[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 120 (Tuesday, July 28, 2015)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D896-D898]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
FIRST PRINCIPLES OF CONGRESSIONAL BUDGETING
Committee on the Budget: Full Committee held a hearing entitled ``First 
Principles of Congressional Budgeting''. Testimony was heard from 
public witnesses.
REVIEWING THE POLICIES AND PRIORITIES OF THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH 
AND HUMAN SERVICES
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Full Committee held a hearing 
entitled ``Reviewing the Policies and Priorities of the U.S. Department 
of Health and Human Services''. Testimony was heard from Sylvia Mathews 
Burwell, Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services.
CONTINUING CONCERNS WITH THE FEDERAL SELECT AGENT PROGRAM: DEPARTMENT 
OF DEFENSE SHIPMENTS OF LIVE ANTHRAX
Committee on Energy and Commerce: Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations held a hearing entitled ``Continuing Concerns with the 
Federal Select Agent Program: Department of Defense Shipments of Live 
Anthrax''. Testimony was heard from D. Christian Hassell, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Chemical and Biological Defense, 
Department of Defense; Dan Sosin, Deputy Director, Office of Public 
Health Preparedness and Response, Centers for Disease Control and 
Prevention; Gregory Demske, Chief Counsel to the Inspector General, 
Office of Inspector General, Department of Health and Human Services; 
and Marcia Crosse, Director, Healthcare, Government Accountability 
Office.

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CONTINUED OVERSIGHT OF THE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION
Committee on Energy and Commerce: Subcommittee on Communications and 
Technology held a hearing entitled ``Continued Oversight of the Federal 
Communications Commission''. Testimony was heard from Tom Wheeler, 
Chairman, Federal Communications Commission; and Ajit Pai, 
Commissioner, Federal Communications Commission.
THE DODD-FRANK ACT FIVE YEARS LATER: ARE WE MORE PROSPEROUS?
Committee on Financial Services: Full Committee held a hearing entitled 
``The Dodd-Frank Act Five Years Later: Are We More Prosperous?''. 
Testimony was heard from former Senator Phil Gramm; former Member R. 
Bradley Miller; and a public witness.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Financial Services: Full Committee began a markup on H.R. 
766, the ``Financial Institution Customer Protection Act of 2015''; 
H.R. 1210, the ``Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Act''; H.R. 
1317, to amend the Commodity Exchange Act and the Securities Exchange 
Act of 1934 to specify how clearing requirements apply to certain 
affiliate transactions, and for other purposes; H.R. 1553, the ``Small 
Bank Exam Cycle Reform Act of 2015''; H.R. 1737, the ``Reforming CFPB 
Indirect Auto Financing Guidance Act''; H.R. 1839, the ``Reforming 
Access for Investments in Startup Enterprises Act of 2015''; H.R. 1941, 
the ``Financial Institutions Examination Fairness and Reform Act''; 
H.R. 2091, the ``Child Support Assistance Act of 2015''; H.R. 2243, the 
``Equity in Government Compensation Act of 2015''; H.R. 2643, the 
``State Licensing Efficiency Act of 2015''; H.R. 2912, the ``Centennial 
Monetary Commission Act of 2015''; H.R. 3032, the ``Securities and 
Exchange Commission Reporting Modernization Act''; H.R. 3189, the ``Fed 
Oversight Reform and Modernization Act of 2015''; and H.R. 3192, the 
``Homebuyers Assistance Act''.
IRAN NUCLEAR AGREEMENT: THE ADMINISTRATION'S CASE
Committee on Foreign Affairs: Full Committee held a hearing entitled 
``Iran Nuclear Agreement: The Administration's Case''. Testimony was 
heard from John Kerry, Secretary of State, Department of State; Jacob 
Lew, Secretary of the Treasury, Department of the Treasury; and Ernest 
Moniz, Secretary of Energy, Department of Energy.
THE IRAN-NORTH KOREA STRATEGIC ALLIANCE
Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Terrorism, 
Nonproliferation, and Trade; Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific; and 
Subcommittee on the Middle East and North Africa, held a joint hearing 
entitled ``The Iran-North Korea Strategic Alliance''. Testimony was 
heard from public witnesses.
PROMOTING AND INCENTIVIZING CYBERSECURITY BEST PRACTICES
Committee on Homeland Security: Subcommittee on Cybersecurity, 
Infrastructure Protection, and Security Technologies held a hearing 
entitled ``Promoting and Incentivizing Cybersecurity Best Practices''. 
Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
AMERICA'S GROWING HEROIN EPIDEMIC
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland 
Security, and Investigations held a hearing entitled ``America's 
Growing Heroin Epidemic''. Testimony was heard from Michael Botticelli, 
Director, White House Office of National Drug Policy Center; John 
(Jack) Riley, Acting Deputy Administrator, Drug Enforcement 
Association; Nancy G. Parr, Commonwealth Attorney, City of Chesapeake, 
Virginia; and Angela R. Pacheco, First Judicial District Attorney, 
Santa Fe, New Mexico.
ACCOUNTABILITY, POLICIES, AND TACTICS OF LAW ENFORCEMENT WITHIN THE 
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR AND FOREST SERVICE
Committee on Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations held a hearing entitled ``Accountability, Policies, and 
Tactics of Law Enforcement within the Department of Interior and Forest 
Service''. Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
FEDERAL IMPLEMENTATION OF THE COASTAL ZONE MANAGEMENT ACT
Committee on Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral 
Resources held a hearing entitled ``Federal Implementation of the 
Coastal Zone Management Act''. Testimony was heard from Holly A. 
Bamford, Acting Assistant Secretary for Conservation and Management, 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration; and public witnesses.
IMPACT OF THE BOYCOTT, DIVESTMENT, AND SANCTIONS MOVEMENT
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: Subcommittee on National 
Security held a hearing entitled ``Impact of the Boycott, Divestment, 
and Sanctions Movement''. Testimony was heard from public witnesses.

