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 D360-D362 on March 29, 2017.
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)
DEFENSE HEALTH PROGRAM AND MILITARY MEDICINE FUNDING
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Department of Defense concluded a hearing to examine a review of the defense health program and military medicine funding, after receiving testimony from Lieutenant General Nadja West, Surgeon General of the Army, Vice Admiral C. Forrest Faison, III, Surgeon General of the Navy, Lieutenant General Mark A. Ediger, Surgeon General of the Air Force, and Stacy Cummings, Program Executive Officer of the Defense Healthcare Management Systems, all of the Department of Defense.
CIVIL SOCIETY PERSPECTIVES ON RUSSIA
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs concluded a hearing to examine civil society perspectives on Russia, after receiving testimony from Vladimir Kara-
Murza, Open Russia; Laura Jewett, National Democratic Institute; and Jan Erik Surotchak, International Republican Institute.
RUSSIAN INFLUENCE AND UNCONVENTIONAL WARFARE OPERATIONS IN THE ``GREY ZONE''
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities concluded a hearing to examine Russian influence and unconventional warfare operations in the ``Grey Zone'', focusing on lessons from Ukraine, after receiving testimony from Lieutenant General Charles T. Cleveland, USA (Ret.), former Commanding General, United States Army Special Operations Command, Department of Defense, and Madison Policy Forum; Olga Oliker, Center for Strategic and International Studies Russia and Eurasia Program; and Michael R. Carpenter, University of Pennsylvania Biden Center for Diplomacy and Global Engagement.
DOD INDUSTRIAL BASE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support concluded a hearing to examine on the health of the Department of Defense industrial base, and its role in providing readiness to the warfighter, after receiving testimony from Lieutenant General Larry D. Wyche, USA, Deputy Commanding General, United States Army Materiel Command, Vice Admiral Paul A. Grosklags, USN, Commander, United States Naval Air Systems Command, Vice Admiral Thomas J. Moore, USN, Commander, United States Naval Sea Systems Command, Lieutenant General Michael G. Dana, USMC, Deputy Commandant, Installations and Logistics, United States Marine Corps, and Lieutenant General Lee K. Levy II, USAF, Commander, Air Force Sustainment Center, United States Air Force Materiel Command, Department of Defense.
AIR FORCE MODERNIZATION
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Airland concluded a hearing to examine Air Force modernization, after receiving testimony from Lieutenant General Mark C. Nowland, USAF, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Headquarters, Lieutenant General Arnold W. Bunch, Jr., USAF, Military Deputy, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Acquisition, and Lieutenant General Jerry D. Harris, Jr., USAF, Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans, Programs and Requirements, Headquarters, all of the United States Air Force, Department of Defense.
CLOSING THE SKILLS GAP
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded a hearing to examine closing the skills gap and boosting United States competitiveness, after receiving testimony from John Ratzenberger, American Museum of Manufacturing, Rancho Mirage, California; Rory DeJohn, Turner Construction Company, Branford, Connecticut; Colonel Michael Cartney, USAF (Ret.), Lake Area Technical Institute, Watertown, South Dakota; John J. Neely III, Gulfstream Aerospace, a General Dynamics Company, Savannah, Georgia; and Judy Marks, Siemens USA, Washington, D.C.
NOMINATION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the nomination of Jeffrey A. Rosen, of Virginia, to be Deputy Secretary of Transportation, after the nominee testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
CLEANING UP COLD WAR LEGACY SITES
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a hearing to examine cleaning up our nation's Cold War legacy sites, after receiving testimony from Lieutenant General Todd T. Semonite, Commanding General and Chief of Engineers, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense; Barry Breen, Acting Assistant Administrator, Office of Land and Emergency Management, Environmental Protection Agency; Kevin Frederick, Administrator, Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality Water Quality Division, Cheyenne; Alexandra K. Smith, Washington State Department of Ecology, Lacey; and Sarah Lukin, Afognak Native Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska.
