[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 203 (Wednesday, December 13, 2017)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1319-D1321]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
SAFEGUARDING AMERICAN AGRICULTURE
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine safeguarding American agriculture in a globalized 
world, after receiving testimony from former Senator Joseph I. 
Lieberman, Chair, Blue Ribbon Study Panel on Biodefense; R. D. Meckes, 
North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services State 
Veterinarian, Raleigh; Richard B. Myers, Kansas State University, 
Manhattan; and Raymond Hammerschmidt, Michigan State University, East 
Lansing.

[[Page D1320]]


GLOBAL COUNTERTERRORISM OPERATIONS
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and 
Capabilities received a closed briefing on Department of Defense global 
counterterrorism operations from Mark E. Mitchell, Acting Assistant 
Secretary for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict, Major General 
Albert M. Elton III, USAF, Deputy Director for Special Operations and 
Counterterrorism, Joint Staff, and Gary Reid, Director of Intelligence 
and Security, Office of the Undersecretary for Intelligence, all of the 
Department of Defense.
TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY/CONCUSSION IN SERVICEMEMBERS
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Personnel concluded a 
hearing to examine an update on research, diagnosis, and treatment for 
traumatic brain injury/concussion in servicemembers, after receiving 
testimony from Joel D. Scholten, Associate Chief of Staff for 
Rehabilitation Services for the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and 
David X. Cifu, Senior TBI Specialist, Principal Investigator, Chronic 
Effects of Neurotrauma Consortium, both of the Department of Veteran 
Affairs; Captain Michael J. Colston, USN, Director, Military Health 
Policy and Oversight for the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health 
Affairs; David W. Dodick, Mayo Clinic; Steven D. Devick, King-Devick 
technologies, inc; and Christopher M. Miles, Wake Forest University.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 2202, to amend title 49, United States Code, to authorize 
appropriations for the National Transportation Safety Board, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2200, to reauthorize the National Integrated Drought Information 
System, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1768, to reauthorize and amend the National Earthquake Hazards 
Reduction Program, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute; and
  The nomination of Barry Lee Myers, of Pennsylvania, to be Under 
Secretary of Commerce for Oceans and Atmosphere, and a routine list in 
the Coast Guard.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the nomination of R. D. James, of Missouri, to be an Assistant 
Secretary of the Army, Department of Defense.
NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION OVERSIGHT
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded an 
oversight hearing to examine the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, after 
receiving testimony from Kristine L. Svinicki, Chairman, and Jeff 
Baran, and Stephen Burns, both a Commissioner, all of the Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission.
STRATEGIC, POLITICAL, AND LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS OF USING FORCE
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine using force, focusing on strategic, political, and legal 
considerations, after receiving testimony from Stephen J. Hadley, 
former National Security Advisor, Christine E. Wormuth, former Under 
Secretary of Defense for Policy, and John B. Bellinger III, Council on 
Foreign Relation, all of Washington, D.C.
TREATIES
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the extradition Treaty between the Government of the United 
States of America and the Government of the Republic of Kosovo, signed 
at Pristina on March 29, 2016 (Treaty Doc. 115-2), the extradition 
Treaty between the United States of America and the Republic of Serbia, 
signed at Belgrade on August 15, 2016 (Treaty Doc. 115-1), the Treaty 
between the Government of the United States of America and the 
Government of the Republic of Kiribati on the Delimitation of Maritime 
Boundaries, signed at Majuro on September 6, 2013, and the Treaty 
between the Government of the United States of America and the 
Government of the Federated States of Micronesia on the Delimitation of 
a Maritime Boundary, signed at Koror on August 1, 2014 (Treaty Doc. 
114-13), and the United Nations Convention on the Assignment of 
Receivables in International Trade, done at New York on December 12, 
2001, and signed by the United States on December 30, 2003 (Treaty Doc. 
114-7), after receiving testimony from Richard Visek, Acting Legal 
Adviser, Department of State; and Bruce Swartz, Deputy Assistant 
Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice.
21ST CENTURY CURES ACT
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine implementation of the 21st Century Cures 
Act, focusing on responding to mental health needs, after receiving 
testimony from Elinore F. McCance-Katz, Assistant Secretary of Health 
and Human Services for Mental Health and Substance Use.

[[Page D1321]]


BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the nominations of Johnny Collett, of Kentucky, to 
be Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative 
Services, Mitchell Zais, of South Carolina, to be Deputy Secretary, and 
James Blew, of California, to be Assistant Secretary for Planning, 
Evaluation, and Policy Development, all of the Department of Education, 
William Beach, of Kansas, to be Commissioner of Labor Statistics, Kate 
S. O'Scannlain, of Maryland, to be Solicitor, and Scott A. Mugno, of 
Pennsylvania, and Preston Rutledge, of the District of Columbia, both 
to be an Assistant Secretary, all of the Department of Labor.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Elizabeth L. Branch, of Georgia, to be United States 
Circuit Judge for the Eleventh Circuit, and R. Stan Baker, to be United 
States District Judge for the Southern District of Georgia, who were 
introduced by Senators Isakson and Perdue, Charles Barnes Goodwin, to 
be United States District Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma, 
who was introduced by Senator Lankford, Matthew J. Kacsmaryk, to be 
United States District Judge for the Northern District of Texas, 
Matthew Spencer Petersen, of Virginia, to be United States District 
Judge for the District of Columbia, and Eli Jeremy Richardson, to be 
United States District Judge for the Middle District of Tennessee, who 
was introduced by Senators Alexander and Corker, after the nominees 
testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
CONSUMER WELFARE STANDARD IN ANTITRUST
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition 
Policy and Consumer Rights concluded a hearing to examine the consumer 
welfare standard in antitrust, after receiving testimony from Abbott B. 
Lipsky, Jr., and Joshua D. Wright, both of the George Mason University 
Antonin Scalia Law School, Arlington, Virginia; Barry C. Lynn, Open 
Markets Institute, and Diana Moss, American Antitrust Institute, both 
of Washington, D.C.; and Carl Shapiro, University of California Haas 
School of Business, Berkeley.