[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 46 (Thursday, April 17, 1997)] [Daily Digest] [Pages D356-D358] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] Committee Meetings CONSERVATION RESERVE PROGRAM Committee on Agriculture: Ordered reported amended H.R. 1342, to provide for a 1-year enrollment in the conservation reserve of land covered by expiring conservation reserve program contracts. NAFTA--REVIEW STATUS Committee on Agriculture: Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities held a hearing on the status of NAFTA with Canada and Mexico. Testimony was heard from August Schumacher, Jr., Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service, USDA; and public witnesses. COMMODITY EXCHANGE ACT Committee on Agriculture: Subcommittee on Risk Management and Specialty Crops concluded hearings on reform of the Commodity Exchange Act and provisions of H.R. 467, Commodity Exchange Act Amendments of 1997. Testimony was heard from public witnesses. COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE, AND JUDICIARY APPROPRIATIONS Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary continued appropriation hearings. Testimony was heard from public witnesses. FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING AND RELATED PROGRAMS APPROPRIATIONS Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export Financing and Related Programs held a hearing on Export Finance Agencies. Testimony was heard from Rita M. Rodriquez, Acting [[Page D357]] President and Chairman, Export-Import Bank; Mildred O. Callear, Acting President and CEO, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, U.S. International Development Cooperation Agency; and J. Joseph Grandmaison, Director, Trade and Development Agency. LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services continued appropriation hearings. Testimony was heard from public witnesses. NATIONAL SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on National Security continued appropriation hearings. Testimony was heard from Members of Congress and public witnesses. HOUSING OPPORTUNITY AND RESPONSIBILITY ACT OF 1997 Committee on Banking and Financial Services: Continued markup of H.R. 2, Housing Opportunity and Responsibility Act of 1997. Will continue April 23. PROPOSED OZONE AND PARTICULATE MATTER NAAQS REVISIONS Committee on Commerce: Subcommittee on Health and Environment and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations continued joint hearings on Review of EPA's Proposed Ozone and Particulate Matter NAAQS Revisions. Testimony was heard from Mary Nichols, Assistant Administrator, Air and Radiation, EPA; and Sally Katzen, Administrator, Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs, OMB. Hearings continue April 24. FOOD SAFETY IN THE SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM Committee on Education and the Workforce: Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Youth and Families held a hearing on food safety in the School Lunch Program. Testimony was heard from the following officials of the USDA: Mary Ann Keefe, Acting Under Secretary, Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services; and Ken Clayton, Director, Agricultural Marketing Service; the following officials of the Department of Health and Human Services: Fred Shank, Director, Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA; and Harold Margolis, M.D., Chief, Hepatitis Branch, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Center for Disease Control, Department of Health and Human Services; and public witnesses. U.N. PEACEKEEPING Committee on International Relations: Continued hearings on ``Does U.N. Peacekeeping Serve U.S. Interests?'' (Part II). Testimony was heard from Princeton Lyman, Assistant Secretary, International Organizational Affairs, Department of State; and Edward L. Warner, Assistant Secretary, Strategy, Department of Defense. MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Commercial and Administrative Law held a hearing on the following bills: H.R. 874, to provide that Oregon may not tax compensation paid to a resident of Washington for services as a Federal employee at a Federal hydroelectric facility located on the Columbia River; and H.R. 865, to provide that Kentucky may not tax compensation paid to a resident of Tennessee for services as a Federal employee at Fort Campbell, KY. Testimony was heard from Senator Thompson; Representatives Bryant, Linda Smith of Washington and Hastings of Washington; and public witnesses. FAIR HOUSING REFORM AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH ACT Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution held a hearing on H.R. 589, Fair Housing Reform and Freedom of Speech Act of 1997. Testimony was heard from Representative Bilbray; Paul Hancock, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Civil Rights Division, Department of Justice; Susan Golding, Mayor, San Diego, California; and public witnesses. OVERSIGHT--FOREST SERVICE BUDGET Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health held an oversight hearing on Forest Service Budget. Testimony was heard from James Lyons, Under Secretary, Natural Resources and Environment, USDA. OVERSIGHT--CALFED BAY-DELTA PROGRAM Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Water and Power held an oversight hearing on the CALFED Bay-Delta Program and the fiscal year 1998 federal funding request for the program. Testimony was heard from John R. Garamendi, Deputy Secretary, Department of the Interior; Robert Perciasepe, Assistant Administrator, Water, EPA; Douglas P. Wheeler, Secretary for Resources, State of California; Lester Snow, Executive Director, CALFED Bay-Delta Program; and public witnesses. [[Page D358]] CIVILITY--HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES Committee on Rules: Subcommittee on Rules and Organization of the House held a hearing on Civility in the House of Representatives. Testimony was heard from Kathleen Hall Jamieson, Dean, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania and Donald Wolfensberger, Guest Scholar, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. FEDERAL AGENCY COMPLIANCE WITH REGULATORY FLEXIBILITY ACT Committee on Small Business: Subcommittee on Government Programs and Oversight and Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform and Paperwork Reduction concluded joint hearings on Federal Agency Compliance with the Regulatory Flexibility Act: Are Federal Agencies Using ``Good Science'' In Their Making? Testimony was heard from Jere Glover, Chief Counsel for Advocacy, SBA; Thomas Kelly, Chair, Small Business Advocacy, EPA; Robert Burt, Office of Regulatory Analysis, Department of Labor; and public witnesses. SEXUAL HARASSMENT WITHIN VA Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations held a hearing on sexual harassment issues involving senior career managers within the VA. Testimony was heard from Ronnie Blumenthal, Director, Office of Federal Operations, EEOC; the following officials of the Veterans Administration: Hershel Gober, Deputy Secretary; Eugene A. Brickhouse, Assistant Secretary, Human Resources and Management; Gerald K. Hinch, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Equal Opportunity; Mary Lou Keener, General Counsel; Jule D. Moravec, Chief Network Officer, Veterans Health Administration; Leroy P. Gross, M.D., Director, Veterans Integrated Service Network #6, Veterans Health Administration; and William T. Merriman, Deputy Inspector General; certain current or former women employees of the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Fayetteville, NC; and public witnesses. MEDICARE'S COVERAGE POLICY Committee on Ways and Means: Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on Issues Relating to Medicare's Coverage Policy. Testimony was heard from the following officials of the Department of Health and Human Services: Bruce C. Vladeck, Administrator, Health Care Financing Administration; John M. Eisenberg, M.D., Administrator, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research; and Claude Lenfant, M.D., Director, National Heart, Blood and Lung Institute, NIH; and public witnesses.