[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 46 (Monday, April 25, 1994)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: April 25, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
                         NATIONAL LIBRARY WEEK

                                 ______


                         HON. THOMAS J. MANTON

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Monday, April 25, 1994

  Mr. MANTON. Mr. Speaker, this week we celebrate ``National Library 
Week 1994.'' Our libraries serve as the caretakers of our history, 
preserving the memories of our cities and communities. By taking 
advantage of the countless services and resources that libraries have 
to offer, we can continue to challenge our minds and imagination.
  Our public libraries, however, are struggling to survive, as 
financial assistance decreases. I would like to share an article from 
the April 1994, edition of the Reader's Digest, entitled ``How Stupid 
Can We Get?'' by William Ecenbarger. This article discusses the 
financial constraints that libraries are faced with even though there 
has been a 30-percent increase in the number of users since 1980, as 
the article states.
  The article talks about the Queens Borough Public Library in my 
district, the second busiest library in the country, and how vitally 
important it is to the 2,000-4,000 visitors it has each day. These 
visitors range from children who will attend storybook hour, to 
immigrants who will attend English class, to young adults who will 
attend amateur drama group. For generations, Queens Public Library has 
served as a link to a future for so many people--especially immigrants 
and students. We must keep our libraries fully funded so as not to lose 
the valuable resources that our libraries offer.
  The article follows:

                         How Stupid Can We Get?

                        (By William Ecenbarger)

       At the Sunflower County Public Library in rural 
     northwestern Mississippi, a grade-school boy opens entitled 
     Tomorrow--the Moon. The introduction reads: ``Eventually man 
     may be able to land on the moon and really explore it.'' The 
     book was published in 1959.
       For the past few years, the Owsley County Library in the 
     Appalachian Mountains of Kentucky has run out of money before 
     the end of the fiscal year. Each time, librarian Joyce Marcum 
     has had to wait several months until the start of the new 
     fiscal year before her salary can be paid.
       Many of the nation's more than 15,000 libraries are 
     suffering from financial distress; hours shortened, staff 
     reduced, book-buying curtailed, magazine subscriptions 
     canceled, long lines at checkouts and computer terminals. And 
     sometimes, even shuttered libraries.
       Last year 25 public libraries closed in California, and in 
     Massachusetts 27 library branches have closed in the past 
     four years. The trend is nationwide and affects all sorts of 
     neighborhoods--rich and poor; rural, urban, suburban.
       What in the name of Benjamin Franklin is going on here?
       Hardly anyone is against libraries. The problem is often 
     lack of information on the part of patrons, and 
     misunderstanding on the part of public officials responsible 
     for providing library funds. About three of every four 
     library dollars come from local taxes. (The rest is from 
     state, federal and private sources.) This local control 
     enables each community to determine what kind of library 
     it wants, but it also puts libraries in competition for 
     tax dollars with such municipal services as police and 
     fire protection.
       As a result, the public library--an American tradition 
     almost as old as the flag, one of the greatest democratic 
     institutions ever created and the envy of other nations--is 
     struggling to survive. This, just when jobseekers, students 
     and immigrants have pushed library use to an all time high. 
     About 1.4 billion items--books, audio cassettes, films, 
     computer software--were borrowed at U.S. public libraries 
     last year, a 30-percent increase over 1980.


                          no english, no work.

