[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 92 (Wednesday, May 26, 2021)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D574-D576]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
     (Committees not listed did not meet)
                                        THE INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY
   Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense concluded a 
    hearing to examine the intelligence community, after receiving 
testimony from Avril Haines, Director of National Intelligence; William 
 J. Burns, Director, Central Intelligence Agency; and General Paul M. 
   Nakasone, USA, Director, National Security Agency, Department of 
                                Defense.
                                               APPROPRIATIONS: NIH
 Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
 Services, and Education, and Related Agencies concluded a hearing to 
     examine proposed budget estimates and justification for fiscal

[[Page D575]]

   year 2022 for the National Institutes of Health, and the state of 
 medical research, after receiving testimony from Francis S. Collins, 
Director, Anthony S. Fauci, Director, National Institute of Allergy and 
Infectious Diseases, Diana W. Bianchi, Director, Eunice Kennedy Shriver 
  National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Norman E. 
   Sharpless, Director, National Cancer Institute, Gary H. Gibbons, 
 Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, Eliseo J. Perez-
  Stable, Director, National Institute on Minority Health and Health 
   Disparities Institute, and Bruce J. Tromberg, Director, National 
Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, all of the National 
     Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.
THE FUTURE OF FOREST MANAGEMENT
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and 
Related Agencies concluded a hearing to examine budgeting for the 
future of forest management, focusing on rethinking resiliency, after 
receiving testimony from Victoria Christiansen, Chief, U.S. Forest 
Service, Department of Agriculture.
APPROPRIATIONS: DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, 
Science, and Related Agencies concluded a hearing to examine proposed 
budget estimates and justification for fiscal year 2022 for the 
Department of Commerce, after receiving testimony from Gina M. 
Raimondo, Secretary of Commerce.
APPROPRIATIONS: DHS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Homeland Security 
concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget estimates and 
justification for fiscal year 2022 for the Department of Homeland 
Security, after receiving testimony from Alejandro N. Mayorkas, 
Secretary of Homeland Security.
APPROPRIATIONS: USAID
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, 
and Related Programs concluded a hearing to examine proposed budget 
estimates and justification for fiscal year 2022 for the United States 
Agency for International Development, after receiving testimony from 
Samantha Power, Administrator, United States Agency for International 
Development.
SPACE FORCE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces concluded 
a hearing to examine space force, military space operations, policy and 
programs, after receiving testimony from Darlene J. Costello, Acting 
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition, Technology, and 
Logistics, John D. Hill, performing the duties of Assistant Secretary 
for Space Policy, and General David D. Thompson, USSF, Vice Chief of 
Space Operations, all of the Department of Defense.
WALL STREET FIRMS OVERSIGHT
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine annual oversight of Wall Street firms, after 
receiving testimony from Charles W. Scharf, Wells Fargo and Company, 
and Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase and Co., both of New York, New York; 
David M. Solomon, Goldman Sachs, Hartsdale, New York; Jane Fraser, 
Citi, St. Andrews, United Kingdom; Brian Moynihan, Bank of America, 
Marietta, Ohio; and James P. Gorman, Morgan Stanley, Melbourne, 
Australia.
NATIONAL PARK SYSTEM
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on National 
Parks concluded a hearing to examine the current state of the National 
Park System, focusing on the impacts of COVID-19 on National Park 
Service operations, staff, visitation and facilities, after receiving 
testimony from Shawn Benge, Deputy Director for Operations, National 
Park Service, Department of the Interior; Ken Burns, Florentine Films, 
Walpole, New Hampshire; David MacDonald, Friends of Acadia, Bar Harbor, 
Maine; and Scott Socha, National Park Hospitality Association, Buffalo, 
New York.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following business items:
   An original bill entitled, ``Surface Transportation Reauthorization 
Act of 2021'';
  10 General Services Administration resolutions; and
  The nominations of Shannon Aneal Estenoz, of Florida, to be Assistant 
Secretary for Fish and Wildlife, Department of the Interior, and 
Radhika Fox, of California, to be an Assistant Administrator, and 
Michal Ilana Freedhoff, of Maryland, to be Assistant Administrator for 
Toxic Substances, both of the Environmental Protection Agency.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported S. 
1471, to enhance protections of Native American tangible cultural 
heritage.

