[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 80 (Thursday, May 19, 2016)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D551-D553]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
FARM CREDIT SYSTEM
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
an oversight hearing to examine the Farm Credit System, focusing on the 
outlook of the current economic climate, after receiving testimony from 
Kenneth A. Spearman, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and Dallas 
P. Tonsager, and Jeff Hall, both a Board Member, all of the Farm Credit 
Administration; Gus Barker, Community Bank of Oelwein, Oelwein, Iowa, 
on behalf of the Independent Community Bankers of America; Doug Stark, 
Farm Credit Services of America/Frontier Farm Credit, Omaha, Nebraska, 
on behalf of the Farm Credit System; Jed Welder, Trinity Farms, 
Greenville, Michigan; and Leonard Wolfe, United Bank and Trust, 
Marysville, Kansas, on behalf of the American Bankers Association.

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APPROPRIATIONS: AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FOOD AND DRUG 
ADMINISTRATION, AND LEGISLATIVE BRANCH
Committee on Appropriations: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  An original bill (S. 2956) making appropriations for Agriculture, 
Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies 
programs for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2017; and
  An original bill (S. 2955) making appropriations for the Legislative 
Branch for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2017.
ACCESS TO CAPITAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on 
Securities, Insurance, and Investment concluded a hearing to examine 
improving communities' and businesses' access to capital and economic 
development, including S. 1802, to protect the investment choices of 
American investors, H.R. 3868, to amend the Investment Company Act of 
1940 to remove certain restrictions on the ability of business 
development companies to own securities of investment advisers and 
certain financial companies, to change certain requirements relating to 
the capital structure of business development companies, to direct the 
Securities and Exchange Commission to revise certain rules relating to 
business development companies, and H.R. 4620, to amend the Securities 
Exchange Act of 1934 to exempt certain commercial real estate loans 
from risk retention requirements, after receiving testimony from Ron G. 
Crane, Idaho State Treasurer, Boise; and Michael J. Arougheti, Ares 
Capital Corporation, on behalf of the Small Business Investor Alliance, 
Stephen W. Hall, Better Markets, Inc., and Drew Fung, Commercial Real 
Estate Finance Council, all of Washington, D.C.
OCS OIL AND GAS LEASING PROGRAM
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management's 2017-2022 
OCS Oil and Gas Leasing Program, after receiving testimony from Abigail 
Ross Hopper, Director, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Department of 
the Interior; Mayor John Hopson, Jr., Wainwright, Alaska; Donald F. 
Boesch, University of Maryland Center for Environmental Sciences, 
Cambridge; James H. Knapp, University of South Carolina School of the 
Earth, Ocean, and Environment, Columbia; Athan Manuel, Sierra Club, 
Washington, D.C.; and Joseph R. Mason, Louisiana State University E.J. 
Ourso College of Business, Baton Rouge.
TREATIES
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the international Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food 
and Agriculture, adopted by the Food and Agriculture Organization of 
the United Nations on November 3, 2001, and signed by the United States 
on November 1, 2002 (the ``Treaty'') (Treaty Doc.110-19), and the 
Convention on the Law Applicable to Certain Rights in Respect of 
Securities Held with an Intermediary (the ``Convention''), done at The 
Hague on July 5, 2006, and signed by the United States on that same day 
(Treaty Doc.112-06), after receiving testimony from Judith G. Garber, 
Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Oceans and International 
Environmental and Scientific Affairs, and John J. Kim, Assistant Legal 
Adviser for Private International Law, Office of the Legal Adviser, 
both of the Department of State; John Schoenecker, HM.CLAUSE, Davis, 
California, on behalf of the American Seed Trade Association; and Edwin 
E. Smith, Morgan, Lewis and Bockius LLP, Boston, Massachusetts.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
  S. 2942, to extend certain privileges and immunities to the Gulf 
Cooperation Council;
  S. Res. 469, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1916 Easter 
Rising, a seminal moment in the journey of Ireland to independence; and
  Routine lists in the Foreign Service.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of Ronald G. Russell, to be United States District Judge 
for the District of Utah, Inga S. Bernstein, to be United States 
District Judge for the District of Massachusetts, Stephanie A. 
Gallagher, to be United States District Judge for the District of 
Maryland, and Suzanne Mitchell, and Scott L. Palk, both to be a United 
States District Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma.
ADMINISTRATION'S IMMIGRATION POLICIES
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Immigration and the 
National Interest concluded a hearing to examine the Administration's 
immigration policies, after receiving testimony from Thomas Homan, 
Executive Associate Director, Enforcement and Removal Operations, 
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and Ronald Vitiello, Acting Chief, 
Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection, both of the Department of 
Homeland Security; Brandon

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Judd, National Border Patrol Council, Malta, Montana; and Mark 
Krikorian, Center for Immigration Studies, and Alex Nowrasteh, Cato 
Institute, both of Washington, D.C.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on 
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the 
intelligence community.
  Committee recessed subject to the call.