Senate Conducted Six Committee Hearings on Oct. 2

WASHINGTON, Oct. 3 -- The Senate conducted six committee hearings on Oct. 2:

*Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs:

To examine implementation of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, including S. 2405, to amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to clarify capital requirements for certain acquisition, development, or construction loans, after receiving testimony from Joseph M. Otting, Comptroller of the Currency, Department of the Treasury; Randal K. Quarles, Vice Chairman for Supervision, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System; Jelena McWilliams, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation; and J. Mark McWatters, Chairman, National Credit Union Administration.

*Energy and Natural Resources: Committee ordered favorably reported the following business items:

- S. 32 and H.R. 857, bills to provide for conservation and enhanced recreation activities in the California Desert Conservation Area, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 90, to survey the gradient boundary along the Red River in the States of Oklahoma and Texas;

- S. 414, to promote conservation, improve public land management, and provide for sensible development in Pershing County, Nevada;

- S. 441, to designate the Organ Mountains and other public land as components of the National Wilderness Preservation System in the State of New Mexico, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 569, to amend title 54, United States Code, to provide consistent and reliable authority for, and for the funding of, the Land and Water Conservation Fund to maximize the effectiveness of the Fund for future generations, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 685, to authorize the Dry-Redwater Regional Water Authority System and the Musselshell-Judith Rural Water System in the States of Montana and North Dakota, S. 785, to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide for equitable allotment of land to Alaska Native veterans, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 785, to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to provide for equitable allotment of land to Alaska Native veterans, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 884, to amend the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993 to require the Bureau of Land Management to provide a claimant of a small miner waiver from claim maintenance fees with a period of 60 days after written receipt of 1 or more defects is provided to the claimant by registered mail to cure the 1 or more defects or pay the claim maintenance fee, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 941, to withdraw certain National Forest System land in the Emigrant Crevice area located in the Custer Gallatin National Forest, Park County, Montana, from the mining and mineral leasing laws of the United States;

- S. 1012, to provide for drought preparedness measures in the State of New Mexico, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 1149, to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act to repeal a provision limiting the export of timber harvested from land conveyed to the Kake Tribal Corporation under that Act;

- S. 1219, to provide for stability of title to certain land in the State of Louisiana, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 1403, to amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 to establish the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps to place youth and veterans in national service positions to conserve, restore, and enhance the great outdoors of the United States, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- H.R. 3186, to establish an Every Kid Outdoors program;

- S. 1548, to designate certain land administered by the Bureau of Land Management and the Forest Service in the State of Oregon as wilderness and national recreation areas and to make additional wild and scenic river designations in the State of Oregon, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- H.R. 3279, to amend the Mineral Leasing Act to provide that extraction of helium from gas produced under a Federal mineral lease shall maintain the lease as if the helium were oil and gas;

- S. 1787, to reauthorize the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992;

- H.R. 2156, to provide for the establishment of a national memorial and national monument to commemorate those killed by the collapse of the Saint Francis Dam on March 12, 1928, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 2062, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to convey at market value certain National Forest System land in the State of Arizona, with an amendment;

- S. 2160, to establish a pilot program under the Chief of the Forest Service may use alternative dispute resolution in lieu of judicial review of certain projects, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 2166, to maintain annual base funding for the Upper Colorado and San Juan fish recovery programs through fiscal year 2023, to require a report on the implementation of those programs, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 2249, to permanently reauthorize the Rio Puerco Management Committee and the Rio Puerco Watershed Management Program, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 2290, to improve wildfire management operations and the safety of firefighters and communities with the best available technology, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 2297, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to transfer certain National Forest System land to Custer County, South Dakota, with an amendment;

- S. 2560, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish a program to facilitate the transfer to non-Federal ownership of appropriate reclamation projects or facilities, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 2809, to establish the San Rafael Swell Western Heritage and Historic Mining National Conservation Area in the State of Utah, to designate wilderness areas in the State, to provide for certain land conveyances, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 2831, to redesignate Golden Spike National Historic Site and to establish the Transcontinental Railroad Network, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 2870, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a special resource study of the site known as "Amache" in the State of Colorado;

- S. 2876, to amend the National Trails System Act to provide for the study of the Pike National Historic Trail;

- H.R. 4895, to establish the Medgar Evers Home National Monument in the State of Mississippi, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 3001 and H.R. 6040, bills to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land and facilities of the Central Valley Project, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 3172, to amend title 54, United States Code, to establish, fund, and provide for the use of amounts in a National Park Service Legacy Restoration Fund to address the maintenance backlog of the National Park Service, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- H.R. 5979, to establish the Mill Springs Battlefield National Monument in the State of Kentucky as a unit of the National Park System, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- S. 3245, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to transfer certain National Forest System land in the State of Texas, with an amendment;

- H.R. 5655, to establish the Camp Nelson Heritage National Monument in the State of Kentucky as a unit of the National Park System, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- H.R. 132, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land and appurtenances of the Arbuckle Project, Oklahoma, to the Arbuckle Master Conservancy District;

- H.R. 1967, to amend the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 to authorize pumped storage hydropower development utilizing multiple Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- H.R. 2075, to adjust the eastern boundary of the Deschutes Canyon-Steelhead Falls and Deschutes Canyon Wilderness Study Areas in the State of Oregon to facilitate fire prevention and response activities to protect private property, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;

- H.R. 2630, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain land to La Paz County, Arizona, with an amendment; and

- H.R. 4446, to amend the Virgin Islands of the United States Centennial Commission Act to extend the expiration date of the Commission.

*Finance:

To examine the nomination of Andrew M. Saul, of New York, to be Commissioner of Social Security, after the nominee testified and answered questions in his own behalf.

*Judiciary:

Subcommittee on the Constitution:

To examine threats to religious liberty around the world, after receiving testimony from Thomas F. Farr, Religious Freedom Institute, and Amanda Tyler, Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, both of Washington, D.C.; and Bob Fu, ChinaAid, Midland, Texas.

*Select Committee on Intelligence:

Closed session to receive a briefing on certain intelligence matters from officials of the intelligence community.

*United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control:

To examine combating the trafficking of illegal fentanyl from China, after receiving testimony from Kirsten D. Madison, Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs; Paul E. Knierim, Deputy Chief of Operations, Office of Global Enforcement, Drug Enforcement Administration, Department of Justice; Matthew C. Allen, Assistant Director, Domestic Operations, Homeland Security Investigations, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security; Daniel G. Burke, Senior Operations Manager, Cybercrime Investigations Unit, Office of Criminal Investigations, Office of Regulatory Affairs, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services; Derek Scissors, American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C.; Michael Frunzi, Smiths Detection Inc., Edgewood, Maryland; and Matthew Nice, United Nations International Narcotics Control Board, Vienna, Austria.