[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 114 (Wednesday, September 3, 1997)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D888-D889]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                       Wednesday, September 3, 1997

[[Page D888]]

                              Daily Digest


HIGHLIGHTS

      Senate passed Agriculture Appropriations, 1998.


                                 Senate


Chamber Action
Routine Proceedings, pages S8677-S8764
Measures Introduced: Five bills and one resolution were introduced, as 
follows: S. 1142-1146, and S. Res. 118.                      
  Page S8723
Measures Passed:
   Agriculture Appropriations, 1998: Senate passed H.R. 2160, making 
appropriations for Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug 
Administration, and Related Agencies programs for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 1998, after striking all after the enacting clause 
and inserting in lieu thereof the text of S. 1033, Senate companion 
measure, as passed the Senate on Thursday, July 24, 1997, after taking 
action on the following amendment proposed thereto:      
  Pages S8677-82
Adopted:
  Harkin Amendment No. 1057, to provide funding for activities of the 
Food and Drug Administration relating to the prevention of tobacco use 
by youth. (By 28 yeas to 70 nays (Vote No. 212), Senate earlier failed 
to table the amendment.)                                 
Pages S8677-82
  Senate insisted on its amendment, requested a conference with the 
House thereon, and the Chair appointed the following conferees: 
Senators Cochran, Specter, Bond, Gorton, McConnell, Burns, Stevens, 
Bumpers, Harkin, Kohl, Byrd, Leahy, and Inouye.              
Page S8682
  National Day of Recognition: Senate agreed to S. Res. 118, expressing 
the condolences on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, and 
designating September 6, 1997, as a ``National Day of Recognition for 
the Humanitarian Efforts of Diana, Princess of Wales.''    
  Pages S8710, S8743-44
  Labor/HHS Appropriations, 1998: Senate continued consideration of S. 
1061, making appropriations for the Departments of Labor, Health and 
Human Services, and Education, and related agencies for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 1998, taking action on amendments proposed 
thereto, as follows:                                  
  Pages S8685-S8720
Adopted:
  Ashcroft Amendment No. 1061, to provide for limitations with respect 
to expenditures for abortions.                           
Pages S8689-91
  Dorgan Amendment No. 1068, to increase the funding for heart and 
stroke research by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the 
National Institutes of Health.                           
Pages S8695-97
  Specter Amendment No. 1072, to fund demonstration projects on 
Medicaid attendant care services, within amounts available. 
                                                         Pages S8701-02
  Coats/Frist Amendment No. 1075, to provide for the conduct of a 
comprehensive, independent study of National Institutes of Health 
research priority setting.                               
Pages S8715-16
  By 95 yeas to 3 nays (Vote No. 214), Wellstone/McCain Modified 
Amendment No. 1074, to provide for the establishment of a program for 
research and training with respect to Parkinson's disease. 
                                                  Pages S8711-15, S8720
Rejected:
  By 25 yeas to 74 nays (Vote No. 213), Kyl Amendment No. 1056, to 
increase funding for Federal Pell Grants, with an offset from fiscal 
year 1998 funding for low-income home energy assistance. 
                              Pages S8685-89, S8693-94, S8707-11, S8720
Pending:
  Gregg Amendment No. 1070, to prohibit the use of funds for national 
testing in reading and mathematics, with certain exceptions. 
                                                      Pages S8697-S8702
  Coats/Gregg Amendment No. 1071 (to Amendment No. 1070), to prohibit 
the development, planning, implementation, or administration of any 
national testing program in reading or mathematics unless the program 
is specifically authorized by Federal statute.        
Pages S8699-S8702
  Specter Amendment No. 1069, to express the sense of the Senate that 
the Attorney General has

[[Page D889]]

abused her discretion by failing to appoint an independent counsel on 
campaign finance matters and that the Attorney General should proceed 
to appoint such an independent counsel immediately.      
Pages S8702-07
  Coats/Nickles Amendment No. 1077, to prohibit the use of funds for 
research that utilizes human fetal tissue, cells, or organs that are 
obtained from a living or dead embryo or fetus during or after an 
induced abortion.                                        
Pages S8719-20
  Senate will continue consideration of the bill on Thursday, September 
4, 1997.
FDA Modernization and Accountability Act--Cloture Filed: A motion was 
entered to close further debate on the motion to proceed to 
consideration of S. 830, to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic 
Act and the Public Health Service Act to improve the regulation of 
food, drugs, devices, and biological products and, in accordance with 
the provisions of Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, a vote 
on the cloture motion will occur on Friday, September 5, 1997. 
                                                         Pages S8720-21
  Subsequently, the motion to proceed to consideration of the bill was 
withdrawn.                                                   
Page S8721
Removal of Injunction of Secrecy: The injunction of secrecy was removed 
from the following treaties:
  Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters with Trinidad and Tobago 
(Treaty Doc. 105-22);
  Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters with Barbados (Treaty 
Doc. 105-23);
  Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters with Antigua and Barbuda, 
Dominica, Grenada and St. Lucia (Treaty Doc. 105-24);
  Inter-American Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters 
with related Optional Protocol (Treaty Doc. 105-25).
  The treaties were transmitted to the Senate today, considered as 
having been read for the first time, and referred, with accompanying 
papers, to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be 
printed.                                                 
Pages S8744-45
Nominations Received: Senate received the following nominations:
  R. Nicholas Burns, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to Greece.
  Kathryn Walt Hall, of Texas, to be Ambassador to the Republic of 
Austria.
  Tom McDonald, of Ohio, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Zimbabwe.
  Mark Robert Parris, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the Republic of 
Turkey.
  Edward E. Shumaker, III, of New Hampshire, to be Ambassador to the 
Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.
  35 Navy nominations in the rank of admiral.
  Routine lists in the Air Force, Army, Coast Guard, Foreign Service, 
Marine Corps, and Navy.                                  
Pages S8746-64
Measures Referred:                                           
  Page S8723
Communications:                                              
  Page S8723
Statements on Introduced Bills:                          
  Pages S8723-32
Additional Cosponsors:                                   
  Pages S8732-33
Amendments Submitted:                                    
  Pages S8733-36
Notices of Hearings:                                         
  Page S8736
Authority for Committees:                                
  Pages S8736-37
Additional Statements:                                   
  Pages S8737-39
Record Votes: Three record votes were taken today. (Total--214) 
                                           Pages S8682, S8710-11, S8720
Adjournment: Senate convened at 9:30 a.m., and adjourned at 8:29 p.m., 
until 9:30 a.m., on Thursday, September 4, 1997. (For Senate's program, 
see the remarks of the Acting Majority Leader in today's Record on page 
S8745.)