Assessing the Biden Administration’s U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa
Chair Gregory Meeks
Witnesses:- Molly Phee, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of African Affairs, U.S. Department of State
- Monde Muyangwa, Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Africa, U.S. Agency for International Development
Nominations of Stephen Owens to be Chairperson and Catherine Sandoval to be Member of the Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigations Board
Steve Owens was nominated by President Joseph Biden to the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board on April 29, 2021 and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on December 9, 2021. He began his post on February 3, 2022.
Owens practiced environmental, safety and health law in Phoenix, Arizona, focusing on the safe production, management, distribution and use of chemicals and chemical safety regulations and requirements, prior to joining the CSB.
During his appointment under the Obama-Biden Administration, Owens served as the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Assistant Administrator for the Office of Chemical Safety and Pollution Prevention (OCSPP), appointed by President Barack Obama. Owens managed EPA’s chemical regulatory and scientific programs under the Toxic Substances Control Act and other statutes, and, among other initiatives, made increased transparency for chemical information and expanded public access to health and safety data on chemicals a top priority.
Prior to joining EPA, Owens was Director of the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality, where he oversaw the department’s policies and regulations relating to chemical safety and hazardous substances, including the department’s role in responding to chemical hazards and other emergency situations. During his tenure, the department increased its emergency response capabilities and worked to ensure the security of potentially at-risk chemical facilities and other critical infrastructure in the State.
Owens was appointed to the Joint Public Advisory Committee (JPAC) of the North American Commission on Environmental Cooperation (CEC), by President William Clinton and served on EPA’s Clean Air Act Advisory Committee and EPA’s Children’s Health Protection Advisory Committee. Owens also served as President of the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), the national association of state environmental agency directors.
Owens began his career as Counsel to the Investigations and Oversight Subcommittee of the U.S. House Science & Technology Committee, chaired by then-U.S. Representative Al Gore. Owens later served as Chief Counsel and then State Director for Senator Gore in the U.S. Senate. Owens graduated with honors from Brown University and received his law degree from Vanderbilt Law School, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the Vanderbilt Law Review.
Professor Catherine J.K. Sandoval is well known in the world of academia for her research on telecommunications, antitrust, energy, and contract issues. She is a tenured member of the Santa Clara University School of Law faculty which she joined in 2004. She has had extensive experience as a leader in numerous government organizations, as well as in the private sector. In January 2011 Governor Brown appointed Professor Sandoval to serve as a Commissioner at the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) which regulates energy, water, telecommunications, and rail services in California. The California State Senate unanimously confirmed her to serve in that post. During her term as a CPUC Commission, she was appointed by the Federal Communications Commission to the Federal-State Joint Conference on Advanced Telecommunications Services. She served as Co-Vice Chair of the Telecommunications Committee of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Prior to joining the academy, Governor Davis appointed her to serve as Undersecretary and previously as Staff Director of California’s Business Transportation and Housing Agency from 2001 to 2003. In that post she oversaw a wide variety of legal and policy matters affecting California’s infrastructure and economy, and advised the Secretary on energy, communications, and housing policy.
She has written numerous articles on Communications Law, Antitrust Law, Energy Law, and Contracts issues. In 2010 she won the SCU Public Interest and Social Justice Achievement Award in recognition of her legal scholarship.
Professor Sandoval was the Director for the Santa Clara Law Oxford University Summer Law Program in 2018. She twice served as the Director for Santa Clara Law’s Summer Program on Human Rights Law in San Jose Costa Rica.
Prior to joining the Santa Clara Law faculty, Professor Sandoval served as the Undersecretary, and previously as the Staff Director of the State of California’s 47,000-employee Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency. From 1994-1999 she was a senior manager at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and was the Director of the FCC’s Office of Communications Business Opportunities. She helped develop the FCC’s first spectrum auctions, worked on spectrum policy, and initiatives to increase opportunities for Internet, broadcast, and telecommunications service. In the private sector, she was the Vice-President and General Counsel of Z-Spanish Media Corporation, providing legal advice on media mergers and acquisitions, FCC regulatory matters, and Department of Justice merger approval. At the Law Offices of Munger, Tolles & Olson, Sandoval was an associate, focusing on business litigation including securities, contract, and labor matters. She clerked for Judge Dorothy W. Nelson on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals from 1990-1991.
