[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 45 (Wednesday, March 14, 2018)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D266-D268]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION REQUEST AND FUTURE YEARS DEFENSE PROGRAM
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces concluded 
a hearing to examine Department of Energy atomic energy defense 
activities and programs in review of the Defense Authorization Request 
for fiscal year 2019 and the Future Years Defense Program, including 
continued actions needed to address management challenges, after 
receiving testimony from Lisa E. Gordon-Hagerty, Under Secretary for 
Nuclear Security, James M. Owendoff, Acting Assistant Secretary for 
Environmental Management, and Admiral James F. Caldwell Jr., USN, 
Deputy Administrator for Naval Reactors, National Nuclear Security 
Administration, all of the Department of Energy; and David C. Trimble, 
Director, Natural Resources and Environment, Government Accountability 
Office.
REBUILDING INFRASTRUCTURE IN AMERICA
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine rebuilding infrastructure in America, focusing on 
Administration perspectives, after receiving testimony from Elaine L. 
Chao, Secretary of Transportation; Wilbur L. Ross, Secretary of 
Commerce; R. Alexander Acosta, Secretary of Labor; Sonny Perdue, 
Secretary of Agriculture; and Rick Perry, Secretary of Energy.
AGRICULTURE CREATES REAL EMPLOYMENT ACT
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine an original bill entitled, ``the Agriculture Creates 
Real Employment (ACRE) Act'', after receiving testimony from Doug 
Miyamoto, Wyoming Department of Agriculture Director, Cheyenne; Ryan 
Yates, American Farm Bureau Federation, Washington, D.C.; and Jim 
Lyons, Center for American Progress, Edgewater, Maryland.
SOMALIA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Africa and Global 
Health Policy concluded a hearing to examine Somalia's current security 
and stability status, after receiving testimony from Abdirashid Hashi, 
Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, Mogadishu, Somalia; Tricia 
Bacon, American University School of Public Affairs, Alexandria, 
Virginia; and Mark A. Yarnell, Refugees International, and E.J. 
Hogendoorn, International Crisis Group, both of Washington, D.C.

[[Page D267]]


FOOD SECURITY
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Multilateral 
International Development, Multilateral Institutions, and International 
Economic, Energy, and Environmental Policy concluded a hearing to 
examine food security, after receiving testimony from Mathew Nims, 
Director, Office of Food for Peace, United States Agency for 
International Development; David Beasley, United Nations World Food 
Program, Society Hill, South Carolina; Chase Sova, World Food Program 
USA, Washington, D.C.; Lieutenant General John Castellaw, USMC (Ret.), 
Farmspace Systems LLC, Crockett Mills, Tennessee; and Michelle Nunn, 
CARE USA, Atlanta, Georgia.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the nominations of John F. Ring, of the District of 
Columbia, to be a Member of the National Labor Relations Board, Frank 
T. Brogan, of Pennsylvania, to be Assistant Secretary for Elementary 
and Secondary Education, and Mark Schneider, of the District of 
Columbia, to be Director of the Institute of Education Science, both of 
the Department of Education, and Marco M. Rajkovich, Jr., of Kentucky, 
to be a Member of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission.
OPIOIDS IN INDIAN COUNTRY
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight hearing 
to examine opioids in Indian country, after receiving testimony from 
John C. Anderson, United States Attorney for the District of New 
Mexico, Department of Justice; Christopher M. Jones, Director, National 
Mental Health and Substance Use Policy Laboratory, Substance Abuse and 
Mental Health Services Administration, and Rear Admiral Michael E. 
Toedt, Chief Medical Officer, Indian Health Service, both of the 
Department of Health and Human Services; Jolene George, Port Gamble 
S'Klallam Tribe, Kingston, Washington; and Sam Moose, Fond du Lac Band 
of Lake Superior Chippewa, Bemidji, Minnesota, on behalf of the 
National Indian Health Board.
PARKLAND SHOOTING AND SCHOOL SAFETY OVERSIGHT
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded an oversight hearing to 
examine the Parkland shooting and legislative proposals to improve 
school safety, including S. 2135, to enforce current law regarding the 
National Instant Criminal Background Check System, S. 2502, to address 
gun violence, improve the availability of records to the National 
Instant Criminal Background Check System, address mental illness in the 
criminal justice system, and end straw purchases and trafficking of 
illegal firearms, S. 1916, to prohibit the possession or transfer of 
certain firearm accessories, S. 1923, to prohibit firearms dealers from 
selling a firearm prior to the completion of a background check, S. 
446, to allow reciprocity for the carrying of certain concealed 
firearms, S. 1212, to provide family members of an individual who they 
fear is a danger to himself, herself, or others, and law enforcement, 
with new tools to prevent gun violence, S. 2095, to regulate assault 
weapons, to ensure that the right to keep and bear arms is not 
unlimited, and S. 2495, to reauthorize the grant program for school 
security in the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, 
after receiving testimony from Senators Rubio and Nelson; Thomas E. 
Brandon, Acting Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and 
Explosives, and David Bowdich, Deputy Director, Federal Bureau of 
Investigation, both of the Department of Justice; Lina Alathari, Chief, 
National Threat Assessment Center, Secret Service, Department of 
Homeland Security; Michael Beckerman, Internet Association, Washington, 
D.C.; and Ryan B. Petty, and Katherine Posada, both of Parkland, 
Florida.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 526, to amend the Small Business Act to provide for expanded 
participation in the microloan program, with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute;
  S. 791, to amend the Small Business Act to expand intellectual 
property education and training for small businesses;
  S. 1538, to amend the Small Business Act to establish awareness of, 
and technical assistance for, the creation of employee stock ownership 
plans, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1961, to amend the Small Business Act to temporarily reauthorize 
certain pilot programs under the Small Business Innovation Research 
Program and the Small Business Technology Transfer Program, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1995, to amend the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to 
improve the number of small business investment companies in 
underlicensed States;
  S. 2283, to amend the Small Business Act to strengthen the Office of 
Credit Risk Management within the Small Business Administration, with 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2419, to amend the Small Business Act to improve the technical and 
business assistance services

[[Page D268]]

under the SBIR and STTR programs, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 2527, to amend the Small Business Investment Act of 1958 to 
increase the amount of leverage made available to small business 
investment companies; and
  The nominations of David Christian Tryon, of Ohio, to be Chief 
Counsel for Advocacy, and Hannibal Ware, of the Virgin Islands, to be 
Inspector General, both of the Small Business Administration.