[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 129 (Wednesday, September 18, 1996)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D964-D966]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
USDA--TEAM NUTRITION
Commitee on Agriculture: Subcommittee on Department Operations, 
Nutrition, and Foreign Agriculture held a hearing to review contracting 
practices and other activities at the USDA relating to Team Nutrition. 
Testimony was heard from Robert A. Robinson, Director, Food and 
Agriculture Issues, GAO; and Ellen Haas, Under Secretary, Food, 
Nutrition, and Consumer Services, USDA.
SUMITOMO CORPORATION
Committee on Banking and Financial Services: Held a hearing on recent 
events surrounding Sumitomo Corporation. Testimony was heard from 
Representative Schumer; Susan M. Phillips, member, Board of Governors, 
Federal Reserve System; Brooksley E. Born, Chair, Commodity Futures 
Trading Commission; and public witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Commerce: Ordered reported the following bills; H.R. 4012, 
to waive temporarily the Medicare enrollment composition rules for The 
Wellness Plan; H.R. 2923, to extend for 4 additional years the waiver 
granted to the Watts Health Foundation from the membership mix 
requirement for health maintenance organizations participating in the 
Medicare Program; H.R. 2988, amended, to amend the

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Clean Air Act to provide that traffic signal synchronization projects 
are exempt from certain requirements of environmental Protection Agency 
rules; H.R. 3632, to amend title XIX of the Social Security Act to 
repeal the requirement for annual resident review for nursing 
facilities under the Medicaid Program and to require resident reviews 
for mentally ill or mentally retarded residents when there is a 
significant change in physical or mental condition; H.R. 3633, to amend 
titles XVIII and XIX of the Social Security Act to permit a waiver of 
the prohibition of offering nurse aide training and competency 
evaluation programs in certain nursing facilities; H.R. 4083, to extend 
certain programs under the Energy Policy and Conservation Act through 
September 30, 1997; H.R. 3391, amended, to amend the Solid Waste 
Disposal Act to require at least 85 percent of funds appropriated to 
the Environmental Protection Agency from the leaking underground 
storage tank trust fund to be distributed to States for cooperative 
agreement for undertaking corrective action and for enforcement of 
subtitle I of such act; and H.R. 1186, amended, Professional Boxing 
Safety Act of 1996.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES; DRAFT REPORTS
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight: Ordered reported the 
following bills: H.R. 3877, amended, to designate the U.S. post office 
building in Camden, AR, as the ``Honorable David H. Pryor Post Office 
Building''; and S. 868, to provide authority for leave transfer for 
Federal employees who are adversely affected by disasters or 
emergencies.
  The Committee also approved the following draft reports entitled: 
``Investigation of White House Travel Office Firings and Related 
Matters''; and ``Sampling and Statistical Adjustment in the Decennial 
Census: Fundamental Flaws.''
SHOOTDOWN OF BROTHERS TO THE RESCUE
Committee on International Relations: Subcommittee on the Western 
Hemisphere held a hearing on the Shootdown of Brothers to the Rescue: 
What Happened? Testimony was heard from the following officials of the 
Department of Defense: Col. Michael C. McMahan, Deputy J-3, Atlantic 
Command; and Maria Fernandez, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Inter-
American Affairs; and Jose J. Basulto, President, Brothers to the 
Rescue.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on the Judiciary: Ordered reported the following bills: H.R. 
3874, Civil Rights Commission Act; and H.R. 2092, amended, Private 
Security Officer Quality Assurance Act of 1995.
  The Committee also approved a private claims bill.
  The Committee began markup of H.R. 3852, Comprehensive 
Methamphetamine Control Act of 1996.
  Will continue tomorrow.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Commercial and 
Administrative Law approved for full Committee action the following 
measures: H.J. Res. 193, granting the consent of Congress to the 
Emergency Management Assistance Compact; and H.J. Res. 194, granting 
the consent of the Congress to amendments made by Maryland, Virginia, 
and the District of Columbia to the Washington Metropolitan Area 
Transit Regulation Compact.
  Prior to this action, the Subcommittee held a hearing on these 
measures. Testimony on H.J. Res. 163 was heard from John P. Carey, 
General Counsel, FEMA; Tom Feuerborn, Director, Department of Civil 
Emergency Management, State of Oklahoma; David McMillion, Director, 
Emergency Management Agency, State of Maryland; and Eric L. Tolbert, 
Chief, Bureau of Preparedness and Response, Division of Emergency 
Management, Department of Community Affairs, State of Florida. 
Testimony on H.J. Res. 194 was heard from Representative Davis and 
Robert Polk, General Counsel, Washington Metropolitan Area Transit 
Authority.
  The Subcommittee also held a hearing on H.J. Res. 189, granting the 
consent of Congress to the Interstate Insurance Receivership Compact. 
Testimony was heard from Leo W. Fraser, Jr., member, Senate, State of 
New Hampshire; and Robert G. Lange, Director, Department of Insurance, 
State of Nebraska.
PRISON INDUSTRIES
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Crime held a hearing on 
prison industries. Testimony was heard from the following officials of 
the Bureau of Prisons, Department of Justice: Kathleen M. Hawk, 
Director; and Steve Schwalb, Assistant Director; and public witnesses.
TERRORIST ATTACK AGAINST U.S. FORCES IN DHAHRAN
Committee on National Security: Held a hearing on the July 25, 1996 
terrorist attack against U.S. military forces in Dhahran.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Ordered reported the following bills: H.R. 
2392, amended, to amend the Umatilla Basin Project Act to establish 
boundaries for irrigation districts within the Umatilla Basin; H.R. 
3258,

