[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 158 (Tuesday, October 27, 2015)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1138-D1140]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE OF SNAP: BREAKING THE CYCLE
Committee on Agriculture: Subcommittee on Nutrition held a hearing 
entitled ``Past, Present, and Future of SNAP: Breaking the Cycle''. 
Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
SHORTENING THE DEFENSE ACQUISITION CYCLE
Committee on Armed Services: Full Committee held a hearing entitled 
``Shortening the Defense Acquisition Cycle''. Testimony was heard from 
Paul Francis, Managing Director, Acquisition and Sourcing Management, 
Government Accountability Office; and public witnesses.
GAME CHANGERS--UNDERSEA WARFARE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Seapower and Projection 
Forces held a hearing entitled ``Game Changers--Undersea Warfare''. 
Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
IMPROVING CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION TO HELP STUDENTS SUCCEED IN 
THE WORKFORCE
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Subcommittee on Early 
Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education held a hearing entitled 
``Improving Career and Technical Education to Help Students

[[Page D1139]]

Succeed in the Workforce''. Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
COMMON CARRIER REGULATION OF THE INTERNET: INVESTMENT IMPACTS
Committee on Energy and Commerce: Subcommittee on Communications and 
Technology held a hearing entitled ``Common Carrier Regulation of the 
Internet: Investment Impacts''. Testimony was heard from public 
witnesses.
E-MANIFEST: AN UPDATE ON IMPLEMENTATION
Committee on Energy and Commerce: Subcommittee on Environment and the 
Economy held a hearing entitled ``E-manifest: An Update on 
Implementation''. Testimony was heard from Barnes Johnson, Director, 
Office of Resource Conservation and Recovery, Office of Solid Waste and 
Emergency Response, Environmental Protection Agency.
THE GLOBAL CRISIS OF RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, 
Global Human Rights, and International Organizations held a hearing 
entitled ``The Global Crisis of Religious Freedom''. Testimony was 
heard from David N. Saperstein, Ambassador-at-Large for International 
Religious Freedom, Department of State; and Robert P. George, Chairman, 
U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom.
EXAMINING THE SYRIAN HUMANITARIAN CRISIS FROM THE GROUND, PART II
Committee on Foreign Affairs: Subcommittee on the Middle East and North 
Africa held a hearing entitled ``Examining the Syrian Humanitarian 
Crisis from the Ground, Part II''. Testimony was heard from Anne C. 
Richard, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and 
Migration, Department of State; Leon Rodriguez, Director, U.S. 
Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security; 
and Thomas Staal, Senior Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for 
Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance, U.S. Agency for 
International Development.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURE
Committee on House Administration: Full Committee held a markup on a 
committee resolution amending Committee regulations to permit 
officially-sanctioned competitions. The committee resolution amending 
Committee regulations to permit officially-sanctioned competitions 
passed.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on the Judiciary: Full Committee held a markup on H.R. 3279, 
the ``Open Book on Equal Access to Justice Act''; and H.R. 2834, to 
enact certain laws relating to the environment as title 55, United 
States Code, ``Environment''. H.R. 3279 and H.R. 2834 were ordered 
reported, without amendment.
VA AND DOD IT: ELECTRONIC HEALTH RECORDS INTEROPERABILITY
Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: Subcommittee on 
Information Technology; and Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations of the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs, held a 
joint hearing entitled ``VA and DoD IT: Electronic Health Records 
Interoperability''. Testimony was heard from LaVerne Council, Assistant 
Secretary for Information Technology, Chief Information Officer, 
Department of Veterans Affairs; Brian P. Burns, Deputy Director, 
Warfighter Systems Integration, Office of Information Dominance, 
Department of Veterans Affairs; Christopher A. Miller, Program 
Executive Officer, Defense Healthcare Management Systems, Department of 
Defense; David DeVries, Principal Deputy Chief Information Officer, 
Department of Defense; and Valarie C. Melvin, Director of Information 
Management and Technology Resources Issues, Government Accountability 
Office.
ENSURING TAX EXEMPT ORGANIZATIONS THE RIGHT TO APPEAL ACT
Committee on Rules: Full Committee held a hearing on the Senate 
amendment to H.R. 1314, the ``Ensuring Tax Exempt Organizations the 
Right to Appeal Act'' [Bipartisan Budget Agreement of 2015]. The 
committee granted, by voice vote, a rule that provides for the 
consideration of the Senate amendment to H.R. 1314. The rule makes in 
order a motion offered by the Majority Leader or his designee that the 
House concur in the Senate amendment with the amendment printed in Part 
A of the Rules Committee report modified by the amendment printed in 
Part B of the report. The rule waives all points of order against 
consideration of the motion and provides that the motion is not subject 
to a demand for division of the question. The rule provides that the 
Senate amendment and the motion shall be considered as read. The rule 
provides one hour of debate on the motion equally divided and 
controlled by the Majority Leader and the Minority Leader or their 
respective designees. Testimony was heard from Representatives 
Hastings, Mulvaney, Schweikert, and Clawson of Florida.

[[Page D1140]]


A REVIEW OF PROGRESS BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY (DHS), 
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DIRECTORATE
Committee on Science, Space, and Technology: Full Committee held a 
hearing entitled ``A Review of Progress by the Department of Homeland 
Security (DHS), Science and Technology Directorate''. Testimony was 
heard from Reginald Brothers, Under Secretary, Science and Technology, 
Department of Homeland Security.
MAXIMIZING MENTORING: HOW ARE THE SBA AND DOD MENTOR-PROTEGE PROGRAMS 
SERVING SMALL BUSINESSES?
Committee on Small Business: Subcommittee on Contracting and Workforce 
held a hearing entitled ``Maximizing Mentoring: How are the SBA and DoD 
Mentor-Protege Programs Serving Small Businesses?''. Testimony was 
heard from Kenyatta Wesley, Acting Director, Office of Small Business 
Programs, Department of Defense; and A. John Shoraka, Associate 
Administrator of Government Contracting and Business Development, Small 
Business Administration.
PREVENTION OF AND RESPONSE TO THE ARRIVAL OF A DIRTY BOMB AT A U.S. 
PORT
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on Coast 
Guard and Maritime Transportation held a hearing entitled ``Prevention 
of and Response to the Arrival of a Dirty Bomb at a U.S. Port''. 
Testimony was heard from Rear Admiral Peter J. Brown, Assistant 
Commandant for Response Policy, United States Coast Guard; Huban 
Gowadia, Director, Domestic Nuclear Detection Office; Todd Owen, 
Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations, Customs and Border 
Protection; David C. Maurer, Director, Justice and Law Enforcement 
Issues, Homeland Security and Justice Team, Government Accountability 
Office; Gregory H. Canavan, Senior Fellow, Los Alamos National 
Laboratories; Charles A. (Gus) Potter, Distinguished Member of the 
Technical Staff, Sandia National Laboratories; and public witnesses.

Joint Meetings
  No joint committee meetings were held.