[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 170 (Wednesday, November 18, 2015)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1231-D1233]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
UNDERSEA CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE PROTECTION
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on SeaPower received a closed 
briefing on undersea critical infrastructure protection from J.D. 
Williams, National Intelligence Officer for Military Issues, Office of 
the Director of National Intelligence; Brandon Wales, Director, Office 
of Cyber and Infrastructure Analysis, Department of Homeland Security; 
and Susan McLellan, Naval Undersea Research and Threat Analysis Center, 
Office of Naval Intelligence, Captain Wesley Guinn, USN, Chief, Joint 
Operations Division (EUCOM/NATO), Joint Staff, and Larry Huffman, 
Director, Center for Operations, Defense Information Systems Agency, 
all of the Department of Defense.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 1143, to make the authority of States of Washington, Oregon, and 
California to manage Dungeness crab fishery permanent and for other 
purposes;
  S. 1518, to make exclusive the authority of the Federal Government to 
regulate the labeling of products made in the United States and 
introduced in interstate or foreign commerce;
  S. 1685, to direct the Federal Communications Commission to extend to 
private land use restrictions its rule relating to reasonable 
accommodation of amateur service communications;
  S. 1916, to include skilled nursing facilities as a type of health 
care provider under section 254(h) of the Communications Act of 1934;
  S. 2044, to prohibit the use of certain clauses in form contracts 
that restrict the ability of a consumer

[[Page D1232]]

to communicate regarding the goods or services offered in interstate 
commerce that were the subject of the contract, with an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2206, to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment and assault at 
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, to reauthorize the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Commissioned Officer 
Corps Act of 2002, and to reauthorize the Hydrographic Services 
Improvement Act of 1998, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute; and
  The nominations of Anthony Rosario Coscia, of New Jersey, to be a 
Director of the Amtrak Board of Directors for a term of five years 
(Reappointment), Derek Tai-Ching Kan, of California, to be a Director 
of the Amtrak Board of Directors for a term of five years, and routine 
lists in the Coast Guard.
INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE NEGOTIATIONS
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the international climate negotiations, after 
receiving testimony from David Waskow, World Resources Institute, Lisa 
Jacobson, Business Council for Sustainable Energy, and Stephen D. Eule, 
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for 21st Century Energy, all of 
Washington, D.C.; Julian Ku, Hofstra University School of Law, 
Hempstead, New York; and Oren M. Cass, Manhattan Institute for Policy 
Research, Lenox, Massachusetts.
AFTERMATH OF PARIS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee received a closed briefing on 
the aftermath of Paris, focusing on America's role from Victoria 
Nuland, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs, 
Anne Richard, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Population, Refugees, and 
Migration, and Lawrence R. Silverman, Deputy Assistant Secretary, 
Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, all of the Department of State; Matthew 
D. Emrich, Acting Associate Director, Fraud Detection and National 
Security Directorate, and Barbara Strack, Chief, Refugee Affairs 
Division, both of Citizenship and Immigration Services, Department of 
Homeland Security; and Spencer P. Boyer, National Intelligence Officer 
for Europe, National Intelligence Council, Office of the Director of 
National Intelligence.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  H.R. 2820, to reauthorize the Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act 
of 2005, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1719, to provide for the establishment and maintenance of a 
National Family Caregiving Strategy, with amendment in the nature of a 
substitute; and
  The nominations of Victoria A. Lipnic, of Virginia, to be a Member of 
the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission for a term expiring July 1, 
2020 (Reappointment), and Michael Herman Michaud, of Maine, to be 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  S. 817, to provide for the addition of certain real property to the 
reservation of the Siletz Tribe in the State of Oregon; and
  S. 818, to amend the Grand Ronde Reservation Act to make technical 
corrections, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
INDIAN EDUCATION LEGISLATION
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
S. 410, to strengthen Indian education, S. 1163, to amend the Native 
American Programs Act of 1974 to provide flexibility and 
reauthorization to ensure the survival and continuing vitality of 
Native American languages, and S. 1928, to support the education of 
Indian children, after receiving testimony from Lillian Sparks 
Robinson, Administration for Children and Families, Department of 
Health and Human Services; Robert MoQuino, Pueblo of Acoma, Acoma, New 
Mexico; Glenabah Martinez, University of New Mexico College of 
Education, Albuquerque; and Michelle Accardi, National Board for 
Professional Teaching Standards, Arlington, Virginia.
NATIONAL ADOPTION MONTH
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
National Adoption Month, focusing on stories of success and meeting the 
challenges of international adoptions, after receiving testimony from 
Michele Thoren Bond, Assistant Secretary of State for Consular Affairs; 
Rick Wilkerson, Northwest Iowa Bone, Joint and Sports Surgeons P.C., 
Spencer; Christine Hutchins, Cambridge, Vermont; Katie Horton, 
Alexandria, Virginia; and Nicole Craig, Green Bay, Wisconsin.
VETERANS HEALTH AND BENEFITS LEGISLATION
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine S. 2106, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 
develop and publish an action plan for improving the vocational 
rehabilitation services and assistance provided by the Department of

[[Page D1233]]

Veterans Affairs, S. 2134, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs 
to carry out a pilot program to provide educational assistance to 
certain former members of the Armed Forces for education and training 
as physician assistants of the Department of Veterans Affairs, to 
establish pay grades and require competitive pay for physician 
assistants of the Department, S. 2170, to amend title 38, United States 
Code, to improve the ability of health care professionals to treat 
veterans through the use of telemedicine, S. 2253, to amend title 38, 
United States Code, to provide veterans affected by closures of 
educational institutions certain relief and restoration of educational 
benefits, and S. 2291, to amend title 38, United States Code, to 
establish procedures within the Department of Veterans Affairs for the 
processing of whistleblower complaints, after receiving testimony from 
Curtis L. Coy, Deputy Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Economic 
Opportunity, Veterans Benefits Administration; and Liz Hempowicz, 
Project on Government Oversight, William Hubbard, Student Veterans of 
America, Aleks Morosky, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, 
Diane M. Zumatto, AMVETS, and Tom Porter, Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans 
of America, all of Washington, D.C.