[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 154 (Wednesday, October 21, 2015)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1109-D1111]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
AGRICULTURE BIOTECHNOLOGY
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine agriculture biotechnology, focusing on Federal 
regulation and stakeholder perspectives, after receiving testimony from 
Michael Gregoire, Associate Administrator, Animal and Plant Health 
Inspection Service, Department of Agriculture; William Jordan, Deputy 
Director, Office of Pesticide Programs, Environmental Protection 
Agency; Susan Mayne, Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied 
Nutrition, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human 
Services; Joanna Lidback, The Farm at

[[Page D1110]]

Wheeler Mountain, Barton, Vermont, on behalf of Agri-Mark, Inc. and the 
National Council of Farmer Cooperatives; Daryl E. Thomas, Herr Foods 
Inc., Nottingham, Pennsylvania; Gary Hirshberg, Just Label It, Concord, 
New Hampshire; Gregory Jaffe, Center for Science in the Public 
Interest, Washington, D.C.; and Ronald Kleinman, MassGeneral Hospital 
for Children, Boston, Massachusetts.
RURAL DEVELOPMENT
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural 
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 
concluded a hearing to examine a review of rural development in 21st 
century America, after receiving testimony from Lisa Mensah, Under 
Secretary for Rural Development, Brandon McBride, Administrator, Rural 
Utilities Service, Sam Rikkers, Acting Administrator, Rural Business-
Cooperative Service, and Tony Hernandez, Administrator, Rural Housing 
Service, all of the Department of Agriculture; William Simpson, 
National Rural Water Association, Washington, D.C.; Stuart Lowry, 
Sunflower Electric Power Corporation, Hays, Kansas, on behalf of the 
National Rural Electric Cooperative Association; Brian Boisvert, Wilson 
Communications, Wilson, Kansas, on behalf of NTCA-The Rural Broadband 
Association; and Tony Chrisman, Chrisman Development Inc., Enterprise, 
Oregon.
FUTURE OF DEFENSE REFORM
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the future of defense reform, after receiving testimony from Robert M. 
Gates, former Secretary of Defense.
REFORMING THE FEDERAL BUDGET PROCESS
Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
reforming the Federal budget process, focusing on the need for action, 
after receiving testimony from Michael A. Peterson, Peter G. Peterson 
Foundation, New York, New York; and Douglas Holtz-Eakin, former 
Director, Congressional Budget Office, American Action Forum, and 
Deborah Weinstein, Coalition on Human Needs, both of Washington, D.C.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REGULATIONS OVERSIGHT
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on Superfund, 
Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight concluded an oversight 
hearing to examine regulatory impact analyses for Environmental 
Protection Agency regulations, after receiving testimony from Diana 
Furchtgott-Roth, Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, William L. 
Kovacs, U.S. Chamber of Commerce, and Sam Batkins, American Action 
Forum, all of Washington, D.C.; Mary B. Rice, American Thoracic 
Society, Boston, Massachusetts; and Rena Steinzor, University of 
Maryland Carey School of Law, Baltimore.
MIGRATION FROM CENTRAL AMERICA
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine ongoing migration from Central America, 
focusing on fiscal year 2015 apprehensions and how improved evaluation 
efforts could enhance agency programs to reduce migration, after 
receiving testimony from Kimberly Gianopoulos, Director, International 
Affairs and Trade, Government Accountability Office; Chris Cabrera, 
Border Patrol Agent, Rio Grande Valley Sector, Customs and Border 
Protection, Department of Homeland Security, on behalf of the National 
Border Patrol Council; Kevin Casas-Zamora, Inter-American Dialogue 
Peter D. Bell Rule of Law Program, and Duncan Wood, Woodrow Wilson 
International Center for Scholars Mexico Institute, both of Washington, 
D.C.; and the Most Reverend Mark J. Seitz, Diocese of El Paso, El Paso, 
Texas, on behalf of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 1419, to promote the academic achievement of American Indian, 
Alaska Native, and Native Hawaiian children with the establishment of a 
Native American language grant program, with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute;
  S. 1436, to require the Secretary of the Interior to take land into 
trust for certain Indian tribes, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 1443, to amend the Indian Employment, Training and Related 
Services Demonstration Act of 1992 to facilitate the ability of Indian 
tribes to integrate the employment, training, and related services from 
diverse Federal sources;
  S. 1761, to take certain Federal land located in Lassen County, 
California, into trust for the benefit of the Susanville Indian 
Rancheria;
  S. 1822, to take certain Federal land located in Tuolumne County, 
California, into trust for the benefit of the Tuolumne Band of Me-Wuk 
Indians, with an amendment; and
  H.R. 387, to provide for certain land to be taken into trust for the 
benefit of Morongo Band of Mission Indians.

[[Page D1111]]


ENERGY DEVELOPMENT
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight hearing 
to examine the Government Accountability Office report on Indian energy 
development, after receiving testimony from Lawrence S. Roberts, 
Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Indian Affairs; 
Frank Rusco, Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Government 
Accountability Office; James M. Olguin, Southern Ute Indian Tribe, 
Ignacio, Colorado; Grant Stafne, Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes of the 
Fort Peck Reservation, Poplar, Montana; and Cameron Cuch, Crescent 
Point Energy U.S. Corporation, Denver, Colorado.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Gary Richard Brown, to be United States District 
Judge for the Eastern District of New York, Rebecca Goodgame Ebinger, 
to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of Iowa, 
and Leonard Terry Strand, of South Dakota, to be United States District 
Judge for the Northern District of Iowa, who were both introduced by 
Senator Ernst, and Mark A. Young, to be United States District Judge 
for the Central District of California, who was introduced by Senator 
Boxer, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own 
behalf.
COMPUTER TECH SUPPORT SCAMS
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
when computer tech support becomes a scam, after receiving testimony 
from Lois Greisman, Associate Director of the Division of Marketing 
Practices, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission; 
David Finn, Microsoft Digital Crimes Unit, Redmond, Washington; Lew 
Polivick, Legal Services of Southern Missouri, Charleston; and Frank 
Schiller, Peaks Island, Maine.