[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 33 (Tuesday, March 12, 1996)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D180-D182]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

 Committee Meetings
AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FDA, AND RELATED AGENCIES 
APPROPRIATIONS
 Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural 
Development, FDA, and Related Agencies held appropriation hearing on 
Food and Drug Administration. Testimony was heard from David A. 
Kessler, M.D. Commissioner, FDA, Department of Health and Human 
Services.
 LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, and Education held a hearing on the following: Corporation 
for National and Community Service; Federal Mediation and Conciliation 
Service; Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission; National 
Commission on Libraries; and the National Council on Disability. 
Testimony was heard from Harris Wofford, CEO, Corporation for National 
and Community Service; May Lu Jordan, Chairperson, Federal Mine Safety 
and Health Review Commission; John Calhoun Wells, Director, Federal 
Mediation and Conciliation Service; Jeanne Hurley Simon, Chairperson, 
National Commission on Libraries; and Kate Pew Wolters, member and 
Chairperson, Committee on Finance, National Council on Disability.
TRANSPORTATION APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Transportation held a 
hearing on the Coast Guard. Testimony was heard from Adm. Robert E. 
Kramek, USCG, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, Department of 
Transportation.
TREASURY, POSTAL SERVICE, AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service, 
and General Government held a hearing on developments in financial law 
enforcement. Testimony was heard from the following officials of the 
Department of the Treasury: Eljay B. Bowron, Director, U.S. Secret 
Service; John W. Magaw, Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and 
Firearms; Charles F. Rinkevich, Director, Federal Law Enforcement 
Training Center; Donald K. Vogel, Assistant Commissioner, Criminal 
Investigation, IRS; and Stanley E. Morris, Director, Financial Crimes 
Enforcement Network.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES; COMMITTEE BUSINESS
Committee on House Oversight: Ordered reported the following measures: 
H. Res. 377, providing amounts

[[Page D181]]

for further expenses of the Committee on Standards of Office Conduct in 
the second session of the 104th Congress; a resolution adopting 
regulations implementing Congressional Accountability Act (House); a 
resolution adopting regulations implementing Congressional 
Accountability Act (other entities); H.R. 3058, to amend the Uniformed 
and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act to extend the period for 
receipt of absentee ballots; and S. Con. Res. 34, to authorize the 
printing of ``Vice Presidents of the United States, 1789-1993.''
  The Committee also approved other pending Committee business.
PLO COMMITMENT COMPLIANCE--TERRORIST THREAT TO ISRAEL
Committee on International Relations: Held a hearing on PLO Commitment 
Compliance and the Terrorist Threat to Israel. Testimony was heard from 
Robert H. Pelletreau, Assistant Secretary, Near East and South Asian 
Affairs, Department of State; and public witnesses.
REAUTHORIZING EXPORT ASSISTANCE PROGRAMS
Committee on International Relations: Subcommittee on International 
Economic Policy and Trade held a hearing on exports, growth and jobs 
and reauthorizing Federal Export Assistance programs. Testimony was 
heard from public witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on the Judiciary: Ordered reported the following bills: H.R. 
2925, Antitrust Health Care Advancement Act of 1996; H.R. 2937, 
amended, for the reimbursement of legal expenses and related fees 
incurred by former employees of the White House Travel Office with 
respect to the termination of their employment in that Office on May 
19, 1993; H.R. 2511, Anticounterfeiting Consumer Protection Act of 
1995; H.R. 1861, amended, to make technical corrections in the 
Satellite Home Viewer Act of 1994 and other provisions of title 17, 
United States Code; H.R. 1734, amended, National Film Preservation Act 
of 1995; H.R. 2977, Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996; H.J. 
Res. 129, granting the consent of Congress to the Vermont-New Hampshire 
Interstate Public Water Supply Compact; and H.R. 2604, to amend title 
28, United States Code, to authorize the appointment of additional 
bankruptcy judges.
  The Committee also approved the following: private claims bills; and 
its Budget Views and Estimates for submission to the Committee on the 
Budget.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION
Committee on National Security: Subcommittee on Military Personnel 
continued hearings on the fiscal year 1997 national defense 
authorization request, receiving a quality-of-life and compensation 
review. Testimony was heard from the following officials of the 
Department of Defense: Frederick Pang, Assistant Secretary, Force 
Management Policy; Lt. Gen. Theodore G. Stroup, Jr., USA, Deputy Chief 
of Staff, Personnel, Department of the Army; VAdm. Frank L. Bowman, 
USN, Chief of Naval Personnel, Department of the Navy; Lt. Gen. George 
R. Christmas, USMC, Deputy Chief of Staff, Manpower and Reserve 
Affairs, U.S. Marine Corps; and Lt. Gen. Michael D. McGinty, USAF, 
Deputy Chief of Staff, Personnel, Department of the Air Force; John W. 
Marsh, Jr., former Secretary of the Army and Chairman, Task Force on 
Quality of Life; and Adm. William D. Smith, USN (Ret.), Senior Fellow, 
Center for Naval Analysis.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION
Committee on National Security: Subcommittee on Military Procurement 
began hearings on the fiscal year 1997 national defense authorization 
request, with emphasis on the Department of Energy budget. Testimony 
was heard from the following officials of the Department of Energy: 
Charles Curtis, Deputy Secretary; Victor Reis, Assistant Secretary, 
Defense Programs; and John Rohlfing, Director, Office of 
Nonproliferation and National Security; Harold Smith, Jr., Assistant to 
the Secretary, Nuclear, Chemical, and Biological Matters, Department of 
Defense; and the following Directors, National Laboratories: Sig 
Hecker, Los Alamos; Bruce Tarter, Lawrence Livermore; and Paul 
Robinson, President and Director, Sandia.
DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION
Committee on National Security: Subcommittee on Military Research and 
Development continued hearings in the fiscal year 1997 national defense 
authorization request, with emphasis on the chemical-biological defense 
program and response to urban terrorism. Testimony was heard from the 
following officials of the Department of Defense: Ted Prociv, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, Chemical and Biological Matters; Maj. Gen. George 
E. Friel, USA, Commander, U.S. Army Chemical and Biological Defense 
Command; RAdm. Scott A. Frey, USN, Deputy Director, Strategy and 
Policy, Joint Staff; and Brig. Gen. Thomas E. Swain, USA, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, Missions and Applications, Office of the Assistant 
Secretary, Special Operations/Low Intensity Conflict; G. Clay 
Hollister, Deputy Associate Director, Response and Recovery, FEMA; 
Robert Blitzer, Acting Section

