[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 32 (Thursday, February 16, 2023)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D141-D143]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee announced 
the following subcommittee assignment for the 118th Congress:
  Subcommittee on Commodities, Risk Management, and Trade: Senators 
Smith (Chair), Gillibrand, Durbin, Booker, Warnock, Fetterman, Hyde-
Smith, McConnell, Ernst, Tuberville, and Grassley.
  Subcommittee on Rural Development and Energy: Senators Welch 
(Chair), Klobuchar, Bennet, Smith, Durbin, Lujan, Tuberville, Ernst, 
Braun, Grassley, and Fischer.
  Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry, and Natural 
Resources: Senators Bennet (Chair), Klobuchar, Smith, Lujan, 
Warnock, Welch, Marshall, McConnell, Hoeven, Hyde-Smith, and Thune.
  Subcommittee on Food and Nutrition, Specialty Crops, Organics, and 
Research: Senators Fetterman (Chair), Brown, Klobuchar, Gillibrand, 
Booker, Warnock, Braun, McConnell, Ernst, Marshall, and Tuberville.
  Subcommittee on Livestock, Dairy, Poultry, Local Food Systems, and 
Food Safety and Security: Senators Gillibrand (Chair), Brown, 
Durbin, Booker, Lujan, Welch, Hoeven, Hyde-Smith, Marshall, Thune, 
and Fischer.

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  Senators Stabenow and Boozman serve as ex officio members of all 
subcommittees.
FARM BILL
Committee on Agriculture: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the 
2023 Farm Bill, focusing on nutrition programs, after receiving 
testimony from Cindy Long, Administrator, Food and Nutrition Service, 
and Stacy Dean, Deputy Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and 
Consumer Services, both of the Department of Agriculture.
PHARMACY BENEFIT MANAGERS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine bringing transparency and accountability to 
pharmacy benefit managers, after receiving testimony from Senator 
Grassley; Ryan Oftebro, Kelley-Ross Pharmacy Group, Seattle, 
Washington; Debra Patt, Texas Oncology, Austin; Erin Trish, University 
of Southern California Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical 
Sciences, Los Angeles; and Casey B. Mulligan, University of Chicago, 
Chicago, Illinois.
GLOBAL ENERGY SECURITY
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded a 
hearing to examine the impact of the Russian Federation's war in 
Ukraine on European and global energy security one year after the 
invasion, after receiving testimony from Andrew Light, Assistant 
Secretary of Energy, Office of International Affairs; Ditte Juul 
Jorgensen, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium; and Anna B. 
Mikulska, Rice University Baker Institute for Public Policy, Houston, 
Texas.
TRADE AND LABOR
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded a hearing to examine ending 
trade that cheats American workers by modernizing trade laws and 
enforcement, fighting forced labor, eliminating counterfeits, and 
leveling the playing field, after receiving testimony from Cindy Allen, 
FedEx Logistics, Memphis, Tennessee; Andy Meserve, United Steelworkers, 
Owensboro, Tennessee; Scott Nova, Workers Rights Consortium, and John 
Pickel, National Foreign Trade Council, both of Washington, D.C.; and 
Brenda B. Smith, Expeditors International of Washington, Inc., Glen 
Burnie, Maryland.
NOMINATION
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nomination of Richard R. Verma, of Maryland, to be Deputy 
Secretary of State for Management and Resources, after the nominee, who 
was introduced by Senator Cardin, testified and answered questions in 
his own behalf.
HEALTH CARE WORKFORCE
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine health care workforce shortages, after 
receiving testimony from James D. Herbert, University of New England, 
Biddeford, Maine; James E.K. Hildreth, Meharry Medical College, 
Nashville, Tennessee; Sarah L. Szanton, Johns Hopkins University School 
of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland; Leonardo Seoane, Ochsner Health, New 
Orleans, Louisiana; and Douglas O. Staiger, Dartmouth College, Hanover, 
New Hampshire.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of Rosemarie Hidalgo, of the District of Columbia, to be 
Director of the Violence Against Women Office, Amy Lefkowitz Solomon, 
of the District of Columbia, to be an Assistant Attorney General, Kate 
E. Brubacher, to be United States Attorney for the District of Kansas, 
and Ismail J. Ramsey, to be United States Attorney for the Northern 
District of California, all of the Department of Justice.
   Also, Committee announced the following subcommittee assignments for 
the 118th Congress:
  Subcommittee on Competition Policy, Antitrust, and Consumer 
Rights: Senators Klobuchar (Chair), Whitehouse, Coons, Blumenthal, 
Hirono, Booker, Welch, Lee, Grassley, Hawley, Cotton, Tillis, and 
Blackburn.
  Subcommittee on Immigration, Citizenship, and Border Safety: 
Senators Padilla (Chair), Whitehouse, Klobuchar, Coons, Hirono, 
Booker, Welch, Cornyn, Grassley, Cruz, Cotton, Tillis, and 
Blackburn.
  Subcommittee on the Constitution: Senators Feinstein (Chair), 
Blumenthal, Booker, Ossoff, Cruz, Cornyn, and Lee.
  Subcommittee on Criminal Justice and Counterterrorism: Senators 
Booker (Chair), Feinstein, Whitehouse, Klobuchar, Coons, Padilla, 
Ossoff, Cotton, Grassley, Cornyn, Lee, Cruz, and Kennedy.
  Subcommittee on Intellectual Property: Senators Coons (Chair), 
Hirono, Padilla, Ossoff, Welch, Tillis, Cornyn, Cotton, and 
Blackburn.
  Subcommittee on Federal Courts, Oversight, Agency Action, and 
Federal Rights: Senators Whitehouse (Chair), Feinstein, Blumenthal, 
Hirono, Booker, Padilla, Welch, Kennedy, Grassley, Lee, Cruz, 
Tillis, and Hawley.
  Subcommittee on Human Rights and the Law: Senators Ossoff (Chair), 
Feinstein, Blumenthal, Welch, Blackburn, Kennedy, and Hawley.
  Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology, and the Law: Senators 
Blumenthal (Chair), Klobuchar, Coons, Hirono, Padilla, Ossoff, 
Hawley, Kennedy, Blackburn, Lee, and Cornyn.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine the nomination of Joshua David Jacobs, of Washington, to be 
Under Secretary for

[[Page D143]]

Benefits of the Department of Veterans Affairs, after the nominee, who 
was introduced by Senator Murray, testified and answered questions in 
his own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
  S. 10, to improve the workforce of the Department of Veterans 
Affairs, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 30, to authorize major medical facility projects for the 
Department of Veterans Affairs for fiscal year 2023, with an amendment 
in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 106, to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize the 
Secretary of Veterans Affairs to award grants to States to improve 
outreach to veterans, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 112, to amend title 38, United States Code, to strengthen benefits 
for children of Vietnam veterans born with spina bifida;
  S. 132, to require a pilot program on activities under the pre-
separation transition process of members of the Armed Forces for a 
reduction in suicide among veterans, with an amendment in the nature of 
a substitute;
  S. 141, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve certain 
programs of the Department of Veterans Affairs for home and community 
based services for veterans, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 185, to amend title 38, United States Code, to improve the program 
for direct housing loans made to Native American veterans;
  S. 216, to amend title 38, United States Code, to modify the family 
caregiver program of the Department of Veterans Affairs to include 
services related to mental health and neurological disorders; and
  S. 326, to direct the Secretary of Veterans Affairs to carry out a 
study and clinical trials on the effects of cannabis on certain health 
outcomes of veterans with chronic pain and post-traumatic stress 
disorder.