[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 105 (Wednesday, June 29, 2016)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D731-D733]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS: STATE, FOREIGN OPERATIONS, AND RELATED PROGRAMS
Committee on Appropriations: Committee ordered favorably reported an 
original bill (S. 3117) making appropriations for the Department of 
State, foreign operations, and related programs for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 2017.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 3084, to invest in innovation through research and development, 
and to improve the competitiveness of the United States, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 827, to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to ensure the 
integrity of voice communications and to prevent unjust or unreasonable 
discrimination among areas of the United States in the delivery of such 
communications, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2997, to direct the Federal Communications Commission to commence 
proceedings related to the resiliency of critical telecommunications 
networks during times of emergency, with an amendment in the nature of 
a substitute;
  S. 1717, to amend title 46, United States Code, to exempt old vessels 
that only operate within inland waterways from the fire-retardant 
materials requirement if the owners of such vessels make annual 
structural alterations to at least 10 percent of the areas of the 
vessels that are not constructed of fire-retardant materials;
  S. 3088, to provide a deadline for compliance with an alternate 
safety compliance program, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 3087, to establish the American Fisheries Advisory Committee to 
assist in the awarding of fisheries research and development grants, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 3059, to reauthorize and amend the John H. Prescott Marine Mammal 
Rescue and Response Grant Program, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 2219, to require the Secretary of Commerce to conduct an 
assessment and analysis of the outdoor recreation economy of the United 
States, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 3086, to reauthorize and amend the Marine Debris Act to promote 
international action to reduce marine debris, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 3099, to preserve and enhance saltwater fishing opportunities for 
recreational anglers; and
  The nominations of Peggy E. Gustafson, of Maryland, to be Inspector 
General, Department of Commerce, and Michael A. Khouri, of Kentucky, to 
be a Federal Maritime Commissioner.
EPA ENFORCEMENT AND COMPLIANCE PROGRAMS
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on Superfund, 
Waste Management, and Regulatory Oversight concluded an oversight 
hearing to examine the Environmental Protection Agency enforcement and 
compliance programs, after receiving testimony from Cynthia Giles, 
Assistant Administrator, Office of Enforcement and Compliance 
Assurance, Environmental Protection Agency.
ZIKA PREVENTION AND PREPARATION
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine preparing for and protecting the nation 
from Zika, after receiving testimony from Rear Admiral Anne Schuchat, 
Principal Deputy Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; 
H. Fisk Johnson, S. C. Johnson and Son, Racine, Wisconsin; Colonel 
Christopher Zahn, USAF (Ret.), American College of Obstetricians and 
Gynecologists, Bethesda, Maryland; T. Wayne Gale, Florida Mosquito 
Control Association and American Mosquito Control Association, 
Tallahassee; and David O'Connor, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
EVERY STUDENT SUCCEEDS ACT IMPLEMENTATION
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine Every Student Succeeds Act 
implementation, focusing on an update from the Secretary of Education 
on proposed regulations, after receiving testimony from John King, 
Secretary of Education.
INDIAN AFFAIRS LEGISLATION
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
S. 2796, to repeal certain obsolete laws relating to Indians, S. 2959, 
to amend the

[[Page D732]]