       To enable its children to compete in a complex world, 
     America desperately needs improvements in its education 
     system. Yet, here we are removing some of the most basic 
     tools. ``Ours has been a country where no child, regardless 
     of economic circumstance, need grow up without books, but 
     today we are in danger of losing that tradition,'' contends 
     Hardy R. Franklin, president of the American Library 
     Association.
       The Queens Borough Public Library in New York City, with 62 
     branches, is the second-busiest system in the United States 
     after the Los Angeles County Public Library. Between 2000 and 
     4000 people--men in business suits, Indian women in bright 
     saris, jean-clad adolescents--come to its main branch every 
     day. In addition to the usual activities, there's a story-
     book hour for three- to five- year-olds, classes in sign 
     language, an amateur drama group, literacy and English for 
     immigrants.
       Historically, few groups have benefited more from the 
     American free public library than immigrants. It has been 
     their bootstrap for generations. For many of them today, the 
     Queens Library provides an introduction to the language and 
     culture of America.
       When Elise Gbado came to Queens from the African nation of 
     Benin five years ago, English was incomprehensible to her. So 
     when a new English class was announced by the library, she 
     got in line at noon and waited until 6 p.m. to enroll. ``This 
     is very important for me,'' she says, ``because in America, 
     `No English, no work.'''
       Last year the library taught English to nearly 3000 
     students, representing 82 nations and 51 languages. There are 
     hundreds of others who desperately want to enroll but can't. 
     There's not enough money to hire teachers and train staff.
       Other signs of financial trouble in Queens abound. There 
     are gaping spaces on magazine racks from unrenewed 
     subscriptions. Most branches are closed on Sundays, and there 
     are long waits on Saturdays to check out books. With so many 
     school libraries in Queens closed, when a teacher assigns 
     reading, 30 children may show up asking for the same book. 
     But there are only a few copies, and the book budget has run 
     dry.


                        grateful ``uncle andy''

       Public libraries are an American invention. Benjamin 
     Franklin organized a subscription library that pooled the 
     books of Philadelphia residents in 1731; this was the 
     forerunner of today's public library. During the American 
     Revolution, the idea of allowing ordinary citizens to take 
     books home blossomed.
       The first free public library supported by taxation was 
     established at Peterborough, N.H., in 1833, and by the time 
     of the national centennial there were nearly 4000 public 
     libraries in the country. In 1887 Minerva Sanders, a 
     librarian in Pawtucket, R.I., welcomed boys and girls under 
     age 14, who were not allowed in libraries at the time, to the 
     first children's reading room.
       James Anderson of Allegheny, Pa., made his 400-volume 
     library available to boys who worked in the town, one of whom 
     was a telegraph messenger named Andrew Carnegie. After he 
     became a steel baron, a grateful Carnegie donated some $50 
     million for public-library construction. Bequests from 
     ``Uncle Andy'' helped to sprinkle more than 2500 libraries 
     around the world.
       Today libraries are everywhere. There's one in a Cleveland-
     area shopping mall, a commuter train station in Atlanta and a 
     supermarket in Wichita, Kan. And wherever they are, their 
     mission is the same--to make information accessible and 
     affordable. Too many libraries, however, spend more time 
     balancing the books than lending them.
       ``Our big problem is that there aren't enough books, and 
     many are outdated,'' says Mississippi's Sunflower County 
     library director Anice Powell. She estimates that of the 
     100,000 books in the Sunflower collection, one-third should 
     be discarded either because they are ragged with missing 
     pages or are obsolete. Current holdings include Getting to 
     Know the Two Chinas (1960) and Life Saving and Water Safety 
     (1937). ``And we have so few science books that we can't lend 
     them out at all,'' she says.
       Between 1977 and 1992, the average price of an adult 
     hardcover book more than doubled, from about $19 to $45, as 
     did the average yearly subscription price of magazines. 
     Powell's annual book-buying budget is $8000; she has $4000 
     for magazine subscriptions. ``I'm always juggling money from 
     one account to the other,'' she says. Last year she had to 
     cancel subscriptions to five major publications, and she 
     can't get any children's magazines.
       ``I'm distressed about this,'' she adds. ``Reading during 
     the early years determines whether a child will grow up to be 
     a literate adult.'' Nearly half of all adults in her country 
     are illiterate, and fewer than half the children finish high 
     school.
       The financial crunch has caused larger libraries to buy 
     fewer copies of books, too. At the Pasadena, Calif., Public 
     Library, for example, recently there were 255 patrons on the 
     waiting list for John Grisham's Pelican Brief.


