[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 212 (Tuesday, December 15, 2020)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1088-D1089]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


                                         Tuesday, December 15, 2020

[[Page D1088]]

                              Daily Digest

                                 Senate


Chamber Action
Routine Proceedings, pages S7473-S7509
Measures Introduced: Nine bills and two resolutions were introduced, as 
follows: S. 5015-5023, and S. Res. 801-802.                  
  Page S7502
Measures Reported:
  S. 2716, to amend the Grand Ronde Reservation Act, with an amendment. 
(S. Rept. No. 116-324)
  Report to accompany S. 2765, to improve Federal fiscal controls and 
the congressional budget process. (S. Rept. No. 116-325)
  S. 2757, to waive the imposition of a civil fine for certain first-
time paperwork violations by small business concerns, with an amendment 
in the nature of a substitute. (S. Rept. No. 116-326)
  S. 1730, to direct the Administrator of the National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration to make grants to State and local 
governments and nongovernmental organizations for purposes of carrying 
out climate-resilient living shoreline projects that protect coastal 
communities by supporting ecosystem functions and habitats with the use 
of natural materials and systems, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute. (S. Rept. No. 116-327)
  S. 2979, to improve drug testing for transportation-related 
activities, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. (S. Rept. 
No. 116-328)
  S. 3303, to amend title 49, United States Code, to promote 
transportation career opportunities and improve diversity in the 
workforce, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. (S. Rept. 
No. 116-329)
  S. 3734, to provide for a coordinated Federal research initiative to 
ensure continued United States leadership in engineering biology, with 
an amendment in the nature of a substitute. (S. Rept. No. 116-330)
  S. 3958, to amend title 49, United States Code, to permit the use of 
incentive payments to expedite certain federally financed airport 
development projects, with an amendment. (S. Rept. No. 116-331)
  S. 4286, to authorize appropriations for offsetting the costs related 
to reductions in research productivity resulting from the coronavirus 
pandemic, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. (S. Rept. 
No. 116-332)
  S. 1166, to direct the Assistant Secretary of Commerce for 
Communications and Information to make grants for the establishment or 
expansion of internet exchange facilities, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute.
  S. 1341, to adopt a certain California flammability standard as a 
Federal flammability standard to protect against the risk of 
upholstered furniture flammability, with amendments.
  S. 1858, to ensure the Chief Information Office of the Consumer 
Product Safety Commission has a significant role in decisions related 
to information technology, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute.
  S. 2535, to require the Secretary of Commerce to conduct an 
assessment and analysis relating to the decline in the business 
formation rate in the United States, with an amendment.
  S. 4159, to amend the Electronic Signatures in Global and National 
Commerce Act to accommodate emerging technologies, with an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute.
  S. 4472, to amend the Secure and Trusted Communications Network 
Reimbursement Program to include eligible telecommunications carriers 
and providers of educational broadband service, with an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute.
  S. 4719, to provide, temporarily, authority for the Secretary of 
Commerce to waive cost sharing requirements for the Hollings 
Manufacturing Extension Partnership, with an amendment in the nature of 
a substitute.
  S. 4884, to require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to study 
the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on injuries and deaths associated 
with consumer products, with amendments.                     
Page S7501
Measures Passed:
  Patents for Humanity Program Improvement Act: Senate passed H.R. 
7259, to allow acceleration certificates awarded under the Patents for 
Humanity Program to be transferable.                         
  Page S7507

[[Page D1089]]

  Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative Act: Senate passed H.R. 8354, 
to establish the Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative within the 
Civil Rights Division of the Department of Justice.          
  Page S7507
  Senator Alexander Piano Performance: Senate agreed to S. Res. 801, 
authorizing the use of the atrium in the Philip A. Hart Senate Office 
Building for a piano performance by Senator Lamar Alexander. 
                                                             Page S7507
  Data Mapping to Save Moms' Lives Act: Senate passed S. 3152, to 
require the Federal Communications Commission to incorporate data on 
maternal health outcomes into its broadband health maps, after agreeing 
to the committee amendment in the nature of a substitute.    
  Page S7508
  Protecting Families of Fallen Servicemembers Act: Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs was discharged from further consideration of H.R. 
4356, to amend the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act to allow certain 
individuals to terminate contracts for telephone, multichannel video 
programming, or internet access service, and the bill was then passed. 
                                                             Page S7508
  Cannabidiol and Marihuana Research Expansion Act: Committee on the 
Judiciary was discharged from further consideration of S. 2032, to 
expand research on the cannabidiol and marihuana, and the bill was then 
passed, after agreeing to the following amendment proposed thereto: 
                                                             Page S7508
  Sasse (for Feinstein/Grassley) Amendment No. 2708, in the nature of a 
substitute.                                                  
Page S7508
  Glen Doherty, Tyrone Woods, J. Christopher Stevens, and Sean Smith 
Congressional Gold Medal: Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban 
Affairs was discharged from further consideration of S. 2054, to 
posthumously award the Congressional Gold Medal, collectively, to Glen 
Doherty, Tyrone Woods, J. Christopher Stevens, and Sean Smith, in 
recognition of their contributions to the Nation, and the bill was then 
passed, after agreeing to the following amendment proposed thereto: 
                                                         Pages S7508-09
  Sasse (for Markey) Amendment No. 2692, in the nature of a substitute.
                                                         Pages S7508-09
  STOP FGM Act: Committee on the Judiciary was discharged from further 
consideration of H.R. 6100, to amend title 18, United States Code, to 
clarify the criminalization of female genital mutilation, and the bill 
was then passed.                                             
  Page S7509
Crytzer Nomination--Agreement: Senate resumed consideration of the 
nomination of Katherine A. Crytzer, of Tennessee, to be United States 
District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee.   
  Pages S7492-93,  S7493-94
  During consideration of this nomination today, Senate also took the 
following action:
  By 48 yeas to 47 nays (Vote No. EX. 267), Senate agreed to the motion 
to close further debate on the nomination.                   
Page S7493
  A unanimous-consent agreement was reached providing for further 
consideration of the nomination, post-cloture, at approximately 10 
a.m., on Wednesday, December 16, 2020; and that notwithstanding Rule 
XXII, all post-cloture time on the nomination expire at 11:30 a.m., on 
Wednesday, December 16, 2020.                                
Page S7509
Nominations Confirmed: Senate confirmed the following nominations:
  By 51 yeas to 44 nays (Vote No. EX. 266), Thomas L. Kirsch II, of 
Indiana, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Seventh Circuit. 
                                                         Pages S7474-92
  Julie D. Fisher, of Tennessee, to be Ambassador to the Republic of 
Belarus.
  Jonathan Pratt, of California, to be Ambassador to the Republic of 
Djibouti.                                                
Pages S7494-95
Executive Communications:                                
  Pages S7500-01
Executive Reports of Committees:                             
  Page S7502
Additional Cosponsors:                                   
  Pages S7502-03
Statements on Introduced Bills/Resolutions:              
  Pages S7503-04
Additional Statements:                                 
  Page S7498-S7500
Amendments Submitted:                                    
  Pages S7504-07
Authorities for Committees to Meet:                          
  Page S7507
Record Votes: Two record votes were taken today. (Total--267) 
                                                         Pages S7492-93
Adjournment: Senate convened at 10 a.m. and adjourned at 6:57 p.m., 
until 10 a.m. on Wednesday, December 16, 2020. (For Senate's program, 
see the remarks of the Acting Majority Leader in today's Record on page 
S7509.)