[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 169 (Tuesday, November 17, 2015)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1220-D1221]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE REFORM
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
Department of Defense reform, focusing on overcoming obstacles to 
effective management, after receiving testimony from Major General 
Arnold L. Punaro, USMC (Ret.), Member, and Richard V. Spencer, former 
Member, both of the Defense Business Board; David M. Walker, former 
Comptroller General of the United States, PricewaterhouseCoopers' 
Public Sector Practice; and Lisa Bisaccia, CVS Health.
WILDLAND FIRE MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine past wildfire seasons to inform and improve future 
Federal wildland fire management strategies, focusing on agencies' 
efforts to assess program effectiveness and modernize the firefighting 
aviation fleet, after receiving testimony from Anne-Marie Fennell, 
Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Government Accountability 
Office; John Maisch, Alaska Department of Natural Resources, Fairbanks, 
on behalf of the National Association of State Foresters; William 
Wallace Covington, Northern Arizona University Ecological Restoration 
Institute, Flagstaff; Richard Zerkel, Lynden Air Cargo, LLC, Anchorage, 
Alaska; Mike Burnett, Chelan County Fire District 1, Wenatchee, 
Washington; and Jon Wyss, Okanogan County Long Term Recovery Group, 
Brewster, Washington.
PHYSICIAN OWNED DISTRIBUTORS
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
physician owned distributors, focusing on whether they are harmful to 
patients and payers, after receiving testimony from Scott Lederhaus, 
Association for Medical Ethics, Monarch Beach, California; John 
Steinmann, American Association of Surgical Distributors, Redlands, 
California; Suzie Draper, Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City, 
Utah; and Kevin Reynolds, Ventura, California.
NORTH KOREA
Committee on Foreign Relations: On Monday, November 16, 2015, Committee 
received a closed briefing on United States policy tools to combat 
North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile capabilities from Sung Kim, 
Special Representative for North Korea Policy, Department of State; and 
Andrea Hall, National Intelligence Officer for WMD, Office of the 
Director of National Intelligence.
U.S. OVERSEAS BROADCASTING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine options for reforming United States overseas broadcasting, 
after receiving testimony from John Lansing, CEO and Director, Jeff 
Shell, Chairman, and Kenneth R. Weinstein, Member, all of the 
Broadcasting Board of Governors; Enders Wimbush, Woodrow Wilson 
International Center for Scholars, Washington, D.C.; and Kevin Klose, 
University of Maryland Philip Merrill College of Journalism, College 
Park.
NOMINATION
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine the nomination of Robert McKinnon 
Califf, of South Carolina, to be Commissioner of Food and Drugs, 
Department of Health and Human Services, after the nominee, who was 
introduced by Senator Burr, testified and answered questions in his own 
behalf.
LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Oversight, Agency Action, 
Federal Rights and Federal Courts concluded a hearing to examine the 
relationship between the Federal government and state and local law 
enforcement, after receiving testimony from Vanita Gupta, Principal 
Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, and Ronald L. 
Davis, Director, Office of Community Oriented Policing Services, both 
of the Department of Justice; Heather

[[Page D1221]]

Mac Donald, Manhattan Institute, and Andrew C. McCarthy, National 
Review Institute, both of New York, New York; Cedric Alexander, DeKalb 
County Police Department, DeKalb County, Georgia, on behalf of the 
National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives; and 
Sherrilyn Ifill, NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., John 
P. Walters, Hudson Institute Center for Substance Abuse Policy 
Research, and Robert N. Driscoll, McGlinchey Stafford PLLC, all of 
Washington, D.C.
NOMINATION
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nomination of Michael Joseph Missal, of Maryland, to be 
Inspector General, Department of Veterans Affairs, after the nominee, 
who was introduced by Senator Blumenthal, testified and answered 
questions in his own behalf.
INTELLIGENCE
  Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee met in closed session to 
receive a briefing on certain intelligence matters from officials of 
the intelligence community.
DRUG TRAFFICKING ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST BORDER
United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control: Caucus 
concluded a hearing to examine drug trafficking across the Southwest 
Border and oversight of United States counterdrug assistance to Mexico, 
including S. 32 and H.R. 3380, bills to provide the Department of 
Justice with additional tools to target extraterritorial drug 
trafficking activity, after receiving testimony from Michael P. 
Botticelli, Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy; William 
R. Brownfield, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics 
and Law Enforcement Affairs; Jack Riley, Acting Deputy Administrator, 
Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Justice; and Todd C. 
Owen, Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations, Customs and 
Border Protection, Department of Homeland Security.