                            no double system

       In addition to books and magazines, computers are a 
     powerful ally for the information seeker. New technologies in 
     data storage and retrieval have enabled public libraries to 
     perform research services unimagined a generation ago. 
     Infotrac and other on-line-article research databases are 
     faster and more up-to-date than the standard book references.
       Some critics suggest that expensive on-line databases have 
     no place in a public library. Yet for libraries to ignore the 
     research capability of the computer is to create in America a 
     double system of information access--one of awesome power for 
     the privileged, the other an obsolete research tool for the 
     not-so-privileged.
       Daniel Cleary, manager of the business, science and 
     technology section of the Queens Borough Public Library, says 
     he has been forced to cancel indexes in the fields of 
     biology, chemistry and math. ``We're hurting our students,'' 
     he warns. ``The public library is the only place where 
     everyone has access to this kind of information.''
       All the more so because many U.S. public schools no longer 
     have libraries--and if they do, their collections often are 
     substandard. How important are school libraries? Students 
     from schools with strong libraries score higher on tests, 
     according to a 1993 study by the Colorado Department of 
     Education. Yet in California, the number of school libraries 
     has decreased by half since 1986.


                           every voice counts

       How can we reverse our libraries' decline? ``The most 
     important thing is for patrons to go to their elected 
     officials and demand something be done,'' says Anice Powell. 
     The American Library Association agrees. ``Politicians do 
     respond when citizens speak out--it's just that sometimes you 
     have to speak very loudly,'' says Hardy Franklin.
       One such effort to deter library cuts occurred this year in 
     Philadelphia when Mayor Edward G. Rendell proposed to save $2 
     million by halving hours at ten branches of the Free Library 
     of Philadelphia. A massive letter-writing, petition and 
     phonecall campaign descended on the mayor and city council. 
     Library supporters rallied in front of the central library. 
     In the end, half the funds were restored, and some of the 
     service cuts never materialized.
       Similarly, an outraged citizenry in Chicago was able to get 
     nearly $3 million in cuts in library funding restored. In 
     Brooklyn, N.Y., incensed library patrons lobbied city 
     government for funding to open 46 of 58 branches five days a 
     week that had been cut to 14 to 16 hours a week.
       A secure source of funding independent of politicians, such 
     as tax revenues and bond issues linked specifically to 
     libraries, is also important. Ohio has a portion of its state 
     income tax set aside for libraries, and libraries there are 
     doing well.
       Indeed, the evidence is strong that the public will support 
     spending for libraries. Last year in Pasadena, Calif., voters 
     approved by a 4-to-1 margin a five-year library-tax levy of 
     $20 per year on each single-family residence, $13 on each 
     apartment unit and $147 for each business parcel.
       Today libraries are more important than ever because 
     reading is still the most basic survival skill in our 
     information-driven society. For children from homes where the 
     only book is the telephone book, the library is their one 
     great hope.
       Author James Michener says, ``Libraries represent an 
     individual's right to acquire knowledge. Without libraries, I 
     would be a pauper, intellectually and spiritually.''
       Do we want to make future generations such paupers? How 
     stupid can we get?
  


                       SENATE COMMITTEE MEETINGS

  Title IV of Senate Resolution 4, agreed to by the Senate on February 
4, 1977, calls for establishment of a system for a computerized 
schedule of all meetings and hearings of Senate committees, 
subcommittees, joint committees, and committees of conference. This 
title requires all such committees to notify the Office of the Senate 
Daily Digest--designated by the Rules Committee--of the time, place, 
and purpose of the meetings, when scheduled, and any cancellations or 
changes in the meetings as they occur.
  As an additional procedure along with the computerization of this 
information, the Office of the Senate Daily Digest will prepare this 
information for printing in the Extensions of Remarks section of the 
Congressional Record on Monday and Wednesday of each week.
  Meetings scheduled for Tuesday, April 26, 1994, may be found in the 
Daily Digest of today's Record.

