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 D1067-D1070 on Sept. 25, 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)
LIVESTOCK AND POULTRY PERSPECTIVES
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded a hearing to examine perspectives on the livestock and poultry sectors, after receiving testimony from Jennifer Houston, East Tennessee Livestock Center, Sweetwater, on behalf of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association; Ron Kardel, West Liberty Foods, Walcott, Iowa, on behalf of the National Turkey Federation; Jayson L. Lusk, Purdue University Department of Agricultural Economics, West Lafayette, Indiana; Burton Pfliger, Roselawn Legacy Hampshires, Bismarck, North Dakota, on behalf of the American Sheep Industry Association; Trent Thiele, Iowa Pork Producers Association, Elma, on behalf of the National Pork Producers Council; and Shane Eaton, Eaton Charolais, Lindsay, Montana, on behalf of the United States Cattlemen's Association.
FACILITATING FASTER PAYMENTS
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine facilitating faster payments in the United States, after receiving testimony from Esther George, President, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Missouri, on behalf of the Federal Reserve System; Robert Hunter, The Clearing House Payments Company, Robert A. Steen, Bridge Community Bank, on behalf of the Independent Community Bankers of America, and George Selgin, Cato Institute Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, all of Washington, D.C.; and Sheila C. Bair, former Chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Independence, Kansas.
FISHERY FAILURES
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded a hearing to examine fishery failures, focusing on improving the disaster declaration and relief process, after receiving testimony from Chris Oliver, Assistant Administrator for Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce; Joe Spraggins, Mississippi Department of Marine Resources, Biloxi; Rachel Baker, Alaska Department of Fish and Game, Juneau; Robert Spottswood, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Key West; and Ron Warren, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, Olympia.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee ordered favorably reported the following business items:
S. 334, to authorize the construction of the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System and study of the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority System in the States of Montana and North Dakota;
S. 607, to amend the Department of Energy Organization Act to address insufficient compensation of employees and other personnel of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, with an amendment;
S. 860, to amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to modify the terms of the Jackson Gulch rehabilitation project in Colorado, with an amendment;
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. 1570, to provide flexibility to allow greater aquifer recharge, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 1602, to amend the United States Energy Storage Competitiveness Act of 2007 to establish a research, development, and demonstration program for grid-scale energy storage systems, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 1751, to amend the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 to authorize pumped storage hydropower development utilizing multiple Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs, with an amendment;
S. 1821, to amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to provide for research on, and the development and deployment of, marine energy, with an amendment;
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, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 1931, to require the Administrator of the Western Area Power Administration to establish a pilot project to provide increased transparency for customers;
S. 2044, to amend the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 to establish an Aging Infrastructure Account, to amend the Reclamation Safety of Dams Act of 1978 to provide additional funds under that Act, to establish a review of flood control rule curves pilot project within the Bureau of Reclamation, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 2094 and H.R. 2114, bills to amend the Energy Policy and Conservation Act to provide Federal financial assistance to States to implement, review, and revise State energy security plans, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 2095, to provide for certain programs and developments in the Department of Energy concerning the cybersecurity and vulnerabilities of, and physical threat to, the electric grid;
S. 2137, to promote energy savings in residential buildings and industry;
S. 2300, to amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to establish a program to incentivize innovation and to enhance the industrial competitiveness of the United States by developing technologies to reduce emissions of nonpower industrial sectors, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 2332, to provide for the modernization of the electric grid;
S. 2333, to provide for enhanced energy grid security;
S. 2334, to require the Secretary of Energy to establish the 21st Century Energy Workforce Advisory Board;
S. 2335, to accelerate smart building development; and
H.R. 1420, to amend the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 to promote energy efficiency via information and computing technologies.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably reported the following business items:
S. 2260, to provide for the improvement of domestic infrastructure in order to prevent marine debris, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 2099, to redesignate the Sullys Hill National Game Preserve in the State of North Dakota as the White Horse Hill National Game Preserve;
The nominations of Aurelia Skipwith, of Indiana, to be Director of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior, and Katherine Andrea Lemos, of California, to be a Member and to be Chairperson of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board; and
8 General Services Administration resolutions.
U.S. POLICY IN MEXICO AND CENTRAL AMERICA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to examine United States policy in Mexico and Central America, focusing on ensuring effective policies to address the crisis at the border, after receiving testimony from Kirsten D. Madison, Assistant Secretary for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, and Michael Kozak, Acting Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, both of the Department of State.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported the following business items:
S. 1590, to amend the State Department Basic Authorities Act of 1956 to authorize rewards for thwarting wildlife trafficking linked to transnational organized crime;
S. 1678, to express United States support for Taiwan's diplomatic alliances around the world, with an amendment;
S. 1838, to amend the Hong Kong Policy Act of 1992, with an amendment;
S. 2372, to enhance global engagement to combat marine debris, with an amendment;
S. Res. 183, reaffirming the vital role of the United States-Japan alliance in promoting peace, stability, and prosperity in the Indo-
Pacific region and beyond;
S. Res. 236, reaffirming the strong partnership between Tunisia and the United States and supporting the people of Tunisia in their continued pursuit of democratic reforms;
S. Res. 277, remembering the 25th Anniversary of the bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and recommitting to efforts to uphold justice for the 85 victims of the attacks;
S. Res. 318, to support the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, and the Sixth Replenishment, with an amendment;
The nominations of Adam Seth Boehler, of Louisiana, to be Chief Executive Officer of the United States International Development Finance Corporation, and Adrian Zuckerman, of New Jersey, to be Ambassador to Romania, Department of State; and
A routine list in the Foreign Service.
COUNTERING DOMESTIC TERRORISM
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine countering domestic terrorism, focusing on the evolving threat, after receiving testimony from William Braniff, University of Maryland National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism, College Park; Clint Watts, Foreign Policy Research Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Robert Chesney, University of Texas Robert S. Strauss Center for International Security and Law, Austin; and George Selim, Anti-Defamation League, Washington, D.C.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of Danielle J. Hunsaker, of Oregon, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit, William Joseph Nardini, of Connecticut, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Second Circuit, Jodi W. Dishman, to be United States District Judge for the Western District of Oklahoma, who was introduced by Senator Lankford, Sarah E. Pitlyk, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Missouri, who was introduced by Senator Blunt, and Daniel Mack Traynor, to be United States District Judge for the District of North Dakota, who was introduced by Senator Hoeven, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
TOXIC EXPOSURE
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine toxic exposure, focusing on examining the Department of Veterans Affairs's presumptive disability decision-making process, after receiving testimony from Patricia R. Hastings, Chief Consultant, Post Deployment Health Services, and Drew Helmer, Director, War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, both of the Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs; Terry Rauch, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense
(Health Affairs), Health Readiness Policy and Oversight; David A. Butler, Director, Office of Military and Veterans Health, National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine; Shane L. Liermann, Disabled American Veterans, Washington, D.C.; and Robert F. Miller, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee.
PROMOTING HEALTHY AGING
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine promoting healthy aging, focusing on living your best life long into your golden years, after receiving testimony from Rudolph Tanzi, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts; Susan Hughes, University of Illinois Center for Research on Health and Aging, Chicago; Diane Dickerson, Bangor Regional YMCA, Bangor, Maine; and Brian L. Long, Pennsylvania Link to Aging and Disability Resources, Lancaster.
