[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 63 (Wednesday, April 5, 1995)] [Daily Digest] [Pages D480-D483] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] Committee Meetings (Committees not listed did not meet) APPROPRIATIONS--NASA Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies held hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 1996 for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, [[Page D481]] receiving testimony from Daniel S. Goldin, Administrator, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Subcommittee will meet again on Wednesday, May 3. APPROPRIATIONS--AGRICULTURE Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, and Related Agencies held hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 1996 for the Department of Agriculture, receiving testimony in behalf of funds for their respective activities from Floyd P. Horn, Acting Under Secretary, Research, Education, and Economics; R. D. Plowman, Administrator, Agricultural Research Service; William Carlson, Acting Administrator, Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, John C. Dunmore, Acting Administrator, Economic Research Service; Donald Bay, Administrator, National Agricultural Statistics Service; and Michael L. Young, Director, Budget Control and Analysis Division, all of the Department of Agriculture. Subcommittee will meet again on Wednesday, April 26. APPROPRIATIONS--INS/BUREAU OF PRISONS Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, and the Judiciary held hearing on proposed budget estimates for the Department of Justice, receiving testimony in behalf of funds for their respective activities from Doris Meissner, Commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service, and Kathleen Hawk, Director, Federal Bureau of Prisons, both of the Department of Justice. Subcommittee will meet again tomorrow. APPROPRIATIONS--FAA Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Transportation held hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 1996 for the Federal Aviation Administration, receiving testimony from David Russell Hinson, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration, Department of Transportation. Subcommittee will meet again on Thursday, April 27. AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Personnel resumed hearings on proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1996 for the Department of Defense and the future years defense program, focusing on the Department of Defense Quality of Life Programs, receiving testimony from Frederick F.Y. Pang, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management Policy; Gen. John H. Tilelli, Jr., USA, Vice Chief of Army Staff; Adm. Stanley R. Arthur, USN, Vice Chief of Naval Operations; Lt. Gen. Billy J. Boles, USAF, Vice Commander, Air Education and Training Command, U.S. Air Force; Gen. Richard D. Hearney, USMC, Assistant Commandant, U.S. Marine Corps; and Col. Paul W. Aracari, USAF (Ret.), and Lt. Commander Virginia M. Torsch, USNR, both of The Retired Officers Association, Sgt. Maj. Michael F. Quellette, USA (Ret.), The Non-Commissioned Officers Association, and Sydney T. Hickey, National Military Family Association, all of Alexandria, Virginia. Subcommittee recessed subject to call. NATO Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Airland Forces held hearings on the future of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), receiving testimony from Walter B. Slocombe, Under Secretary of Defense for Policy; Lt. Gen. Wesley K. Clark, USA, Director for Strategic Plans and Policy (J-5), Office of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Richard Holbrooke, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs. Subcommittee recessed subject to call. FEDERAL FOREST MANAGEMENT Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Forest and Public Land Management resumed oversight hearings to review Federal forest management issues, focusing on the status of national forest plan revisions and the Administration's development of ecoregion-based biological assessments, receiving testimony from Jack Ward Thomas, Chief, Gray Reynolds, Deputy Chief, National Forest System; Jim Perry, Office of General Counsel; Chris Risbrudt, Acting Director, Ecosystem Management; Jeff Blackwood and Steven Mealey, Directors, Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project; Forrest Carpenter, Director, Southern Appalachian Assessment; and James Space, Director, Sierra Nevada Assessment, all of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture; Mark Rasmussen, Timber Data Company, Eugene, Oregon; Michael Anderson, Seattle, Washington, and Louis Blumberg, San Francisco, California, both of The Wilderness Society; Jeff Kessler, Biodiversity Associates, Laramie, Wyoming; James C. Geisinger, Northwest Forestry Association, and Rick Brown, National Wildlife Federation, both of Portland, Oregon; Bill Snyder, Fibreboard Corporation, Standard, California; Dave Van De Graaff, Boise Cascade Corporation, Emmett, Idaho; Jack Swanner, T & S Hardwoods, Sylva, North Carolina; and James E. Loesel, Southern Appalachia Forest Coalition, Roanoke, Virginia. Hearings will continue on Wednesday, April 26. [[Page D482]] SUPERFUND REFORM Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on Superfund, Waste Control, and Risk Assessment resumed oversight hearings on the implementation of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (P.L. 102-426), focusing on Superfund cleanup standards, receiving testimony from Elliott P. Laws, Assistant Administrator, Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Environmental Protection Agency; Curtis