[[Page D576]]


COVID-19 RESPONSE
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight hearing 
to examine the COVID-19 response in Native communities, focusing on 
Native languages one year later, including S. 989, to establish a 
Native American language resource center in furtherance of the policy 
set forth in the Native American Languages Act, and S. 1402, to amend 
the Native American Languages Act to ensure the survival and continuing 
vitality of Native American languages, after receiving testimony from 
Michelle Sauve, Acting Commissioner, Administration for Native 
Americans, Administration for Children and Families, Department of 
Health and Human Services; Chuck Hoskin Jr., Cherokee Nation, 
Tahlequah, Oklahoma; Leslie Harper, National Coalition of Native 
American Language Schools and Programs, Cass Lake, Minnesota; Ka'iulani 
J. K. N. Laeha, `Aha Punana Leo, Inc., Hilo, Hawaii; and B. Yaayuk 
Alvanna-Stimpfle, ANLPAC, Nome, Alaska.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Tiffany P. Cunningham, of Illinois, to be United 
States Circuit Judge for the Federal Circuit, Margaret Irene 
Strickland, to be United States District Judge for the District of New 
Mexico, who was introduced by Senators Heinrich and Lujan, Ur Mendoza 
Jaddou, of California, to be Director of the United States Citizenship 
and Immigration Services, Department of Homeland Security, who was 
introduced by Senator Padilla, and David H. Chipman, of Virginia, to be 
Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Anne 
Milgram, of New Jersey, to be Administrator of Drug Enforcement, who 
was introduced by Senators Menendez and Booker, and Kenneth Allen 
Polite, Jr., of Louisiana, to be an Assistant Attorney General, who was 
introduced by Senator Cassidy, all of the Department of Justice, after 
the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
PANDEMIC RESPONSE
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the pandemic response and the small business 
economy, focusing on an update from the Small Business Administration, 
after receiving testimony from Isabel Guzman, Administrator, Small 
Business Administration.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
   S. 89, to require the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to secure 
medical opinions for veterans with service-connected disabilities who 
die from COVID-19 to determine whether their service-connected 
disabilities were the principal or contributory causes of death;
  S. 189, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for annual 
cost-of-living adjustments to be made automatically by law each year in 
the rates of disability compensation for veterans with service-
connected disabilities and the rates of dependency and indemnity 
compensation for survivors of certain service-connected disabled 
veterans;
  S. 894, to identify and refer members of the Armed Forces with a 
health care occupation who are separating from the Armed Forces for 
potential employment with the Department of Veterans Affairs;
  S. 1031, to require the Comptroller General of the United States to 
conduct a study on disparities associated with race and ethnicity with 
respect to certain benefits administered by the Secretary of Veterans 
Affairs;
  S. 1095, to amend title 38, United States Code, to provide for the 
disapproval by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs of courses of 
education offered by public institutions of higher learning that do not 
charge veterans the in-State tuition rate for purposes of Survivors' 
and Dependents' Educational Assistance Program;
  An original bill entitled, ``The COST of War Act of 2021''; and
  The nominations of Donald Michael Remy, of Louisiana, to be Deputy 
Secretary, Matthew T. Quinn, of Montana, to be Under Secretary for 
Memorial Affairs, Maryanne T. Donaghy, of Pennsylvania, to be an 
Assistant Secretary (Office of Accountability and Whistleblower 
Protection), and Patricia L. Ross, of Ohio, to be an Assistant 
Secretary (Congressional and Legislative Affairs), all of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs.
BUSINESS MEETING
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the nominations of Christopher Charles Fonzone, of Pennsylvania, to be 
General Counsel of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, 
and Brett M. Holmgren, of Minnesota, to be an Assistant Secretary of 
State (Intelligence and Research).