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VA ACCOUNTABILITY ACT OF 2015; SURFACE TRANSPORTATION AND VETERANS 
HEALTH CARE CHOICE IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 2015
Committee on Rules: Full Committee, hearing on H.R. 1994, the ``VA 
Accountability Act of 2015''; and H.R. 3236, the ``Surface 
Transportation and Veterans Health Care Choice Improvement Act of 
2015''. The committee granted, by record vote of 9-4, a structured rule 
for H.R. 1994. The rule provides one hour of general debate equally 
divided and controlled by the chair and ranking minority member of the 
Committee on Veterans' Affairs. The rule waives all points of order 
against consideration of the bill. The rule makes in order as original 
text for the purpose of amendment the amendment in the nature of a 
substitute recommended by the Committee on Veterans' Affairs now 
printed in the bill and provides that it shall be considered as read. 
The rule waives all points of order against that amendment in the 
nature of a substitute. The rule makes in order only those further 
amendments printed in the Rules Committee report. Each such amendment 
may be offered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered 
only by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, 
shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided 
and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject 
to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for division of the 
question. The rule waives all points of order against the amendments 
printed in the report. The rule provides one motion to recommit with or 
without instructions. The rule also grants a closed rule for H.R. 3236. 
The rule provides one hour of debate equally divided among and 
controlled by the respective chairs and ranking minority members of the 
Committees on Transportation and Infrastructure, Ways and Means, and 
Veterans' Affairs. The rule waives all points of order against 
consideration of the bill. The rule provides that the bill shall be 
considered as read. The rule waives all points of order against 
provisions in the bill. The rule provides one motion to recommit. 
Testimony was heard from Chairman Miller of Florida, Chairman Shuster, 
Representatives Takano, Brown of Florida, Heck of Washington, Fincher.
EXPLORATION OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM: FROM MERCURY TO PLUTO AND BEYOND
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology: Full Committee held a 
hearing entitled ``Exploration of the Solar System: From Mercury to 
Pluto and Beyond''. Testimony was heard from John Grunsfeld, Associate 
Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration; Robert Pappalardo, Study Scientist, Europa 
Mission Concept, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration; and public witnesses.
LEGISLATIVE MEASURES
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on Coast 
Guard and Maritime Transportation held a hearing entitled ``A Hearing 
on the Federal Radionavigation Plan, H.R. 1684, the Foreign Spill 
Protection Act, and H.R. __, the National Icebreaker Fund Act of 
2015''. Testimony was heard from Gary C. Rasicot, Director of Marine 
Transportation Systems, U.S. Coast Guard; Mary E. Landry, Director of 
Incident Management and Preparedness, U.S. Coast Guard; Karen Van Dyke, 
Director of Positioning, Navigation and Timing and Spectrum Management, 
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology, 
Department of Transportation; and a public witness.
RURAL HEALTH CARE DISPARITIES CREATED BY MEDICARE REGULATIONS
Committee on Ways and Means: Subcommittee on Health held a hearing to 
discuss rural health care disparities created by Medicare regulations. 
Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
IRAN
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Full Committee held a 
hearing on Iran. This was a closed hearing.

Joint Meetings
DYNAMIC SCORING
Joint Economic Committee: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
dynamic scoring, focusing on how it will affect fiscal policymaking, 
after receiving testimony from former Senator Phil Gramm; John L. 
Buckley, former Chief of Staff to the Joint Committee on Taxation, and 
Kevin A. Hassett, American Enterprise Institute, both of Washington, 
D.C.; and John W. Diamond, Rice University Baker Institute for Public 
Policy, Houston, Texas.