                           MEETINGS SCHEDULED

                                APRIL 28
     9:30 a.m.
       Governmental Affairs
         To resume hearings to examine the impact of unfunded 
           Federal mandates on how State and local governments 
           provide programs, services, and activities, and on 
           related measures including S. 563, S. 648, S. 993, and 
           S. 1604.
                                                            SD-342
       Labor and Human Resources
         To hold joint hearings with the Committee on Labor and 
           Human Resources' Subcommittee on Children, Family, 
           Drugs and Alcoholism on methods for preventing youth 
           violence.
                                                            SD-430
       Rules and Administration
         To resume hearings on S. 1824, to improve the operations 
           of the legislative branch of the Federal Branch, 
           focusing on Subtitle A, Parts I and II of Title III, 
           relating to Congressional biennial budgeting and 
           additional budget process changes.
                                                            SR-301
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Defense Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Department of Defense, focusing on 
           strategic programs.
                                                            SD-192
       Appropriations
       VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Environmental Protection Agency, and 
           the Council on Environmental Quality.
                                                            SD-106
       Appropriations
       Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the United States Information Agency, the 
           Board for International Broadcasting, and the Federal 
           Communications Commission.
                                                    S-146, Capitol
       Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
         To hold hearings on proposed legislation relating to 
           housing and community investment.
                                                            SD-538
       Finance
         To hold hearings to examine the tax treatment of 
           organizations providing health care services, and 
           excise taxes on tobacco products, guns, and ammunition.
                                                            SD-215
       Judiciary
         Business meeting, to consider pending calendar business.
                                                            SD-226
       Labor and Human Resources
       Education, Arts and Humanities Subcommittee
         To resume hearings on S. 1513, authorizing funds for 
           programs of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act 
           of 1965.
                                                            SD-628
     2:00 p.m.
       Appropriations
       Transportation Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Federal Transit Administration, 
           Department of Transportation, and the Washington Metro 
           Transit Authority.
                                                            SD-138
       Armed Services
       Military Readiness and Infrastructure Subcommittee
         To resume hearings on proposed legislation authorizing 
           funds for fiscal year 1995 for the Department of 
           Defense, and the future years defense program, focusing 
           on the Defense Business Operations Fund and the 
           military construction program.
                                                           SR-232A
       Energy and Natural Resources
       Public Lands, National Parks and Forests Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on S. 1549, to revise the act 
           establishing Golden Gate National Recreation Area to 
           provide for the management of the Presidio by the 
           Secretary of the Interior, and S. 1639, to provide for 
           the management of the portions of the Presidio under 
           the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior.
                                                            SD-366
       Judiciary
         To hold hearings on pending nominations.
                                                            SD-226
       Indian Affairs
         To hold oversight hearings on water and sanitation issues 
           in rural Alaska.
                                                            SR-485
     2:30 p.m.
       Appropriations
       Interior Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the 
           Office of Construction Management, both of the 
           Department of the Interior, and the National Indian 
           Gaming Commission.
                                                            SD-116
       Select on Intelligence
         To hold closed hearings on intelligence matters.
                                                            SH-219

                                APRIL 29
     10:00 a.m.
       Finance
       Health for Families and the Uninsured Subcommittee
         To hold hearings to examine health care reform issues, 
           focusing on conusmer protection and quality assurance.
                                                            SD-215
     2:00 p.m.
       Foreign Relations
         To hold hearings on the nominations of Peter R. Chaveas, 
           of Pennsylvania, to be Ambassador to the Republic of 
           Malawi, Edmund T. DeJarnette, Jr., of Virginia, to be 
           Ambassador to the Republic of Angola, Irvin Hicks, of 
           Maryland, to be Ambassador to Ethiopia, Robert Krueger, 
           of Texas, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Burundi, 
           and Johnny Young, of Pennsylvania, to be Ambassador to 
           the Republic of Togo.
                                                            SD-419