[[Page D182]]

Chief, Domestic Terrorism, FBI, Department of Fire and Rescue Services, 
State of Maryland.
EFFECTIVE DEATH PENALTY AND PUBLIC SAFETY ACT
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, a modified closed rule on 
H.R. 2703, the Effective Death Penalty and Public Safety Act of 1996, 
providing one hour of general debate divided equally between the 
chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary. 
The rule provides for the consideration of only those amendments 
printed in the report of the Committee on Rules, which shall be 
considered only in the order printed in the report, may be offered only 
by a Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, 
shall be debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided 
and controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject 
to amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for a division of 
the question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. The rule 
waives all points of order against the amendments printed in the 
report. The rule allows the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to 
postpone votes during consideration of the bill, and allows the 
Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to reduce votes to five minutes 
on a postponed question if the vote follows a fifteen minute vote. The 
rule provides one motion to recommit, with or without instructions. It 
shall be in order at any time for the Chairman of the Committee on the 
Judiciary or a designee to offer amendments en bloc consisting of 
amendments not previously disposed of which are printed in the report 
of the Committee on Rules or germane modifications thereof. The rule 
provides that amendments offered en bloc shall be considered as read 
(except that modifications shall be reported), and shall be debatable 
for 20 minutes equally divided between the chairman and ranking 
minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary or their designee. 
The rule permits the original proponent of an amendment included in an 
en bloc amendment to insert a statement in the Congressional Record 
immediately prior to the disposition of the amendments en bloc. The 
rule provides that after passage of H.R. 2703, it shall be in order to 
take S. 735 from the Speaker's table and consider it in the House. The 
rule allows for a motion to strike all after the enacting clause of the 
Senate bill and insert the text of H.R. 2703 as passed by the House. 
Finally, the rule provides that it shall be in order to move that the 
House insist in its amendment(s) to S. 735 and request a conference.
  Testimony was heard from Representatives McCollum, Schiff, Bryant of 
Tennessee, Barr, Burton of Indiana, Cunningham, Bachus, Bartlett of 
Maryland, Horn, Istook, Manzullo, Quinn, Martini, Salmon, Conyers, 
Frank of Massachusetts, Schumer, Nadler, Watt of North Carolina, 
Jackson-Lee, Markey, Hoyer, Traficant, Skaggs, Slaughter, DeLauro, 
Hastings of Florida, and Stupak.
OVERSIGHT--RAIL SAFETY
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on 
Railroads continued oversight hearings on Rail Safety: Equipment and 
FRA Regulatory Procedures. Testimony was heard from Jolene Molitoris, 
Administrator, Federal Railroad Administration, Department of 
Transportation; James E. Hall, Chairman, National Transportation Safety 
Board; Dennis Sullivan, Chief Operating Officer, National Railroad 
Passenger Corporation (AMTRAK); and public witnesses.
POVERTY CAUSES--OUT-OF-WEDLOCK BIRTHS
Committee on Ways and Means: Subcommittee on Human Resources held a 
hearing on the causes of poverty, with a focus on out-of-wedlock 
births. Testimony was heard from Representatives Rangel, Talent, 
Hutchinson and Clayton; and public witnesses.
NRO FORWARDING FUND
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Met in executive session to 
hold a hearing on NRO forward funding. Testimony was heard from 
departmental witnesses.