[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 199 (Thursday, December 12, 2019)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1366-D1367]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NATIONAL SECURITY ISSUES IN THE MIDDLE EAST
Committee on Armed Services: Committee received a closed briefing on 
national security issues in the Middle East from John C. Rood, Under 
Secretary for Policy, Major General Jeffrey B. Taliaferro, USAF, Vice 
Director for Operations, Joint Staff, and Christopher J. Almont, 
Defense Intelligence Officer for the Middle East, Defense Intelligence 
Agency, all of the Department of Defense.
COAST GUARD ARCTIC STRATEGIC OUTLOOK
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Security concluded a hearing to examine expanding opportunities, 
challenges, and threats in the Arctic, focusing on the Coast Guard 
Arctic Strategic Outlook, after receiving testimony from Admiral 
Charles W. Ray, Vice Commandant, Coast Guard, Department of Homeland 
Security; and Heather A. Conley, Center for Strategic and International 
Studies, and Sherri Goodman, and Mike Sfraga, both of the Woodrow 
Wilson International Center for Scholars, all of Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following business items:
  S. 225, to provide for partnerships among State and local 
governments, regional entities, and the private sector to preserve, 
conserve, and enhance the visitor experience at nationally significant 
battlefields of the American Revolution, War of 1812, and Civil War, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 258, to prohibit oil and gas leasing on the National Forest System 
land in the Ruby Mountains Ranger District located in the Humboldt-
Toiyabe National Forest, Elko and White Pine Counties, Nevada, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 298, to establish the Springfield Race Riot National Historic 
Monument in the State of Illinois, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 327, to amend the Federal Lands Recreation Enhancement Act to 
provide for a lifetime National Recreational Pass for any veteran with 
a service-connected disability, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 389, to authorize the Society of the First Infantry Division to 
make modifications to the First Division Monument located on Federal 
land in Presidential Park in the District of Columbia, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 430, to extend the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-
Determination Act of 2000, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 434, to provide for a report on the maintenance of Federal land 
holdings under the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior, with 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 490, to designate a mountain ridge in the State of Montana as ``B-
47 Ridge'', with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 526, to withdraw certain Bureau of Land Management land from 
mineral development, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 641, to update the map of, and modify the maximum acreage 
available for inclusion in, the Yucca House National Monument, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 774, to adjust the boundary of the Santa Monica Mountains National 
Recreation Area to include the Rim of the Valley Corridor, with an 
amendment;
  S. 1152, to provide for the transfer of administrative jurisdiction 
over certain parcels of Federal land in Arlington, Virginia, with an 
amendment;
  S. 1262, to designate certain land administered by the Bureau of Land 
Management and the Forest

[[Page D1367]]

Service in the State of Oregon as wilderness and national recreation 
areas, to withdraw certain land located in Curry County and Josephine 
County, Oregon, from all forms of entry, appropriation, or disposal 
under the public land laws, location, entry, and patent under the 
mining laws, and operation under the mineral leasing and geothermal 
leasing laws, with an amendment;
  S. 1890, to provide for grants for energy efficiency improvements and 
renewable energy improvements at public school facilities;
  S. 2108, to amend section 6903 of title 31, United States Code, to 
provide for additional population tiers;
  S. 2393, to promote a 21st century energy workforce, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2399, to amend the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to improve State loan 
eligibility for projects for innovative technology, with an amendment;
  S. 2660, to establish a grant program for wind energy research, 
development, and demonstration, with an amendment; and
  H.R. 617, to authorize the Department of Energy to conduct 
collaborative research with the Department of Veterans Affairs in order 
to improve healthcare services for veterans in the United States.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
   S. 2971, to amend and reauthorize the Child Abuse Prevention and 
Treatment Act, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2997, to revise and extend health workforce programs under title 
VII of the Public Health Service Act, with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute;
  S. 2683, to establish a task force to assist States in implementing 
hiring requirements for child care staff members to improve child 
safety, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2927, to amend the Public Health Service Act to provide that the 
authority of the Director of the National Institute on Minority Health 
and Health Disparities to make certain research endowments applies with 
respect to both current and former centers of excellence; and
  The nomination of Crosby Kemper III, of Missouri, to be Director of 
the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
NOMINATION
Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nomination of J. Brett Blanton, of Virginia, to be 
Architect of the Capitol, after the nominee testified and answered 
questions in his own behalf.