                                 MAY 3
     9:30 a.m.
       Armed Services
       Force Requirements and Personnel Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed legislation authorizing 
           funds for fiscal year 1995 for the Department of 
           Defense, and the future years defense program, focusing 
           on Reserve component manpower, personnel, and 
           compensation issues.
                                                            SD-106
       Energy and Natural Resources
         To hold hearings on Boron-Neutron Cancer Therapy.
                                                            SD-366
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies 
           Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for Food and Consumer Services, Food and 
           Nutrition Service, and Human Nutrition Information 
           Service, all of the Department of Agriculture.
                                                            SD-138
       Appropriations
       Defense Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Department of Defense, focusing on 
           defense conversion programs.
                                                            SD-192
       Armed Services
       Regional Defense and Contingency Forces Subcommittee
         To resume hearings on proposed legislation authorizing 
           funds for fiscal year 1995 for the Department of 
           Defense, and the future years defense program, focusing 
           on the Navy investment strategy.
                                                            SR-222
       Commerce, Science, and Transportation
         To hold hearings on the nominations of Rear Adm. Robert 
           E. Kramek, USCG, to be Commandant, and Rear Adm. Arthur 
           E. Henn, USCG, to be Vice Commandant, both of the 
           United States Coast Guard.
                                                            SR-253
       Finance
         To resume hearings to examine health care reform issues, 
           focusing on the classification of workers as employees 
           or independent contractors, and the self-employment tax 
           treatment of partners and S Corporation shareholders.
                                                            SD-215
     10:30 a.m.
       Commerce, Science, and Transportation
         To hold hearings on proposed legislation authorizing 
           funds for the United States Coast Guard.
                                                            SR-253
     2:30 p.m.
       Armed Services
       Nuclear Deterrence, Arms Control, and Defense Intelligence 
           Subcommittee
         To resume hearings on proposed legislation authorizing 
           funds for fiscal year 1995 for the Department of 
           Defense, and the future years defense plan, focusing on 
           the Department of Energy's weapons and materials 
           support and other defense programs.
                                                            SR-222

                                 MAY 4
     9:30 a.m.
       Armed Services
       Military Readiness and Infrastructure Subcommittee
         To resume hearings on proposed legislation authorizing 
           funds for fiscal year 1995 for the Department of 
           Defense, and the future years defense program, focusing 
           on environmental programs and the implementation of the 
           Base Closure Acts.
                                                           SR-232A
       Indian Affairs
         To hold hearings on provisions of H.R. 6 and S. 1513, 
           bills authorizing funds for programs of the Elementary 
           and Secondary Education Act of 1965.
                                                            SR-485
     10:00 a.m.
       Foreign Relations
         Business meeting, to consider pending nominations.
                                                            SD-419
       Veterans' Affairs
         To hold oversight hearings on dangerous exposures in the 
           Persian Gulf War.
                                                            SD-106
     2:00 p.m.
       Commerce, Science, and Transportation
       Merchant Marine Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on S. 1945, to authorize funds for 
           fiscal year 1995 for certain maritime programs of the 
           Department of Transportation.
                                                            SR-253

                                 MAY 5
     9:30 a.m.
       Rules and Administration
         To resume hearings on S. 1824, to improve the operations 
           of the legislative branch of the Federal Branch, 
           focusing on Title III, Subtitle B (Staffing, 
           Administration, and Support Agencies), and Subtitle C 
           (Abolishing the Joint Committees).
                                                            SR-301
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Commerce, Justice, State, and Judiciary Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Legal Services Corporation.
                                                    S-146, Capitol
       Appropriations
       Transportation Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the National Transportation Safety Board, 
           and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 
           Department of Transportation.
                                                            SD-138
     2:00 p.m.
       Energy and Natural Resources
       Public Lands, National Parks and Forests Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on S. 471, to establish a new area study 
           process for proposed additions to the National Parks 
           System, and S. 528, to provide for the transfer of 
           certain United States Forest Service lands located in 
           Lincoln County, Montana, to Lincoln County in the State 
           of Montana.
                                                            SD-366
       Veterans' Affairs
         To hold hearings on proposed legislation to finance 
           veterans health care programs.
                                                            SR-418

