[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 178 (Wednesday, December 9, 2015)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1298-D1299]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
U.S. STRATEGY TO COUNTER ISIL
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the United States strategy to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the 
Levant and United States policy toward Iraq and Syria, after receiving 
testimony from Ash Carter, Secretary, and General Paul J. Selva, USAF, 
Vice Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff, both of the Department of 
Defense.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Marcel John Lettre, II, of Maryland, to be Under 
Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, Gabriel Camarillo, of Texas, to 
be an Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, and Vice Admiral Kurt W. 
Tidd, to be Admiral, all of the Department of Defense, and John E. 
Sparks, of Virginia, to be a Judge of the United States Court of 
Appeals for the Armed Forces, after the nominees testified and answered 
questions in their own behalf.
A REGULATORY BUDGET
Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
moving to a stronger economy with a regulatory budget, after receiving 
testimony from John D. Graham, Indiana University School of Public and 
Environmental Affairs, Bloomington; Jerry Ellig, George Mason 
University Mercatus Center, Arlington, Virginia; and Robert R.M. 
Verchick, Loyola University New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 571, to amend the Pilot's Bill of Rights to facilitate appeals and 
to apply to other certificates issued by the Federal Aviation 
Administration, to require the revision of the third class medical 
certification regulations issued by the Federal Aviation 
Administration, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2276, to amend title 49, United States Code, to provide enhanced 
safety in pipeline transportation, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 2361, to enhance airport security, with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute;
  H.R. 2843, to require certain improvements in the Transportation 
Security Administration's PreCheck expedited screening program, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1886, to reauthorize the Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation 
System Act of 2009, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1935, to require the Secretary of Commerce to undertake certain 
activities to support waterfront community revitalization and 
resiliency, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2058, to require the Secretary of Commerce to maintain and operate 
at least one Doppler weather radar site within 55 miles of each city in 
the United States that has a population of more than 700,000 
individuals, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2319, to amend the Communications Act of 1934; and
  The nomination of Jessica Rosenworcel, of the District of Columbia, 
to be a Member of the Federal Communications Commission for a term of 
five years from July 1, 2015 (Reappointment), and routine lists in the 
Coast Guard.
UN PEACEKEEPING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine United Nations peacekeeping and opportunities for reform, after 
receiving testimony from Samantha Power, Permanent Representative to 
the United Nations, Mission to the United Nations, Department of State; 
and John D. Negroponte, former Permanent Representative to the United 
Nations, McLarty Associates, and Bruce Jones, Brookings Institution, 
both of Washington, D.C.
POLITICAL AND SECURITY CRISIS IN BURUNDI
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Africa and Global 
Health Policy concluded a hearing to examine the political and security 
crisis in Burundi, after receiving testimony from Linda Thomas-
Greenfield, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs,

[[Page D1299]]

Department of State; Joseph Siegle, Director of Research, National 
Defense University, Africa Center for Strategic Studies, Department of 
Defense; Thierry Vircoulon, International Crisis Group, Nairobi, Kenya; 
and Sixte Vigny Nimuraba, George Mason University School for Conflict 
Analysis and Resolution, Arlington, Virginia.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
ordered favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 2127, to provide appropriate protections to probationary Federal 
employees, to provide the Special Counsel with adequate access to 
information, to provide greater awareness of Federal whistleblower 
protections, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2375, to decrease the deficit by consolidating and selling excess 
Federal tangible property, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 1915, to direct the Secretary of Homeland Security to make anthrax 
vaccines and antimicrobials available to emergency response providers, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1492, to direct the Administrator of General Services, on behalf 
of the Archivist of the United States, to convey certain Federal 
property located in the State of Alaska to the Municipality of 
Anchorage, Alaska, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute; and
  H.R. 1557, to amend the Notification and Federal Employee 
Antidiscrimination and Retaliation Act of 2002 to strengthen Federal 
antidiscrimination laws enforced by the Equal Employment Opportunity 
Commission and expand accountability within the Federal government, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
FBI OVERSIGHT
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded an oversight hearing to 
examine the Federal Bureau of Investigation, after receiving testimony 
from James B. Comey, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 
Department of Justice.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Susan Paradise Baxter, Robert John Colville, and 
Marilyn Jean Horan, each to be a United States District Judge for the 
Western District of Pennsylvania, and John Milton Younge, to be United 
States District Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, who 
were introduced by Senators Casey and Toomey, and Mary S. McElroy, to 
be United States District Judge for the District of Rhode Island, who 
was introduced by Senators Reed and Whitehouse, all of the Department 
of Justice, after the nominees testified and answered questions in 
their own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the nomination of Darryl L. DePriest, of Illinois, 
to be Chief Counsel for Advocacy, Small Business Administration.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
  S. 290, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the 
accountability of employees of the Department of Veterans Affairs, with 
an amendment; and
  S. 425, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for a five-
year extension to the homeless veterans reintegration programs and to 
provide clarification regarding eligibility for services under such 
programs, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
PRICE SPIKES IN OFF-PATENT DRUGS
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
sudden price spikes in off-patent drugs, focusing on perspectives from 
the front lines, after receiving testimony from Gerard Anderson, Johns 
Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, 
Maryland; Erin R. Fox, University of Utah Health Care, Salt Lake City; 
David Kimberlin, University of Alabama at Birmingham Department of 
Pediatrics, Birmingham; and Mark Merritt, Pharmaceutical Care 
Management Association, Washington, D.C.