[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 91 (Wednesday, June 19, 1996)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D640-D641]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Agriculture: Ordered reported the following bills: H.R. 
2670, amended, to provide for the release of the reversionary interest 
held by the United States in certain property located in the County of 
Iosco, MI; H.R. 3387, to designate the Southern Piedmont Conservation 
Research Center located at 1420 Experimental Station Road in 
Watkinsville, Georgia, as the ``J. Phil Campbell, Senior Natural 
Resource Conservation Center;'' H.R. 3464, amended, to make a minor 
adjustment in the exterior boundary of the Devils Backbone Wilderness 
in the Mark Twain National Forest, Missouri, to exclude a small parcel 
of land containing improvements; H.R. 3665, amended, to transfer to the 
Secretary of Agriculture the authority to conduct the census of 
agriculture; and H.R. 1627, amended, Food Quality Protection Act of 
1995.
TRANSPORTATION APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Ordered reported the Transportation 
appropriations for fiscal year 1997.
ELECTRONIC BENEFIT TRANSFER SYSTEMS AND REGULATION
Committee on Banking and Financial Services: Subcommittee on Financial 
Institutions and Consumer Credit held a hearing on Electronic Benefit 
Transfer Systems and Regulation E. Testimony was heard from Ellen Haas, 
Under Secretary, Division of Food, Nutrition and Consumer Service, 
USDA; Edward DeSeve, Comptroller, OMB; Griffith Garwood, Director, 
Division of Consumer and Community Affairs, Federal Reserve System; 
William Kilmartin, Comptroller, State of Massachusetts; and public 
witnesses.
WELFARE AND MEDICAID REFORM ACT
Committee on the Budget: Ordered reported the Welfare and Medicaid 
Reform Act of 1996.
OVERSIGHT
Committee on Commerce: Subcommittee on Energy and Power held an 
oversight hearing on the Status of the International Global Climate 
Change Negotiations. Testimony was heard from Rafe Pomerance, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, Environment and Development, Department of State, 
Marc Chupka, Acting Assistant Secretary, Policy and International 
Affairs, Department of Energy; David Gardiner, Assistant Administrator, 
Office of Policy Planning and Evaluation, EPA; and Jeffrey Hunker, 
Deputy Assistant to the Secretary, Department of Commerce.
WORKER RIGHT TO KNOW ACT
Committee on Economic and Educational Opportunities: Subcommittee on 
Employer-Employee Relations held a hearing on H.R. 3580, Worker Right 
to Know Act. Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
FBI BACKGROUND FILES SECURITY
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight: Held a hearing on 
Security of FBI Background Files. Testimony was heard from the 
following former White House Counsels: C. Boyden Gray; A.B. Culvahouse; 
and Dick Hauser, Deputy Counsel; and the following former officials of 
the Office of Personnel Security: Jane Dannenhauer; and Nancy Gemmell.
ADMINISTRATION'S NONPROLIFERATION POLICY
Committee on International Relations: Held a hearing on the 
Administration's Nonproliferation Policy. Testimony was heard from Lynn 
E. Davis, Under Secretary, Arms Control and International Security 
Affairs, Department of State; and public witnesses.
SOUTHEAST ASIA-U.S. COMMERCIAL INTERESTS
Committee on International Relations: Subcommittee on Asia and the 
Pacific and the Subcommittee on International Economic Policy and Trade 
held a joint hearing on U.S. Commercial Interests in Southeast Asia: 
Tapping the ``Big Merging Markets''. Testimony was heard from public 
witnesses.
FEDERAL RECORD KEEPING AND SEX OFFENDERS
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Crime held a hearing 
regarding federal record keeping and sex offenders. Testimony was heard 
from Representatives Frost, Gutknecht and Zimmer; Harlin R. McEwen, 
Deputy Assistant Director, Criminal Justice Information Services, FBI, 
Department of Justice; and public witnesses.
POW/MIA ISSUES
Committee on National Security: Subcommittee on Military Personnel held 
a hearing on POW/MIA issues. Testimony was heard from Kent M. 