                                 MAY 10
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies 
           Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, 
           the Farm Credit Administraion, and the Food and Drug 
           Administration, Department of Health and Human 
           Services.
                                                            SD-138
     2:30 p.m.
       Energy and Natural Resources
       Water and Power Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on the potential role of Federal 
           reclamation projects in meeting the water supply needs 
           of the Colonias in Texas.
                                                            SD-366

                                 MAY 11
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Interior Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the National Park Service, Department of 
           the Interior.
                                                    S-128, Capitol

                                 MAY 12
     9:30 a.m.
       Energy and Natural Resources
         To hold hearings on the Environmental Protection Agency's 
           proposed renewable oxygenate standard.
                                                            SD-366
       Rules and Administration
         To hold hearings on proposed legislation authorizing 
           funds for fiscal year 1995 for the Federal Election 
           Commission.
                                                            SR-301
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Corporation for National and 
           Community Service.
                                                            SD-106

                                 MAY 13
     9:30 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education 
           Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Departments of Labor, Health and 
           Human Services, and Education.
                                                            SD-192

                                 MAY 15
     9:00 a.m.
       Office of Technology Assesment
         Board meeting, to consider pending business.
                                                   EF-100, Capitol

                                 MAY 17
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Defense Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Department of Defense, focusing on 
           the Pacific Rim, NATO, and peacekeeping programs.
                                                            SD-192

                                 MAY 19
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Defense Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Department of Defense.
                                                            SD-192
       Appropriations
       VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Department of Veteran's Affairs, and 
           the Selective Service System.
                                                            SD-106

                                 MAY 20
     9:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Departments of Veteran's Affairs and 
           Housing and Urban Development, and independent 
           agencies.
                                                            SD-138

                                 MAY 25
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Interior Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Department of the Interior.
                                                    S-128, Capitol

                                 MAY 26
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the National Aeronautics and Space 
           Administration.
                                                            SD-106

                                 JUNE 8
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Interior Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
           year 1995 for the Department of Energy.
                                                    S-128, Capitol

                                JULY 19
     10:00 a.m.
       Appropriations
       Defense Subcommittee
         Business meeting, to mark up proposed legislation 
           authorizing funds for fiscal year 1995 for the 
           Department of Defense.
                                                            SD-192

                             CANCELLATIONS

                                 MAY 3
     2:30 p.m.
       Energy and Natural Resources
       Water and Power Subcommittee
         To hold hearings to review the implementation of the 
           Central Valley Project Improvement Act (Title 34 of 
           P.L. 102-575) and the coordination of the program with 
           other Federal protection and restoration efforts in the 
           San Francisco Bay/Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.
                                                            SD-366

                             POSTPONEMENTS

                                APRIL 27
     9:30 a.m.
       Judiciary
       Technology and the Law Subcommittee
         To hold hearings to examine privacy and competitiveness 
           issues in the telecommunications industry, focusing on 
           the Administration's "clipper chip" key escrow 
           encryption program.
                                                            SH-216
     1:30 p.m.
       Labor and Human Resources
       Children, Family, Drugs and Alcoholism Subcommittee
         To hold hearings on emerging issues regarding child 
           abuse.
                                                            SD-430
     2:00 p.m.
       Commerce, Science, and Transportation
         To resume hearings on S. 1350, to provide for an expanded 
           Federal program of hazards mitigation and insurance 
           against the risk of catastrophicnatural disasters, such 
           as hurricanes, earthquakes, and volcanic eruptions.
                                                            SR-253