CD111: Fall 2015 Overview

Dec 13, 2015

Three months of Congress condensed into under one hour. In this episode, we take a look at our new laws, some controversial bills, and the most interesting hearings from September, October, and November. This episode is also a call for feedback: Which hearings sound most interesting to you?

 

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Hearings Worth Watching

Please email your top 2 hearing requests to Jen at congressional dish dot com or Tweet them to @JenBriney

• House Ways and Means Committee: Trading Views: TPP Hearing - Environment Chapter, November 17, 2015.

  • Witnesses
    • Dr. Joshua Meltzer, Senior Fellow in Global Economy and Development, Brookings Institution
    • Alexander von Bismarck, Executive Director, Environmental Investigation Agency
    • Ilana Solomon, Responsible Trade Program Director, Sierra Club
    • Dr. Rashid Sumaila, Professor, Fisheries Economics Unit of the University of British Columbia

• House Ways and Means Committee: Trading Views: Real Debates on Key Issues in TPP, December 2, 2015

  • Witnesses:
    • Matt Porterfield, Deputy Director and Adjunct Professor, Harrison Institute, Georgetown University Law Center
    • Ted Posner, Partner, Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
    • Michael Smart, Vice President, Rock Creek Global Advisors LLC
    • Thea Lee, Deputy Chief of Staff, AFL-CIO

• House Committee on Armed Services: Outside Views on the Strategy for Iraq and Syria

  • Witnesses:
    • John McLaughlin, Former Acting Direction of Central Intelligence
    • Ambassador Ryan Crocker, former Ambassador to Syria and Iraq

• House Committee on Foreign Affairs: Charting the Arctic: Security, Economic, and Resource Opportunities, November 17, 2015

  • Witnesses
    • Admiral Robert Papp, Jr., USCG, Retired: U.S. Special Representative for the Arctic, U.S. Department of State
    • Rear Admiral Timothy C. Gallaudet, USN: Oceanographer and NavigatorU.S. Department of Defense
    • Vice Admiral Charles D. Michel, USCG: Vice CommandantU.S. Department of Homeland Security

• Senate Armed Services Committee: The Future of Warfare, November 4, 2015.

  • Witnesses:
    • Keith B. Alexander Director (Former) National Security Agency
    • Bryan Clark Senior Fellow Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments
    • Paul Scharre Senior Fellow and Director Center for a New American Security->20YY Warfare Initiative
    • Peter W. Singer Senior Fellow New America

• House Committee on Agriculture: American Agriculture and Our National Security, November 4, 2015.

  • Witnesses
    • John Negroponte, Vice-Chairman, McLarty Associates
    • Dr. Tammy Beckham: Dean, College of Veterinary Medicine, Kansas State University

• House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform: Examining Law Enforcement Use of Cell Phone Tracking Devices, October 21, 2015

• House Committee on Energy and Commerce: Update on Low Level Radioactive Waste Disposal Issues, October 28, 2015.

  • Witnesses:
    • The Honorable Michael Lumpkin, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations and Low Intensity Conflict
    • The Honorable Matthew Armstrong, Broadcasting Board of Governors
    • Brigadier General Charles Moore, Joint Staff, J-39

• House Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Strategic Petroleum Reserve and Energy Security, October 6, 2015.

• House Committee on Armed Services: Countering Adversarial Propaganda: Charting an Effective Course in the Contested Information Environment, October 22, 2015.

• Committee on Energy & Commerce: Broadcasting Ownership in the 21st Century, September 25, 2015.

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National Emergencies Extended

• National Emergency in respect to Sudan, originally declared in November 1997

• National Emergency in respect to the attacks of September 11, 2001, originally declared on September 14, 2001

• National Emergency in respect to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, originally declared in October 2006.

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Links to Laws, Bills, & Hearings

• November 2015
• October 2015
• September 2015

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Campaign Contribution Info

• Rep. Garland "Andy" Barr of Kentucky
• Rep. French Hill of Arkansas
• Rep. Ann Wagner of Missouri
• Rep. Todd Rokita of Indiana
• Rep. Mark Amodei of Nevada
• Rep. Tom Marino of Pennsylvania
• Rep. Don Young of Alaska
• Rep. Joe Barton of Texas

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Additional Reading

• IMF document: Republic of Congo: Letter of Intent, Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies, and Technical Memorandum of Understanding, International Monetary Fund, June 29, 2006.

• Article: Ward in Congo: U.S. Military will Continue Supporting Security Assistance Activities by Kenneth Fidler, US AFRICOM Public Affairs, April 27, 2009.

• Article: Joseph Kabila and Where the Election in Congo Went Wrong by Mvemba Phezo Dizolele, Foreign Affairs Magazine, November 28, 2011.

• Research Paper: Toward Comprehensive Reform of America's Emergency Law Regime by Patrick Thronson, University of Michigan's Journal of Law Reform, March 23, 2013.

• Article: NSA Snooping Was Only the Beginning. Meet the Spy Chief Leading Us Into CyberWar by James Bamford, Wired Magazine, June 12, 2013.

• Article: U.S. Repeals Propaganda Ban, Spreads Government-Made News to Americans by John Hudson, Foreign Policy Magazine, July 14, 2013.

• Article: Special Report: America's perpetual state of emergency by Gregory Korte, USA Today, October 23, 2014.

• Article: Tiger Resources' Congo copper mine gets $160 million investment Reuters, October 23, 2015.

• Article: Congress Acts to Avoid Commuter Rail Shutdown by Daniel Vock, Governing, October 29, 2015.

• Article: The Best Way to Prevent Drunk Driving? That's Debatable by Daniel Vock, Governing, November 17, 2015.

• Article: Congress approves $305B highway bill by Bart Jansen, USA Today, December 3, 2015.

• Article: After a Decade, Congress Passes Transportation Funding by Daniel Vock, GovTech.com, December 3, 2015.

• Article: Cyber bill's final language likely to anger privacy advocates by Cory Bennett, The Hill, December 7, 2015.

• Website: Private, For-Profit Demo Project for the Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE), Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

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Music Presented in This Episode

• Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

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Cover Art

Design by Only Child Imaginations