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amended, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain real 
property located within the Carlsbad project in New Mexico to Carlsbad 
Irrigation District; H.R. 2561, amended, Glacier Bay National Park and 
Preserve Boundary Adjustment Act of 1995; H.R. 3973, amended, to 
provide for a study of the recommendations of the Joint Federal-State 
Commission on Policies and Programs Affecting Alaska Natives; H.R. 
3155, amended, to amend the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act by designating 
the Wekiva River, Seminole Creek, and Rock Springs Run in the State of 
Florida for study and potential addition to the National Wild and 
Scenic Rivers System; H.R. 3568, to designate 51.7 miles of the Clarion 
River, located in Pennsylvania, as a component of the National Wild and 
Scenic Rivers System; H.R. 3497, amended, to expand the boundary of the 
Snoqualmie National Forest; H.R. 4067, amended, to provide for 
representation of the Northern Mariana Islands by a nonvoting Delegate 
in the House of Representatives; H.R. 2041, amended, Guam War 
Restitution Act; and H.R. 3752, amended, American Land Sovereignty 
Protection Act of 1996.
U.S.-PUERTO RICO POLITICAL STATUS ACT
Committee on Rules: Ordered reported amended H.R. 3024, United States-
Puerto Rico Political Status Act.
ENTREPENEUR DEVELOPMENT ACT
Committee on Small Business: Held a hearing on H.R. 3994, Entrepreneur 
Development Program Act of 1996, a proposed reform of the 8(a) Program. 
Testimony was heard from July England-Joseph, Director, Housing and 
Community Development Issues, GAO; the following officials of the SBA: 
Philip Lader, Administrator; and Hugh Wright, Assistant District 
Director, Minority Small Business and Capital Ownership Development 
Program; and public witnesses.
OVERSIGHT--RAILS TO TRAILS
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on 
Railroads held an oversight hearing on the Rails to Trials Act. 
Testimony has heard from Representative Pombo; Katherine H. Stevenson, 
Associate Director, Cultural Resource, Stewardship, and Partnership, 
National Park Service, Department of the Interior; and public 
witnesses.
VETERANS MEDICARE SUBVENTION DEMONSTRATION PROJECT ACT
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Ordered reported amended H.R. 4068, 
Veterans Medicare Subvention Demonstration Project Act.

Joint Meetings
APPROPRIATIONS--VA/HUD
Conferees met to resolve the differences between the Senate- and House-
passed versions of 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 the fiscal year ending September 30, 1997, but did not complete 
action thereon, and recessed subject to call.