Wiedemann, Deputy Assistant Secretary, East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 
Department of State; James W. Wold, Deputy Assistant Secretary, POW/MIA 
affairs, Department of Defense; and public witnesses.
  Hearings continue tomorrow.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Ordered reported the following bills: H.R. 
3378, to amend the Indian Health Care Improvement Act to extend the 
demonstration program for direct billing of Medicare, Medicaid, and

[[Page D641]]

other third party payors; H.R. 401, amended, Kenai Natives Association 
Equity Act of 1995; H.R. 2941, amended, Housing Improvement Act for 
Land Management Agencies; H.R. 3290, to authorize appropriations for 
the Bureau of Land Management for each of the fiscal years 1997 through 
2002; H.R. 3660; amended, Reclamation Recycling and Water Conservation 
Act of 1996; H.R. 3198, National Geologic Mapping Reauthorization Act 
of 1996; and H.R. 3249, amended, to authorize appropriations for a 
mining institute to develop domestic technogical capabilities for the 
recovery of minerals from the Nation's seabed.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Native American and Insular 
Affairs approved for full Committee action the following bills: H.R. 
3640, to settle a land claim for the Torres Martinez Indian Tribe; H.R. 
3642, California Indian Land Transfer Act; and H.R. 2591, Indian 
Federal Recognition Administrative Procedures Act of 1995.
  Prior to this action, the Subcommittee held a hearing on H.R. 3640. 
Testimony was heard from Representatives Bono and Brown of California; 
Michael Anderson, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs, Bureau of 
Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior; and public witnesses.
VA, HUD, AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, an open rule providing one 
hour of general debate on H.R. 3666, making appropriations for the 
Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and 
for sundry independent agencies, boards, commissions, corporations, and 
offices for fiscal year ending September 30, 1997. The rule waives 
points of order against consideration of the bill for failure to comply 
with clause 2(l)(6) of rule XI (the three-day availability of the 
report), clause 7 of rule XXI (the three-day requirement for 
availability of printed hearings and reports on appropriation bills) 
and section 302(f) of the Budget Act (prohibiting consideration of 
legislation providing budget authority, new entitlement authority, or 
new credit authority in excess of subcommittee's 302(b) allocation for 
such authority).
  The rule waives points of order against provisions in the bill (other 
than sections 204 and 205) for failure to comply with clause 2 of rule 
XXI (prohibiting unauthorized appropriations and legislation on general 
appropriations bills) or clause 6 of rule XXI (prohibiting transfers of 
unobligated balances). The rule provides for the adoption of the 
amendment printed in section 2 of the resolution (to remedy the Budget 
Act violation).
  The rule provides for priority in recognition of those amendments 
that have been preprinted in the Congressional Record. The rule allows 
for the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to postpone votes during 
consideration of the bill, and to reduce to five minutes on a postponed 
question if the vote follows a fifteen minute vote.
  The rule provides that a motion to rise and report the bill to the 
House with such amendments as may have been adopted and shall have 
precedence over a motion to amend, if offered by the Majority Leader or 
a designee after the reading of the final lines of the bill. Finally, 
the rule provides one motion to recommit, with or without instructions. 
Testimony was heard from Representatives Lewis of California; Lazio and 
Stokes.
SAVINGS IN CONSTRUCTION ACT OF 1995
Committee on Science: Subcommittee on Technology approved for full 
Committee action amended H.R. 2779, Savings in Construction Act of 
1995.
AVIATION SAFETY
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on 
Aviation held a hearing on Aviation Safety: Treatment of Families After 
Airline Accidents. Testimony was heard from James E. Hall, Chairman, 
National Transportation Safety Board; Michael Harris, Associate Deputy 
Secretary, Department of Transportation; and public witnesses.
DVA COMPUTER MODERNIZATION
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Subcommittee on Compensation, Pension, 
Insurance and Memorial Affairs held a hearing on the DVA computer 
modernization effort. Testimony was heard from Gene L. Dodaro, 
Assistant Comptroller General, Accounting and Information Management 
Division, GAO; and R. John Vogel, Under Secretary, Benefits, Department 
of Veterans Affairs.
F