[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 42 (Thursday, April 10, 1997)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D316-D318]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
hearings on the nominations of Ann Jorgenson, of Iowa, to be a Member 
of the Farm Credit Administration Board, and Lowell Lee Junkins, of 
Iowa, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Federal 
Agricultural Mortgage Corporation, Farm Credit Administration, after 
the nominees, who were introduced by Representative Boswell, testified 
and answered questions in their own behalf.
APPROPRIATIONS--DEA/FBI/INS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, 
and Judiciary, and Related Agencies held hearings on proposed budget 
estimates for fiscal year 1998 for the Department of Justice, receiving 
testimony in behalf of funds for their respective activities from 
Thomas A. Constantine, Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration, 
Louis J. Freeh, Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Doris 
Meissner, Commissioner, Immigration and Naturalization Service, all of 
the Department of Justice.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Wednesday, April 16.
APPROPRIATIONS--INDIAN PROGRAMS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Interior and Related 
Agencies held hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 
1998 for the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the National Indian Gaming 
Commission, receiving testimony from Ada Deer, Assistant Secretary of 
the Interior for Indian Affairs.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Thursday, April 17.
SURFACE TRANSPORTATION (NEXTEA)
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Transportation and Related 
Agencies concluded hearings to examine the fiscal year 1998 funding 
implications of the Administration's National Economic Crossroads 
Transportation Efficiency Act (NEXTEA) Surface Transportation 
Reauthorization proposal, after receiving testimony from Jane F. 
Garvey, Acting Administrator, Federal Highway Administration, Gordon J. 
Linton, Administrator, Federal Transit Administration, and Ricardo 
Martinez, Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, all of the Department of Transportation; Darrel 
Rensink, Iowa Department of Transportation, Des Moines, on behalf of 
the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials; 
William D. Fay, American Highway Users Alliance, John J. Collins, 
American Trucking Associations, and William W. Millar, American Public 
Transit Association, all of Washington, D.C.; Frederick L. Gruel, AAA 
New Jersey Automobile Club, Trenton, on behalf of the American 
Automobile Association; and Harry W. Blunt, Jr., Concord Trailways, 
Concord,

[[Page D317]]

New Hampshire, on behalf of the American Bus Association.
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Acquisition and Technology 
held hearings on S. 450, authorizing funds for fiscal years 1998 and 
1999 for military activities of the Department of Defense, and to 
prescribe military personnel strengths for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, 
focusing on science and technology research, receiving testimony from 
Charles M. Vest, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; 
Rodney A. Erickson, Pennsylvania State University, University Park; Dan 
C. Heinemeier, Electronic Industries Association, Arlington, Virginia; 
and John K. Buckner, American Institute of Aeronautics and 
Astronautics, and Frank Press, Carnegie Institute, both of Washington, 
D.C.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Tuesday, April 15.
MULTI-CHANNEL VIDEO COMPETITION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee held 
hearings to examine competitiveness in the cable industry and 
alternatives to cable, receiving testimony from Amos B. Hostetter, Jr., 
Continental Cablevision, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts; Gene Kimmelman, 
Consumer's Union, and Rupert Murdoch, News Corporation, both of 
Washington, D.C.; and Stanley S. Hubbard, Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc., 
St. Paul, Minnesota.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
NATIONAL EARTHQUAKE HAZARDS REDUCTION PROGRAM
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Science, Technology, and Space concluded hearings to examine the 
National Earthquake Hazards Reduction program, after receiving 
testimony from Richard W. Krimm, Executive Associate Director of the 
Mitigation Directorate, Federal Emergency Management Agency; Robert 
Hebner, Acting Director, National Institute for Standards and 
Technology, Department of Commerce; P. Patrick Leahy, Chief Geologist, 
U.S. Geological Survey, Department of the Interior; M. Christina 
Gabriel, Acting Deputy Assistant Director for Engineering, National 
Science Foundation; and Arch Johnston, University of Memphis, Memphis, 
Tennessee.
ESTATE AND GIFT TAXATION
Committee on Finance: Committee held hearings on estate and gift 
taxation proposals, including S. 482, to partially exclude from the 
gross estate of a decedent the value of a family-owned business, and S. 
75 and provisions of H.R. 902, bills to repeal the Federal estate and 
gift taxes and the tax on generation-skipping transfers, receiving 
testimony from Senators Collins, Kyl and Lugar; Representative Cox; 
William W. Beach, Heritage Foundation, and Harry L. Gutman, King and 
Spalding, both of Washington, D.C.; Drew S. Mendoza, Loyola University, 
Chicago, Illinois; John Dudley, Comanche, Texas; Lee Ann Ferris, 
Ketchum, Idaho; and Gordon Perkins, LaPeer, Mississippi.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
HONG KONG
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded hearings to examine 
United States law enforcement interests in Hong Kong, after receiving 
testimony from James S. Milford, Jr., Acting Deputy Administrator, Drug 
Enforcement Agency, Alan G. Ringgold, Deputy Assistant Director, 
Criminal Investigative Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Mark 
M. Richard, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, and 
Phyllis Coven, Director of International Affairs, Immigration and 
Naturalization Service, all of the Department of Justice; Jeffrey A. 
Bader, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific 
Affairs; John P. Simpson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury 
for Regulatory, Tariff, and Trade Enforcement; and Roy Godson, 
Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
  Also, committee concluded hearings to examine the outlook for Hong 
Kong following its planned reversion to China, focusing on the future 
of freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Hong Kong, 
after receiving testimony from Martin C.M. Lee, Chairman of the 
Democratic Party, Hong Kong.
IRS HIGH-RISK AREAS
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee held hearings to examine 
Internal Revenue Service efforts to improve the efficiency and 
effectiveness of the program areas identified by the General Accounting 
Office as high-risk, receiving testimony from Lawrence Summers, Deputy 
Secretary, and Michael P. Dolan, Deputy Commissioner, Internal Revenue 
Service, both of the Department of the Treasury; Rona B. Stillman, 
Chief Scientist, Computers and Telecommunications, Accounting and 
Information Management Division, General Accounting Office; and Donald 
C. Alexander, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer & Feld, Washington, D.C., 
former IRS Commissioner.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
CHINESE ARMS PROLIFERATION
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee on International 
Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services concluded hearings to 
examine China's proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and 
related

