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 in the Daily Digest section section on pages D640-D642 on June 21.
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)
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Cybersecurity approved for full committee consideration those provisions which fall under the subcommittee's jurisdiction of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Seapower approved for full committee consideration those provisions which fall under the subcommittee's jurisdiction of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support approved for full committee consideration those provisions which fall under the subcommittee's jurisdiction of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Emerging Threats and Capabilities approved for full committee consideration those provisions which fall under the subcommittee's jurisdiction of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Personnel approved for full committee consideration those provisions which fall under the subcommittee's jurisdiction of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported S.822, to terminate the Department of Defense memorandum relating to access to abortions, to prohibit the use of travel and transportation allowances, medical convalescent leave, and administrative absences to travel to obtain abortions, with an amendment.
Also, Committee began consideration of the proposed National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2024.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the following bills:
S. 1271, to impose sanctions with respect to trafficking of illicit fentanyl and its precursors by transnational criminal organizations, including cartels, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute; and
An original bill to amend the Federal Deposit Insurance Act to increase bank executive accountability and to improve financial stability.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of Philip Nathan Jefferson, of North Carolina, to be Vice Chairman, and Lisa DeNell Cook, of Michigan, and Adriana Debora Kugler, of Maryland, who was introduced by Senator Menendez, both to be a Member, all of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
FOSSIL FUEL THREATS TO CLIMATE
Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded a hearing to examine fossil fuel threats to climate and the Federal budget, after receiving testimony from Naomi Oreskes, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Christine Arena, Generous Films, San Francisco, California; Richard W. Painter, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis; Roger Pielke Jr., University of Colorado, Boulder; and Scott Walter, Capital Research Center, Washington, D.C.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of Joel Matthew Szabat, of Maryland, Anthony Rosario Coscia, of New Jersey, and Christopher Koos, of Illinois, each to be a Director of the Amtrak Board of Directors, and Alvin Brown, of Florida, to be a Member of the National Transportation Safety Board, who was introduced by Senator Scott (FL), after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
NATIONAL PARKS LEGISLATION
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on National Parks concluded a hearing to examine S. 284, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to include on the engravings on the Taras Shevchenko Memorial in the District of Columbia the name of Vincent Illuzzi, Sr., who carved the statue, S. 351, to designate 6 creeks in the State of North Carolina in honor of the lives lost in a plane crash in Carteret County, North Carolina, on February 13, 2022, S. 384, to establish the Springfield 1908 Race Riot National Monument in the State of Illinois, S. 432, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to designate the Nulhegan River and Paul Stream in the State of Vermont for potential addition to the national wild and scenic rivers system, S. 507, to establish the Ralph David Abernathy, Sr., National Historic Site, S. 527, to establish the African Burial Ground International Memorial Museum and Educational Center in New York, New York, S. 562, to establish the Emmett Till and Mamie Till-Mobley and Roberts Temple National Historic Site in the State of Illinois, S. 594, to require the Secretary of Agriculture and the Secretary of the Interior to prioritize the completion of the Continental Divide National Scenic Trail, S. 608, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a study of the Deerfield River for potential addition to the national wild and scenic rivers system, S. 886, to authorize the location of a monument on the National Mall to commemorate and honor the women's suffrage movement and the passage of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, S. 924, to amend the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal Development Act to extend the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal National Historical Park Commission, S. 961, to redesignate the Salem Maritime National Historic Site in Salem, Massachusetts, as the ``Salem Maritime National Historic Park'', S. 1059, to adjust the boundary of Big Bend National Park in the State of Texas, S. 1097, to establish the Cesar E. Chavez and the Farmworker Movement National Historical Park in the States of California and Arizona, S. 1277, to modify the boundary of the Mammoth Cave National Park in the State of Kentucky, and S. 2018, to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an assessment to identify locations in National Parks in which there is the greatest need for broadband internet access service and areas in National Parks in which there is the greatest need for cellular service, after receiving testimony from Michael A. Caldwell, Associate Director, Park Planning, Facilities, and Lands, National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded a hearing to examine reauthorization of the Economic Development Administration, focusing on state and local perspectives, after receiving testimony from Patricia A. Cannon, Delaware Department of State Division of Small Business Director of Special Projects and Grantee Administrator Foreign Trade Zone No. 99, Dover; Michael R. Graney, West Virginia Department of Economic Development Executive Director, Charleston; Eileen Higgins, Miami-Dade County Commissioner, Miami, Florida, on behalf of the National Association of Counties; Chris Fetzer, Northern Arizona Council of Governments, Flagstaff; and Bryan Day, Little Rock Port Authority, Little Rock, Arkansas.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the nominations of Kara C. McDonald, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Lithuania, Jack A. Markell, of Delaware, to be Ambassador to the Italian Republic, and to serve concurrently and without additional compensation as Ambassador to the Republic of San Marino, who was introduced by Senator Carper, Dorothy Camille Shea, of North Carolina, to be the Deputy Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador and the Deputy Representative of the United States of America in the Security Council of the United Nations, Vernelle Trim FitzPatrick, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Gabonese Republic, and Lisa Peterson, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Burundi, all of the Department of State, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee ordered favorably reported the following business items:
S. 728, to amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide more effective remedies to victims of discrimination in the payment of wages on the basis of sex;
S. 1664, to allow Americans to earn paid sick time so that they can address their own health needs and the health needs of their families; and
S. 567, to amend the National Labor Relations Act, the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, and the Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act of 1959.
CIVIL RIGHTS OF LGBTQ+ AMERICANS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded a hearing to examine defending the civil rights of LGBTQ+ Americans, after receiving testimony from Kelley Robinson, Human Rights Campaign, Washington, D.C.; Matt Sharp, Alliance Defending Freedom, Atlanta, Georgia; Riley Gaines, Independent Women's Voice, Gallatin, Tennessee; Ximena Lopez, Dallas, Texas; and Harleigh Walker, Auburn, Alabama.
OFFICE OF INTEGRATED VETERAN CARE
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded a hearing to examine the effectiveness of the Office of Integrated Veteran Care, after receiving testimony from Shereef Elnahal, Under Secretary for Health, Miguel H. LaPuz, Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Integrated Veteran Care, and Hillary P. Peabody, Deputy Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Integrated Veteran Care, all of the Veterans Health Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the intelligence community.
Committee recessed subject to the call.