[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

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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.

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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.