[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 104 (Tuesday, July 22, 1997)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D793-D794]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                             Tuesday, July 22, 1997

[[Page D793]]

                              Daily Digest


HIGHLIGHTS

      Senate passed Treasury/Postal Service Appropriations, Military 
      Construction Appropriations, and VA/HUD Appropriations.
      The House passed H.R. 1853, Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Technical 
      Education Act.
      House Committee ordered reported the following appropriations for 
      fiscal year 1998: Defense; Labor, Health and Human Services, and 
      Education; and Commerce, Justice, State and Judiciary.


                                 Senate


Chamber Action
Routine Proceedings, pages S7785-S7878
Measures Introduced: Nine bills were introduced, as follows: S. 1045-
1053.
  Pages S7862-63
Measures Reported: Reports were made as follows:
  S. 1048, making appropriations for the Department of Transportation 
and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998. (S. 
Rept. No. 105-55)
  H.R. 2107, making appropriations for the Department of the Interior 
and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998, 
with amendments. (S. Rept. No. 105-56)
Page S7862
Measures Passed:
  Treasury/Postal Service Appropriations, 1998: By a unanimous vote of 
99 yeas (Vote No. 191), Senate passed S. 1023, making appropriations 
for the Treasury Department, the United States Postal Service, the 
Executive Office of the President, and certain Independent Agencies, 
for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998, after taking action on 
further amendments proposed thereto, as follows:
  Pages S7785-S7803
Adopted:
  By 54 yeas to 45 nays (Vote No. 190), Campbell (for DeWine) Amendment 
No. 936, to prohibit the use of funds to pay for an abortion or pay for 
the administrative expenses in connection with certain health plans 
that provide coverage for abortions.
Pages S7787-90
  Kohl (for Bingaman) Amendment No. 937, to strike provisions 
prohibiting the use of appropriated funds for the sole source 
procurement of energy conservation measures. (By 35 yeas to 64 nays 
(Vote No. 189), Senate earlier failed to table the amendment.) 
                                                         Pages S7786-87
  Military Construction Appropriations, 1998: By 98 yeas to 2 nays 
(Vote No. 192), Senate passed H.R. 2016, making appropriations for 
military construction, family housing, and base realignment and closure 
for the Department of Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 
1998, after agreeing to committee amendments, and the following 
amendment proposed thereto:
  Pages S7814-23
  Burns (for Ford/McConnell) Amendment No. 946, to clarify the 
availability of funds for activities under the lease of Building No. 1, 
Lexington, Blue Grass Station, Lexington, Kentucky.
Pages S7818, S7821
  Senate insisted on its amendments, requested a conference with the 
House thereon, and the Chair appointed the following conferees: 
Senators Burns, Hutchison, Faircloth, Craig, Stevens, Murray, Reid, 
Inouye, and Byrd.
Page S7823
  VA/HUD Appropriations, 1998: By 99 yeas to 1 nay (Vote No. 194), 
Senate passed H.R. 2158, making appropriations for the Departments of 
Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development, and for sundry 
independent agencies, commissions, corporations, and offices for the 
fiscal year ending September 30, 1998, after striking all after the 
enacting clause and inserting in lieu thereof the text of S. 1034, 
Senate companion measure, and after taking action on amendments 
proposed thereto, as follows:
  Pages S7803-12, S7823-57

[[Page D794]]

Adopted:
  Graham Amendment No. 948, to express the sense of the Senate that 
Congress should consider legislation concerning catastrophic natural 
disasters.
Pages S7825-26
  Wellstone/Mikulski Amendment No. 949, to state the sense of the 
Senate regarding appropriations for discretionary activities of the 
Department of Veterans Affairs in fiscal years 1999 through 2002. 
                                                             Page S7827
  Wellstone Amendment No. 950, to provide for the Senate Committee on 
Veterans' Affairs to hold hearings to consider certain disease related 
legislation.
Pages S7827-30
  Mikulski Amendment No. 951, to provide for increased funding for 
empowerment zones and enterprise communities.
Pages S7830-33
  Bumpers Amendment No. 954, to earmark funds for a National Research 
Council report on the Space Station program.
Page S7843
  Bumpers Amendment No. 955, regarding J-1 visas for doctors at 
Veterans Administration hospitals.
Page S7843
  Bond Amendment No. 956, to enable the State of Florida to use prior 
EPA Title II funds for a grant for wastewater treatment. 
                                                         Pages S7843-45
  Bond (for Faircloth) Amendment No. 957, to limit the use of locality 
pay differential that would provide a pay increase to an employee 
transferred as a result of sexual harassment.
Pages S7843-45
  Bond (for Gorton) Amendment No. 958, to limit participation in the 
Native American Housing Block Grants Program under certain conditions. 
                                                         Pages S7843-45
  Bond (for Shelby) Amendment No. 959, to make funds available for the 
Neutral Buoyancy Simulator program of NASA.
Pages S7843-45
  Bond/Mikulski Amendment No. 960, to make certain technical and 
clerical corrections.
Pages S7843, S7845
Rejected:
  Bumpers Amendment No. 944, to reduce the appropriation for the 
implementation of the space station program for the purpose of 
terminating the program. (By 69 yeas to 31 nays (Vote No. 193), Senate 
tabled the amendment.)
Pages S7804-09, S7833-34, S7836-41
Withdrawn:
  Allard Amendment No. 947, to make an amendment relating to the use of 
public housing operating funds to provide tenant-based assistance. 
                                                         Pages S7826-27
  D'Amato Amendment No. 952, to require reports by the Comptroller 
General on the allocation of health care resources of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs under the Veterans Integrated Service Network system 
and the Veterans Equitable Resource Allocation system.
Pages S7834-36
  Bumpers Amendment No. 953, to cap the cost of the Space Station. 
                                                         Pages S7841-42
  Senate insisted on its amendment, requested a conference with the 
House thereon, and the Chair appointed the following conferees: 
Senators Bond, Burns, Stevens, Shelby, Campbell, Craig, Cochran, 
Mikulski, Leahy, Lautenberg, Harkin, Boxer, and Byrd.
Page S7857
  Subsequently, S. 1034 was returned to the Senate calendar. 
                                                             Page S7857
Agriculture Appropriations--Agreement: A unanimous-consent agreement 
was reached providing for the consideration of S. 1033, making 
appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug 
Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 1998, on Wednesday, July 23, 1998.
  Page S7878
Nominations Received: Senate received the following nominations:
  Philip Lader, of South Carolina, to be Ambassador to the United 
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Page S7878
Communications:
  Pages S7861-62
Statements on Introduced Bills:
  Pages S7863-69
Additional Cosponsors:
  Pages S7869-70
Amendments Submitted:
  Pages S7870-72
Authority for Committees:
  Pages S7872-73
Additional Statements:
  Pages S7873-78
Record Votes:  Six record votes were taken today. (Total--194) 
                             Pages S7787, S7790-91, S7823, S7841, S7857
Adjournment: Senate convened at 9:45 a.m., and adjourned at 6:59 p.m., 
until 9 a.m., on Wednesday, July 23, 1997. (For Senate's program, see 
the remarks of the Acting Majority Leader in today's Record on page 
S7878.)