U.S.-MEXICO RELATIONSHIP
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, Transnational Crime, Civilian Security, Democracy, Human Rights, and Global Women's Issues concluded a hearing to examine United States-
Mexico relationship, focusing on advancing security and prosperity on both sides of the border, after receiving testimony from former New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson, Santa Fe; and Robert F. Noriega, American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C.
AMERICAN LEADERSHIP IN THE ASIA-PACIFIC
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on East Asia, the Pacific, and International Cybersecurity Policy concluded a hearing to examine American leadership in the Asia-Pacific, focusing on security issues, after receiving testimony from J. Randy Forbes, United States Naval War College, Newport, Rhode Island; and Robert L. Gallucci, Georgetown University Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Washington, D.C.
EFFECT OF BORROWING ON FEDERAL SPENDING
Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee on Federal Spending Oversight and Emergency Management concluded a hearing to examine the effect of borrowing on Federal spending, after receiving testimony from David M. Walker, former Comptroller General of the United States, Government Accountability Office, Bridgeport, Connecticut; Veronique de Rugy, George Mason University Mercatus Center, Arlington Virginia; and Mark Zandi, Moody's Analytics, West Chester, Pennsylvania.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the following business items:
S.304, to amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to allow the Indian Health Service to cover the cost of a copayment of an Indian or Alaska Native veteran receiving medical care or services from the Department of Veterans Affairs;
S.343, to repeal certain obsolete laws relating to Indians;
S.381, to repeal the Act entitled ``An Act to confer jurisdiction on the State of Iowa over offenses committed by or against Indians on the Sac and Fox Indian Reservation'';
S.607, to establish a business incubators program within the Department of the Interior to promote economic development in Indian reservation communities; and
S.669, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to assess sanitation and safety conditions at Bureau of Indian Affairs facilities that were constructed to provide affected Columbia River Treaty tribes access to traditional fishing grounds and expend funds on construction of facilities and structures to improve those conditions.
NATIVE YOUTH
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded an oversight hearing to examine native youth, focusing on promoting diabetes prevention through healthy living, after receiving testimony from Rear Admiral Chris Buchannan, Assistant Surgeon General, USPHS, Acting Director, Indian Health Service, Department of Health and Human Services; Vinton Hawley, National Indian Health Board, Washington, D.C.; Jared Eagle, Forth Berthold Diabetes Program, New Town, North Dakota; Martin Sensmeier, Boys and Girls Club of America, Atlanta, Georgia; and Alton Villegas, and Rachel Seepie, both of the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community, Scottsdale, Arizona.
SMALL BUSINESSES AND REGULATIONS
Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship: Committee concluded a hearing to examine how small businesses confront and shape regulations, including H.R. 33, to amend chapter 6 of title 5, United States Code
(commonly known as the Regulatory Flexibility Act), to ensure complete analysis of potential impacts on small entities of rules, H.R. 26, to amend chapter 8 of title 5, United States Code, to provide that major rules of the executive branch shall have no force or effect unless a joint resolution of approval is enacted into law, and H.R. 5, to reform the process by which Federal agencies analyze and formulate new regulations and guidance documents, to clarify the nature of judicial review of agency interpretations, to ensure complete analysis of potential impacts on small entities of rules, after receiving testimony from Randy Noel, National Association of Home Builders, Laplace, Louisiana; and Frank Knapp, Jr., American Sustainable Business Council, Columbia, South Carolina.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee met in closed session to receive a briefing on certain intelligence matters from officials of the intelligence community.
ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the arc of Alzheimer's, focusing on preventing cognitive decline in Americans to assuring quality care for those living with the disease, after receiving testimony from Maria Shriver, The Women's Alzheimer's Movement, Los Angeles, California; Kristine Yaffe, University of California Weill Institute of Neurosciences, San Francisco; Christopher M. Callahan, Indiana University Center for Aging Research, Indianapolis; and Phyllis Gallagher, Frackville, Pennsylvania.
