The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“Senate Committee Meetings” mentioning the Department of Interior was published in the Daily Digest section on pages D761-D762 on June 26, 2019.
The Department oversees more than 500 million acres of land. Downsizing the Federal Government, a project aimed at lowering taxes and boosting federal efficiency, said the department has contributed to a growing water crisis and holds many lands which could be better managed.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
BUDGET AND SPENDING PROCESS
Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded a hearing to examine fixing a broken budget and spending process, focusing on securing the nation's fiscal future, after receiving testimony from Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States, Government Accountability Office.
AMTRAK
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded a hearing to examine Amtrak, focusing on next steps for passenger rail, after receiving testimony from Jennifer Homendy, Member, National Transportation Safety Board; Richard Anderson, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Amtrak; Ian Jefferies, Association of American Railroads, Washington, D.C.; and James M. Souby, Colorado Rail Passenger Association, Denver.
WATER AND POWER LEGISLATION
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Water and Power concluded a hearing to examine S. 325, to require the Secretary of the Interior to convey the Garrison Diversion Unit Project Oakes Test Area in Dickey County, North Dakota, to the Dickey-Sargent Irrigation District, S. 860, to amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to modify the terms of the Jackson Gulch rehabilitation project in Colorado, S. 990, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to participate in the implementation of the Platte River Recovery Implementation Program First Increment Extension for threatened and endangered species in the Central and Lower Platte River Basin, S. 1305, to establish a Federal cost share percentage for the Milk River Project in the State of Montana, S. 1758, to extend a repayment contract relating to the Purgatoire River Water Conservancy District and to authorize the District to develop an excess capacity contract to offset repayment costs, and S. 1882, to make available the continued use of Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program project use power by the Kinsey Irrigation Company and the Sidney Water Users Irrigation District, after receiving testimony from Kiel Weaver, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Water and Science, Department of the Interior.
MIGRATION AT THE SOUTHERN BORDER
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine unprecedented migration at the United States southern border, focusing on the exploitation of migrants through smuggling, trafficking, and involuntary servitude, after receiving testimony from Brian S. Hastings, Chief, Law Enforcement Operations, Border Patrol, and Randy Howe, Executive Director for Operations, Office of Field Operations, both of Customs and Border Protection, and Gregory C. Nevano, Assistant Director, Investigative Programs, Homeland Security Investigations, all of the Department of Homeland Security.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered favorably reported the following business items:
S. 1199, to amend the Public Health Service Act to revise and extend the poison center network program, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 1173, to amend the Public Health Service Act to reauthorize the Emergency Medical Services for Children program; and
S. 1895, to lower health care costs, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of Douglas Russell Cole, and Matthew Walden McFarland, both to be a United States District Judge for the Southern District of Ohio, who were both introduced by Senator Portman, Robert Anthony Molloy, to be Judge for the District Court of the Virgin Islands, who was introduced by Representative Plaskett, and Kea Whetzal Riggs, to be United States District Judge for the District of New Mexico, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
SBA SBIC PROGRAM REAUTHORIZATION
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a hearing to examine reauthorization of the Small Business Administration's Small Business Investment Company program, after receiving testimony from Joseph Shepard, Associate Administrator, Office of Investment and Innovation, Small Business Administration; Brett Palmer, Small Business Investor Alliance, and Mark Muro, Brookings Institution, both of Washington, D.C.; and Banu Ozkazanc-Pan, Brown University Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship and University of Massachusetts, Boston.
