the Indian Tribal Justice Act to secure urgent 
resources vital to Indian victims of crime, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute; and
  S. 1776, to enhance tribal road safety, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute.
INDIAN GAMING OVERSIGHT
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight hearing 
to examine safeguarding the integrity of Indian gaming, focusing on 
regulation and oversight by the Federal government, States, and Tribes, 
after receiving testimony from Anne-Marie Fennell, Director, Natural 
Resources and Environment, Government Accountability Office; David 
Trujillo, Washington State Gambling Commission Director, Olympia; 
Jonodev Osceola Chaudhuri, National Indian Gaming Commission, and 
Ernest Stevens, Jr., National Indian Gaming Association, both of 
Washington, D.C.; and Jamie Hummingbird, Cherokee Nation Gaming 
Commission, Oneida, Wisconsin, on behalf of the National Tribal Gaming 
Commissioners and Regulators Association.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of John Michael Vazquez, to be United States District 
Judge for the District of New Jersey, who was introduced by Senator 
Menendez, Wilhelmina Marie Wright, to be United States District Judge 
for the District of Minnesota, who was introduced by Senators Klobuchar 
and Franken, Paula Xinis, to be United States District Judge for the 
District of Maryland, who was introduced by Senators Mikulski and 
Cardin, and Cono R. Namorato, to be an Assistant Attorney General, 
Department of Justice, after the nominees testified and answered 
questions in their own behalf.
SUPREME COURT
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, 
Federal Rights and Federal Courts concluded a hearing to examine 
Supreme Court activism and possible solutions, after receiving 
testimony from John C. Eastman, Chapman University's Dale E. Fowler 
School of Law, Orange, California, on behalf of the Claremont 
Institute's Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence; Neil S. Siegel,

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Duke Law School, Durham, North Carolina; and Edward Whelan, Ethics and 
Public Policy Center, Washington, D.C.
TARGETED TAX REFORM
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine targeted tax reform, focusing on solutions to 
relieve the tax compliance burden for America's small businesses, 
including S. 1827, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 
improve the tax treatment of small businesses, after receiving 
testimony from Diana Beebe, ProSys, Inc., Baton Rouge, Louisiana; 
Donald Begneaud, Begneaud Manufacturing, Scott, Louisiana; Cori 
O'Steen, Upak, Inc., Aiken, South Carolina; Jeffrey A. Porter, Porter 
and Associates, Huntington, West Virginia, on behalf of the American 
Institute of Certified Public Accountants; Tom Mathison, Mathison 
Mathison Architects, Grand Rapids, Michigan, on behalf of the National 
Small Business Association; and Caroline Bruckner, American University 
Kogod School of Business Tax Policy Center, Nicholas Karellas, National 
Federation of Independent Business, and Dean Zerbe, alliantgroup, all 
of Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
  S. 1493, to provide for an increase, effective December 1, 2015, in 
the rates of compensation for veterans with service-connected 
disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity compensation for 
the survivors of certain disabled veterans;
  S. 1203, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 
processing by the Department of Veterans Affairs of claims for benefits 
under laws administered by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1082, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the 
removal or demotion of employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs 
based on performance or misconduct;
  S. 833, to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out 
certain major medical facility projects for which appropriations were 
made for fiscal year 2015, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute; and
  S. 627, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to revoke 
bonuses paid to employees involved in electronic wait list 
manipulations.
MEDICARE PROVIDER ENROLLMENT FRAUD
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
combating medicare provider enrollment fraud, focusing on additional 
actions needed to improve eligibility verification of providers and 
suppliers, after receiving testimony from Seto J. Bagdoyan, Director, 
Forensic Audits and Investigative Service, Government Accountability 
Office; Shantanu Agrawal, Deputy Administrator and Director, Center for 
Program Integrity, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 
Department of Health and Human Services; and Katherine Leff, CareSource 
Management Group, Dayton, Ohio.