White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010 to 
clarify the use of amounts in the WMAT Settlement Fund, and S. 3013, to 
authorize and implement the water rights compact among the Confederated 
Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation, the 
State of Montana, and the United States, after receiving testimony from 
Letty Belin, Counselor to the Deputy Secretary of the Interior; David 
Flute, Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, Agency Village, South Dakota; Kasey 
Velasquez, White Mountain Apache Tribe, Whiteriver, Arizona; and Vernon 
Finley, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead 
Reservation, Pablo, Montana.
PROTECTING OLDER AMERICANS FROM FINANCIAL EXPLOITATION
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
protecting older Americans from financial exploitation, after receiving 
testimony from John A. Horn, United States Attorney for the Northern 
District of Georgia, Department of Justice; Lois Greisman, Associate 
Director, Division of Marketing Practices, Bureau of Consumer 
Protection, Federal Trade Commission; Nancy Shaffer, Connecticut State 
Department on Aging, South Windsor; Donna K. Harvey, Iowa Department on 
Aging, Des Moines; and Joseph Marquart, AARP Iowa Executive Council, 
Cedar Falls.
DWINDLING STARTUP ACTIVITY
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the consequences of dwindling startup activity, 
including S. 2868, to amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to 
provide for the deferral of inclusion in gross income for capital gains 
reinvested in economically distressed zones, and S. 2812, to amend the 
Small Business Act to reauthorize and improve the Small Business 
Innovation Research Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer 
Program, after receiving testimony from John W. Lettieri, Economic 
Innovation Group, and Donna Harris, 1776, both of Washington, D.C.; and 
Dane Stangler, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Kansas City, Missouri.
VETERANS' AFFAIRS LEGISLATION
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine S. 244, to require an independent comprehensive review of the 
process by which the Department of Veterans Affairs assesses cognitive 
impairments that result from traumatic brain injury for purposes of 
awarding disability compensation, S. 603, to amend title 38, United 
States Code, to make permanent the authority of the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs to transport individuals to and from facilities of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs in connection with rehabilitation, 
counseling, examination, treatment, and care, S. 2210, to require the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a program to establish peer 
specialists in patient aligned care teams at medical centers of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs, S. 2279, to require the Secretary of 
Veterans Affairs to carry out a program to increase efficiency in the 
recruitment and hiring by the Department of Veterans Affairs of health 
care workers that are undergoing separation from the Armed Forces, to 
create uniform credentialing standards for certain health care 
professionals of the Department, S. 2316, to amend title 38, United 
States Code, to expand the requirements for reissuance of veterans 
benefits in cases of misuse of benefits by certain fiduciaries to 
include misuse by all fiduciaries, and to improve oversight of 
fiduciaries, S. 2791, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide 
for the treatment of veterans who participated in the cleanup of 
Enewetak Atoll as radiation exposed veterans for purposes of the 
presumption of service-connection of certain disabilities by the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs, S. 2958, to establish a pilot program on 
partnership agreements to construct new facilities for the Department 
of Veterans Affairs, S. 3021, to amend title 38, United States Code, to 
authorize the use of Post-9/11 Educational Assistance to pursue 
independent study programs at certain educational institutions that are 
not institutions of higher learning, S. 3023, to provide for the 
reconsideration of claims for disability compensation for veterans who 
were the subjects of experiments by the Department of Defense during 
World War II that were conducted to assess the effects of mustard gas 
or lewisite on people, S. 3032, to provide for an increase, effective 
December 1, 2016, in the rates of compensation for veterans with 
service-connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and 
indemnity compensation for the survivors of certain disabled veterans, 
S. 3035, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a 
pilot program to increase the use of medical scribes to maximize the 
efficiency of physicians at medical facilities of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs, S. 3055, to amend title 38, United States Code, to 
provide a dental insurance plan to veterans and survivors and 
dependents of veterans, S. 3076, to amend title 38, United States Code, 
to authorize the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to furnish caskets and 
urns for burial in cemeteries of States and tribal organizations of 
veterans without next of kin or sufficient resources to provide for 
caskets or urns, S. 3081, to amend title 38, United States Code, to 
provide certain employees of members of Congress with access to case-
tracking information of the Department of Veterans Affairs, an original 
bill to clarify the scope of procedural rights of members of the

[[Page D733]]

uniformed services with respect to their employment and reemployment 
rights, to improve the enforcement of such employment and reemployment 
rights, an original bill to expand eligibility for readjustment 
counseling to certain members of the Selected Reserve of the Armed 
Forces, and an original bill to authorize payment by the Department of 
Veterans Affairs for the costs associated with service by medical 
residents and interns at facilities operated by Indian tribes and 
tribal organizations, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to 
carry out a pilot program to expand medical residencies and internships 
at such facilities, after receiving testimony from David McLenachen, 
Deputy Under Secretary for Disability Assistance, Veterans Benefits 
Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs; Roscoe G. Butler, The 
American Legion, Carlos Fuentes, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United 
States, and Richard Weidman, Vietnam Veterans of America, all of 
Washington, D.C.; and Kevin Ziober, Costa Mesa, California.