Sandoval attended Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, the first Latina in the nation to receive this honor. She graduated magna cum laude from Yale University, earned an M. Litt. in Politics at Oxford, and a J.D. at Stanford Law School where she served on the Stanford Law Review. She hails from East Los Angeles and lives with her family in the Silicon Valley.
Vote on Richard Revesz to be Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget, and other matters
Business meeting to vote on nominees Richard Revesz and Robert Schriver; their confirmation hearing was on September 29th.
Nominations- Robert H. Shriver III to be Deputy Director, Office of Personnel Management;
- Richard “Ricky” Revesz to be Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, Office of Management and Budget
- H.R. 884, National Aviation Preparedness Plan Act of 2022.
- H.R. 3175, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 135 Main Street in Biloxi, Mississippi, as the “Robert S. McKeithen Post Office Building.
Indian water rights and other legislation
Business meeting to consider:
- S. 3168, A bill to amend the White Mountain Apache Tribe Water Rights Quantification Act of 2010 to modify the enforceability date for certain provisions, and for other purposes
- S. 3308, Colorado River Indian Tribes Water Resiliency Act of 2021
- S. 4104, Hualapai Tribe Water Rights Settlement Act of 2022
- S. ___, To amend the Not Invisible Act of 2019 to extend, and provide additional support for, the activities of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice Joint Commission on Reducing Violent Crime Against Indians, and for other purposes. (FLO22B41, to be introduced)
- S. 4870, Tule River Tribe Reserved Water Rights Settlement Act of 2022
- S. 4896, Pueblos of Jemez and Zia Water Rights Settlement Act of 2022
- S. 4898, Pueblos of Acoma and Laguna Water Rights Settlement Act of 2022
Soccer in a Warming World Workshop
Join the Columbia Climate School Office of Research and Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory for this hybrid, half-day workshop to address questions about how climate change will affect the way soccer is played, and the health and performance of soccer players worldwide.
Co-hosted by Co-Founding Dean for Research, Dr. Maureen Raymo and World Cup winning member of the US Women’s National Team, Samantha Mewis, this workshop will feature short talks from Columbia researchers, followed by small panel discussions and Q&A.
A light reception in the Monell Lobby will follow.
A Zoom link will be sent to virtual attendees approximately 24 hours prior to the event.
If you have any questions, please email research@climate.columbia.edu.
Tickets are free: RSVP here.
Samantha Mewis is an American professional soccer player who currently plays as a midfielder for the KC Current of the NWSL and the United States Women’s National Team. Mewis is considered one of the best midfielders in the world, having won 3 NWSL titles, a FIFA World Cup and was named the #1 Player in the World by ESPNFC in 2021.
The Nation's Water Affordability Crisis: A Call to Action
The Water Equity and Climate Resilience (WECR) Caucus invites you to an online congressional briefing on addressing the nation’s water affordability crisis through establishing a permanent, national low-income water assistance program. The conversation will feature special guest Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.). We will also be joined by members and allies of the WECR Caucus:
- Monica Lewis Patrick (We the People of Detroit)
- Kyle Jones (Community Water Center)
- Julian Gonzalez (Earthjustice)
- Scott Berry (US Water Alliance)
- Tony Parrott (Louisville MSD)
Markup of H.Res. 1378, Inquiry relating to Resolution Copper mine
On Wednesday, November 16, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. ET in 1324 Longworth Hearing Room and via Webex, and livestreamed on the Committee’s YouTube page, the Committee on Natural Resources will meet to consider the following measure:
- H.Res. 1378 (Rep. Paul A. Gosar), Of inquiry requesting the President and directing the Secretary of Agriculture to transmit, respectively, certain documents to the House of Representatives relating to Resolution Copper mine.
Nominations of Moshe Marvit to the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission and others
A business meeting to vote on the following nominations.
Nominations:- Karla Gilbride to be General Counsel, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Jessica Looman to be Administrator, Wage and Hour Division, Department of Labor
- Moshe Marvit to be a Member of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission
Russia's Waning Global Influence
Chair William R. Keating
Witnesses:- Ernest J. Moniz, CEO, Energy Futures Initiative and the Nuclear Threat Initiative; Former U.S. Secretary of Energy
- Heather Conley, President, The German Marshall Fund of the United States
- Daleep Singh, Chief Global Economist, PGIM Fixed Income; Former Deputy National Security Advisor for International Economics
Farm Bill 2023: Rural Development and Energy Programs
- Xochitl Torres Small, Under Secretary for Rural Development, United States Department of Agriculture