[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 11 (Wednesday, January 20, 2016)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D47-D48]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee ordered 
favorably reported an original bill entitled, ``Improving Child 
Nutrition Integrity and Access Act of 2016''.
EXECUTIVE ACTIONS ON GUN CONTROL
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, 
Science, and Related Agencies concluded an oversight hearing to examine 
the Department of Justice's role in implementing new executive actions 
related to gun control, after receiving testimony from Loretta E. 
Lynch, Attorney General, Department of Justice; Alabama Attorney 
General Luther Strange, Mountain Brook; Ken Cuccinelli, former Attorney 
General of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United Self Defense Law Firm, 
Nokesville, Virginia; Mark Barden, Sandy Hook Promise, Newtown, 
Connecticut; and Joyce Lee Malcolm, George Mason University School of 
Law, Alexandria, Virginia.
U.S. STRATEGY AND POLICY IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
United States strategy and policy in the Middle East, after receiving 
testimony from General John M. Keane, USA (Ret.), former Vice Chief of 
Staff of the Army, Institute for the Study of War, and Philip H. 
Gordon, former Special Assistant to the President and White House 
Middle East Coordinator, Council on Foreign Relations, both of 
Washington, D.C.; and Ryan C. Crocker, former United States Ambassador 
to Afghanistan, Texas A&M University George Bush School of Government 
and Public Service, College Station.
TASK FORCE FOR BUSINESS AND STABILITY OPERATIONS PROJECTS IN 
AFGHANISTAN OVERSIGHT
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Readiness and Management 
Support concluded an oversight hearing to examine the Task Force for 
Business and Stability Operations projects in Afghanistan, after 
receiving testimony from Brian P. McKeon, Principal Deputy Under 
Secretary for Policy, and John F. Sopko, Special Inspector General for 
Afghanistan Reconstruction, both of the Department of Defense.
NOMINATION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine the nomination of Thomas F. Scott Darling, III, of 
Massachusetts, to be Administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety 
Administration, Department of Transportation, after the nominee, who 
was introduced by Senator Markey, testified and answered questions in 
his own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following business items:
  S. 659, to protect and enhance opportunities for recreational 
hunting, fishing, and shooting, with amendments;
  S. 1024, to authorize the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1674, to amend and reauthorize certain provisions relating to Long 
Island Sound restoration and stewardship;
  S. 1724, to provide for environmental restoration activities and 
forest management activities in the Lake Tahoe Basin, with an 
amendment;

[[Page D48]]


  S. 2143, to provide for the authority for the successors and assigns 
of the Starr-Camargo Bridge Company to maintain and operate a toll 
bridge across the Rio Grande near Rio Grande City, Texas; and
  32 proposed resolutions relating to the General Services 
Administration.
MIDDLE EAST AND JCPOA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the Middle East after the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, 
after receiving testimony from Michael Singh, The Washington Institute 
for Near East Policy, and Brian Katulis, Center for American Progress, 
both of Washington, D.C.
GOALS AND IDEOLOGY OF ISIS
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine understanding the goals and ideology of 
ISIS to better protect the homeland, after receiving testimony from 
Bernard Haykel, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey; Jessica 
Stern, Boston University Pardee School of Global Studies, Cambridge, 
Massachusetts; and Lorenzo Vidino, The George Washington University 
Program on Extremism, and Hedieh Mirahmadi, World Organization for 
Resource Development and Education, both of Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
ordered favorably reported the nomination of Michael Joseph Missal, of 
Maryland, to be Inspector General, Department of Veterans Affairs.
CHALLENGES IN MENTAL HEALTH CARE
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine improving the Federal response to 
challenges in mental health care in America, after receiving testimony 
from Brian Hepburn, National Association of State Mental Health Program 
Directors, Alexandria, Virginia; Penelope Strachan Blake, Good 
Samaritan Medical Center, West Palm Beach, Florida, on behalf of the 
Emergency Nurses Association; William W. Eaton, Johns Hopkins 
University Bloomberg School of Public Health Department of Mental 
Health, Baltimore, Maryland; and Hakeem Rahim, Live Breathe LLC, 
Hempstead, New York, on behalf of the National Alliance on Mental 
Illness.
CRIMINAL INTENT STANDARDS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the adequacy of criminal intent standards in Federal prosecutions, 
including S. 2298, to specify the state of mind required for conviction 
for criminal offenses that lack an expressly identified state of mind, 
after receiving testimony from Leslie R. Caldwell, Assistant Attorney 
General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice; and Edwin Meese III, 
former Attorney General, The Heritage Foundation, Robert Weissman, 
Public Citizen, and Stephen A. Saltzburg, The George Washington 
University Law School, on behalf of the American Bar Association, all 
of Washington, D.C.
BIOMETRIC EXIT TRACKING SYSTEM
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Immigration and the 
National Interest concluded a hearing to examine the biometric exit 
tracking system and actions needed by the Department of Homeland 
Security to address long-standing challenges in planning for a 
biometric exit system, after receiving testimony from John Wagner, 
Deputy Assistant Commissioner, Office of Field Operations, Customs and 
Border Protection, Anh Duong, Director, Borders and Maritime Security 
Division, Advanced Research Projects Agency, Science and Technology 
Directorate, and Craig C. Healy, Assistant Director, National Security 
Investigations Division, Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration 
and Customs Enforcement, all of the Department of Homeland Security; 
and Rebecca Gambler, Director, Homeland Security and Justice Issues, 
Government Accountability Office.