[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 108 (Tuesday, June 22, 2021)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D676-D678]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
RENEWABLE ENERGY
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Subcommittee on 
Rural Development and Energy concluded a hearing to examine renewable 
energy, focusing on growth and opportunities for rural economies, after 
receiving testimony from Shannon Schlecht, Agricultural Research 
Utilization Institute, Crookston, Minnesota; Katie Sieben, Minnesota 
Public Utilities Commission, St. Paul; Emily Skor, Growth Energy, 
Washington, D.C.; Bill Cherrier, Central Iowa Power Cooperative, Des 
Moines; and Matthew Mancuso, Iowa Western Community College, Council 
Bluffs.
APPROPRIATIONS: ARMY
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense concluded a 
hearing to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for 
fiscal year 2022 for the Army, after receiving testimony from Christine 
E. Wormuth, Secretary of the Army, and General James P. McConville, 
Army Chief of Staff, both of the Department of Defense.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of Caroline Diane Krass, of the District of Columbia, to be 
General Counsel, Gina Maria Ortiz Jones, of Texas, to be Under 
Secretary of the Air Force, Ely Stefansky Ratner, of Massachusetts, to 
be an Assistant Secretary, Shawn Graham Skelly, of Virginia, to be an 
Assistant Secretary, Meredith Berger, of Florida, to be an Assistant 
Secretary of the Navy, and 2,932 military nominations in the Army, 
Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Space Force, all of the Department 
of Defense.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION REQUEST AND FUTURE YEARS DEFENSE PROGRAM
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the posture of the Department of the Navy in review of the Defense 
Authorization Request for fiscal year 2022 and the Future Years Defense 
Program after receiving testimony from Thomas W. Harker, Acting 
Secretary of the Navy, Admiral Michael M. Gilday, USN, Chief of Naval 
Operations, and General David H. Berger, USMC, Commandant of the Marine 
Corps, all of the Department of Defense.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION REQUEST AND FUTURE YEARS DEFENSE PROGRAM
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Airland concluded a 
hearing to examine modernization efforts of the Department of the Air 
Force in review of the Defense Authorization Request for fiscal year 
2022 and the Future Years Defense Program, after receiving testimony 
from Lieutenant General David S. Nahom, USAF, Deputy Chief of Staff for 
Plans and Programs, Lieutenant General Joseph T. Guastella, USAF, 
Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, and Lieutenant General Duke Z. 
Richardson, USAF, Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary 
for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, all of the Air Force, 
Department of Defense.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the nominations of Brian Eddie Nelson, of 
California, to be Under Secretary for Terrorism and Financial Crimes, 
who was introduced by Senator Padilla, and Elizabeth Rosenberg, of 
Vermont, to be Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, who was 
introduced by Senator Leahy, both of the Department of the Treasury, 
after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own 
behalf.
BUILDING RESILIENT NETWORKS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Communication, Media, and Broadband concluded a hearing to examine 
building resilient networks, after receiving testimony from Jeffrey D. 
Johnson, Western Fire Chiefs Association, Sisters, Oregon; Jonathan 
Adelstein, Wireless Infrastructure Association, Arlington, Virginia; 
Denny Law, Golden West Telecommunications Cooperative, Inc., Wall, 
South Dakota; and Harold Feld, Public Knowledge, Washington, D.C.
ASIA-PACIFIC TRADE POLICY
Committee on Finance: Subcommittee on International Trade, Customs, and 
Global Competitiveness concluded a hearing to examine the strategic 
benefits of

[[Page D677]]

a multilateral approach to trade policy in the Asia-Pacific region, 
after receiving testimony from Wendy Cutler, Asia Society Policy 
Institute, Washington, D.C.; Don Allan, Stanley Black and Decker, New 
Britain, Connecticut; Peter A. Petri, Brandeis University, Boston, 
Massachusetts; and James B. Cunningham, Atlantic Council, 
Elizabethtown, New York.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
  S. 1041, to advance the strategic alignment of United States 
diplomatic tools toward the realization of free, fair, and transparent 
elections in Nicaragua and to reaffirm the commitment of the United 
States to protect the fundamental freedoms and human rights of the 
people of Nicaragua, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2000, to promote the United States-Greece defense partnership, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 93, to amend the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act 
to modify the foreign persons subject to sanctions and to remove the 
sunset for the imposition of sanctions, with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute;
  S. 14, to identify and combat corruption in countries, to establish a 
tiered system of countries with respect to levels of corruption by 
their governments and their efforts to combat such corruption, and to 
evaluate foreign persons engaged in grand corruption for inclusion as 
specially designated nationals under the Global Magnitsky Human Rights 
Accountability Act, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. Res. 67, calling for the immediate release of Trevor Reed, a 
United States citizen who was unjustly found guilty and sentenced to 9 
years in a Russian prison;
  S. Res. 165, calling on the Government of the Russian Federation to 
provide evidence or to release United States citizen Paul Whelan;
  S. Res. 107, expressing the sense of the Senate relating to the 10th 
anniversary of the March 11, 2011, earthquake and tsunami in Japan;
  S. Res. 176, urging all parties in Georgia to seek prompt 
implementation of the agreement signed on April 19, 2021, and 
reaffirming the support of the Senate for Georgia, the territorial 
integrity of Georgia, and the aspirations of Georgians to join the 
Euro-Atlantic community, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute; and
  Routine lists in the Foreign Service.
D.C. STATEHOOD
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine D.C. statehood, including S. 51, to 
provide for the admission of the State of Washington, D.C. into the 
Union, after receiving testimony from former Senator Joe Lieberman, and 
Representative Norton; Mayor Muriel Bowser, and Roger Pilon, Cato 
Institute, both of Washington, D.C.; Marc Morial, National Urban 
League, New York, New York; Richard Primus, University of Michigan Law 
School, Ann Arbor; and Derek T. Muller, University of Iowa College of 
Law, Iowa City.
VACCINES
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine vaccines, focusing on America's shot at 
ending the COVID-19 pandemic, after receiving testimony from Susan R. 
Bailey, American Medical Association, Fort Worth, Texas; Jeanette 
Betancourt, Sesame Workshop, New York, New York; Curtis Chang, Duke 
Divinity School, San Jose, California; and Michelle L. Nichols, 
Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia.
FEDERAL SENTENCING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
Federal sentencing for crack and powder cocaine, after receiving 
testimony from Regina M. LaBelle, Acting Director, Office of National 
Drug Control Policy; Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, Little Rock; 
Matthew Charles, FAMM, Nashville, Tennessee; Russell Coleman, Frost 
Brown Todd, Louisville, Kentucky; Antonio Garcia, National HIDTA 
Directors Association, San Antonio, Texas; and Steven B. Wasserman, 
National Association of Assistant U.S. Attorneys, Washington, D.C.
PROTECTING REAL INNOVATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Intellectual Property 
concluded a hearing to examine protecting real innovations by improving 
patent quality, after receiving testimony from Bridget Asay, Stris and 
Maher, Montpelier, Vermont; Julio A. Garceran, Cree, Inc., Durham, 
North Carolina; Troy R. Lester, Acushnet Company, Fairhaven, 
Massachusetts; and Jorge L. Contreras, University of Utah S.J. Quinney 
College of Law, Salt Lake City.
BUSINESS MEETING
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the nomination of Christine Abizaid, of Maryland, to be Director of the 
National Counterterrorism Center, Office of the Director of National 
Intelligence.

[[Page D678]]


INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on 
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the 
intelligence community.
  Committee recessed subject to the call.