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[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 127 (Wednesday, September 19, 2012)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D882-D884]
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 Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported 7,276 
nominations in the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
AMERICA COMPETES ACT
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
a hearing to examine five years of the ``America COMPETES Act'', 
focusing on progress, challenges, and next steps, after receiving 
testimony from Carl Wieman, University of Colorado Boulder, and Norman 
R. Augustine, both of Bethesda, Maryland; Jeffrey L. Furman, Boston 
University, Boston, Massachusetts; Peter Lee, Microsoft Research, 
Redmond, Washington; and John L. Winn, National Math and Science 
Initiative, Dallas, Texas.
WATER AND POWER BILLS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Water and 
Power concluded a hearing to examine S. 3265, to amend the Federal 
Power Act to remove the authority of the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Commission to collect land use fees for land that has been sold, 
exchanged, or otherwise transferred from Federal ownership but that is 
subject to a power site reservation, H.R. 2842, to authorize all Bureau 
of Reclamation conduit facilities for hydropower development under 
Federal Reclamation law, S. 3464, to amend the Mni Wiconi Project Act 
of

[[Page D883]]

1988 to facilitate completion of the Mni Wiconi Rural Water Supply 
System, and S. 3483, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to adjust 
the Crooked River boundary, to provide water certainty for the City of 
Prineville, Oregon, after receiving testimony from Senator Merkley; 
Representative Tipton; Grayford F. Payne, Deputy Commissioner for 
Policy, Administration and Budget, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of 
the Interior; and John Katz, Deputy Associate General Counsel, Federal 
Energy Regulatory Commission.
NOMINATION
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to 
examine nomination of Robert Stephen Beecroft, of California, to be 
Ambassador to the Republic of Iraq, Department of State, after the 
nominee testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
  S. 2215, to create jobs in the United States by increasing United 
States exports to Africa by at least 200 percent in real dollar value 
within 10 years, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2318, to authorize the Secretary of State to pay a reward to 
combat transnational organized crime and for information concerning 
foreign nationals wanted by international criminal tribunals, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 3310, to direct the President, in consultation with the Department 
of State, United States Agency for International Development, 
Millennium Challenge Corporation, and the Department of Defense, to 
establish guidelines for United States foreign assistance programs, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 3331, to provide for universal intercountry adoption accreditation 
standards;
  S. 3341, to require a quadrennial diplomacy and development review;
  S. Con. Res. 50, expressing the sense of Congress regarding actions 
to preserve and advance the multistakeholder governance model under 
which the Internet has thrived;
  S. Res. 516, expressing the sense of the Senate on the restitution of 
or compensation for property seized during the Nazi and Communist eras;
  S. Res. 466, calling for the release from prison of former Prime 
Minister of Ukraine Yulia Tymoshenko, with an amendment in the nature 
of a substitute;
  S. Res. 543, to express the sense of the Senate on international 
parental child abduction, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute; and
  The nominations of Richard G. Olson, of New Mexico, to be Ambassador 
to the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Joseph E. Macmanus, of New York, 
to be Representative of the United States of America to the 
International Atomic Energy Agency, with the rank of Ambassador, and to 
be Representative of the United States of America to the Vienna Office 
of the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador, Walter North, of 
Washington, to be Ambassador to Papua New Guinea, and to serve 
concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador to the 
Solomon Islands and Ambassador to the Republic of Vanuatu, Sharon 
English Woods Villarosa, of Texas, to be Ambassador to the Republic of 
Mauritius, and to serve concurrently and without additional 
compensation as Ambassador to the Republic of Seychelles, Dawn M. 
Liberi, of Florida, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Burundi, and 
Stephen D. Mull, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of 
Poland, all of the Department of State, John Hardy Isakson, of Georgia, 
and Patrick J. Leahy, of Vermont, both to be a Representative of the 
United States of America to the Sixty-seventh Session of the General 
Assembly of the United Nations, and lists in the Foreign Service.
HOMELAND THREATS AND AGENCY RESPONSES
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee 
concluded a hearing to examine homeland threats and agency responses, 
after receiving testimony from Janet Napolitano, Secretary of Homeland 
Security; Matthew G. Olsen, Director, National Counterterrorism Center, 
Office of the Director of National Intelligence; and Robert S. Mueller, 
III, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice.
INVESTING IN AN EFFECTIVE FEDERAL WORKFORCE
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee 
on Oversight of Government Management, the Federal Workforce, and the 
District of Columbia concluded a hearing to examine investing in an 
effective Federal workforce, focusing on how effectively implementing 
reforms and closing critical skills gaps are key to addressing Federal 
workforce challenges, after receiving testimony from John Berry, 
Director, U.S. Office of Personnel Management; Gene L. Dodaro, 
Comptroller General of the United States, Government Accountability 
Office; and Colleen M. Kelley, National Treasury Employees Union, J. 
David Cox, Sr., American Federation of Government Employees, American 
Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations

[[Page D884]]

(AFL-CIO), Max Stier, Partnership for Public Service, and William L. 
Bransford, Government Managers Coalition, all of Washington, DC.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  S. 3391, to amend section 353 of the Public Health Service Act with 
respect to suspension, revocation, and limitation of laboratory 
certification;
  An original bill (S. 3566) entitled, ``Recalcitrant Cancer Research 
Act of 2012'';
  S. 1440, to reduce preterm labor and delivery and the risk of 
pregnancy-related deaths and complications due to pregnancy, and to 
reduce infant mortality caused by prematurity, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute; and
  Nomination lists in the Public Health Service.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
the nominations of Katherine Polk Failla, to be United States District 
Judge for the Southern District of New York, Pamela Ki Mai Chen, to be 
United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York, and 
Mark A. Barnett, of Virginia, to be a Judge of the United States Court 
of International Trade, each introduced by Senator Schumer, Troy L. 
Nunley, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of 
California, who was introduced by Senator Feinstein, and Sheri Polster 
Chappell, to be United States District Judge for the Middle District of 
Florida, who was introduced by Senator Nelson (FL), after the nominees 
testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
HATE CRIMES AND DOMESTIC EXTREMISM
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil 
Rights and Human Rights to examine hate crimes and the threat of 
domestic extremism, after receiving testimony from Scott McAllister, 
Office of Intelligence and Analysis, Department of Homeland Security; 
Roy L. Austin, Jr., Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights 
Division, and Michael A. Clancy, Deputy Assistant Director, 
Counterterrorism Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, both of the 
Department of Justice; Daryl Johnson, DT Analytics, Washington, DC; 
James B. Jacobs, New York University School of Law, New York, New York; 
and Harpreet Singh Saini, Oak Creek, Wisconsin.
ELIMINATING WASTE AND FRAUD IN MEDICARE
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine 
eliminating waste and fraud in Medicare, focusing on an examination of 
prior authorization requirements for power mobility devices, after 
receiving testimony from Deborah Taylor, Chief Financial Officer and 
Director, Office of Financial Management, Centers for Medicare and 
Medicaid Services, Department of Health and Human Services; Paul 
Hughes, Durable Medical Equipment Medicare Administrative Contractor, 
Lexington, South Carolina; Stephen T. Peake, Blue Cross Blue Shield of 
Tennessee, Chattanooga; Michael B. Clark, The SCOOTER Store, New 
Braunfels, Texas; and Jerome Epplin, Litchfield Family Practice Center, 
Litchfield, Illinois, on behalf of the American Geriatrics Society.
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