[[Page D318]]

technologies, missile delivery systems, and advanced conventional 
weapons, after receiving testimony from Robert J. Einhorn, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation/Bureau of Political-
Military Affairs; James R. Lilley, University of Maryland, College 
Park; and Gary Milhollin, Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, 
Washington, D.C.
NOMINATION
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the nomination of Alexis M. Herman, of Alabama, to be 
Secretary of Labor.
SENATE ELECTIONS
Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee held hearings to 
review certain petitions filed in connection with a contested United 
States Senate election held in Louisiana in November 1996, receiving 
testimony from Robert F. Bauer, Perkins Coie, and William B. Canfield, 
III, Williams & Jensen, both of Washington, D.C.
  Hearings continue on Tuesday, April 15.
HUBZONE ACT
Committee on Small Business: Committee concluded hearings on S. 208, to 
provide Federal contracting opportunities for small business concerns 
located in historically underutilized business zones, after receiving 
testimony from Aida Alvarez, Administrator, and James Hoobler, 
Inspector General, both of the Small Business Administration; Mayor 
Emmanuel Cleaver, Kansas City, Missouri; Santos F. Garza, Counter 
Technology, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland; Peter Homer, National Indian 
Business Association, and Anthony W. Robinson, Minority Business 
Enterprise Legal Defense Education Fund, Inc., both of Washington, 
D.C.; and Sandra Newman, Raritan Container, New Brunswick, New Jersey.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on 
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the 
intelligence community.
  Committee will meet again on Wednesday, April 16.
MEDICARE REFORM: MANAGED CARE
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded hearings to examine 
certain issues concerning the availability of useful information for 
Medicare beneficiaries attempting to choose a managed health care plan, 
and on proposed legislation to require beneficiaries to have access to 
the disenrollment rates of health plans, and to initiate a standardized 
format for plan information and create a comparison chart to assist the 
beneficiary decision making process, after receiving testimony from 
William J. Scanlon, Director, Health Financing and Systems Issues, 
Health, Education, and Human Services Division, General Accounting 
Office; Diane Archer, Medicare Rights Center, New York, New York; Helen 
Darling, Xerox Corporation, Stamford, Connecticut, on behalf of the 
Institute of Medicine/National Academy of Sciences; Margaret T. 
Stanley, California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento; 
and Irvin and Emelda Stuart, Bronx, New York.