C. Travis, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee; Steven J. Milloy, National Environmental Policy Institute, and Linda E. Greer, Natural Resources Defense Council, both of Washington, D.C.; Philip J. O'Brien, New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, Concord; Milton Russell, University of Tennessee, Knoxville; Michael S. Parr, DuPont Company, Wilmington, Delaware, on behalf of the Chemical Manufacturers Association; Richard A. Brown, Groundwater Technology, Inc., Trenton, New Jersey, on behalf of the Biotechnology Industry Organization and Groundwater Technology, Inc.; Robert W. Frantz, General Electric Company, Fairfield, Connecticut; Paul A. Miskimin, Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., Pasadena, California; and Marcia E. Williams, Williams and Vanino, Inc., Los Angeles, California. Hearings were recessed subject to call. TAX REFORM: FLAT TAX Committee on Finance: Committee held hearings to discuss issues relating to flat tax rate proposals, receiving testimony from Senators Mack and Shelby; Alan J. Auerbach, University of California, Berkeley; Bruce Bartlett, National Center for Policy Analysis, Alexandria, Virginia; and Joel B. Slemrod, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Hearings were recessed subject to call. EARNED INCOME TAX CREDIT Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee continued hearings to examine tax refund fraud, focusing on the earned income tax credit and the Internal Revenue Service's efforts to detect and prevent erroneous claims, receiving testimony from Senator Nickles; Leslie B. Samuels, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Policy; Ismael Gonzalez, New York, New York, former Special Assistant United States Attorney; Deborah Walker, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Marvin H. Kosters, American Enterprise Institute, and Robert Greenstein, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, all of Washington, D.C.; George K. Yin, University of Virginia School of Law, Charlottesville; John Karl Scholz, University of Wisconsin, Madison; and Donald R. Huston, Dover, Delaware. Hearings were recessed subject to call. BUSINESS MEETING Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the nominations of Maxine M. Chesney, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of California; Curtis L. Collier, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Tennessee; Eldon E. Fallon, to be United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana; Joseph Robert Goodwin, to be United States District Judge for the Southern District of West Virginia; and Joe Bradley Pigott, to be United States Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi. Also, committee began markup of S. 343, to reform the Federal regulatory process, but did not complete action thereon, and will continue tomorrow. BASEBALL ANTITRUST REFORM Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Antitrust, Business Rights, and Competition approved for full committee consideration S. 627, to require the general application of the antitrust laws to major league baseball. FDA Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee held hearings to examine activities of the Food and Drug Administration, focusing on the challenges and opportunities facing the pharmaceutical, biotech, medical device, and food industries, and FDA's regulation of these industries, receiving testimony from Charles C. Edwards, Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, former Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration; Mark Novitch, George Washington University Medical Center, Washington, D.C., former Acting Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration; Edward M. Scolnick, Merck and Company, Inc., West Point, Pennsylvania; George B. Rathmann, ICOS Corporation, Bothell, Washington; David M. Steinhaus, Mid America Heart Institute, Kansas City, Missouri; and Michael W. Pariza, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Hearings continue tomorrow. INDIAN WELFARE Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded oversight hearings to discuss Federal funding to Indian tribal governments for welfare and social service programs, after receiving testimony from Mary Jo Bane, Assistant Secretary for Children and Families, and George F. Grob, Deputy Inspector General for Evaluation and Inspections, both of the Department of Health and Human Services; New Mexico State Representative Nick Salazar, Santa Fe; Bobby Whitefeather, Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, [[Page D483]] Red Lake, Minnesota; Beltrami County Commissioner Richard P. Florhaug, Bemidji, Minnesota; Harry D. Early, All Indian Pueblo Council, Inc., Albuquerque, New Mexico; Mark Mercier, Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde, Grand Ronde, Oregon; Joan Rebar, Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri, Reserve, Kansas, on behalf of the United Tribes of Kansas and Southeast Nebraska and the Native American Family Services; Thomas E. Atcitty, Navajo Nation, Window Rock, Arizona; and Merle Boyd, Sac and Fox Nation, Stroud, Oklahoma. GUATEMALA Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held hearings to examine United States policy in Guatemala, focusing on allegations of United States involvement in the murders of two individuals in Guatemala, receiving testimony from Alexander F. Watson, Assistant Secretary of State for Inter-American Affairs; Adm. William O. Studeman, Acting Director of Central Intelligence; Col. Allen C. Cornell, USA (Ret.), former United States Defense Attache in Guatemala; and Carole DeVine and Jennifer Harbury, widows of slain individuals. Hearings were recessed subject to call.