[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 124 (Wednesday, September 17, 1997)] [Daily Digest] [Pages D960-D961] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] Committee Meetings (Committees not listed did not meet) DIGITAL TV Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee held hearings to examine future technologies such as high-definition television, digital television and multiplexing, receiving testimony from Representative Tauzin; Reed E. Hundt, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission; Larry Irving, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information; Robert W. Decherd, A.H. Belo Corporation, Dallas, Texas, on behalf of the National Association of Broadcasters; Preston Padden, ABC Television Network, New York, New York; and David D. Smith, Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., Baltimore, Maryland. Hearings were recessed subject to call. UNDERGROUND UTILITIES PROTECTION Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine concluded hearings on S. 1115, to create uniform national standards and provide grants to establish or improve State one-call notification systems designed to protect America's underground infrastructure which includes buried communication and fiber optic cables, water and sewer pipes, electric lines, and oil and gas pipelines, after receiving testimony from Kelley S. Coyner, Acting Administrator for Research and Special Programs Administration, Department of Transportation; Catherine G. Abbott, Columbia Gas Transmission Corporation, Fairfax, Virginia; Frank Ianna, AT&T, Basking Ridge, New Jersey; Charles E. Dettmann, Association of American Railroads, Washington, D.C.; and Gene Shull, A.E. Shull and Company, Tyler, Texas, on behalf of the Associated General Contractors. ALASKA LAND EXCHANGE Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded hearings on S. 1158, to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, regarding the Huna Totem Corporation public interest land exchange, and S. 1159, to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, regarding the Kake Tribal Corporation public interest land exchange, after receiving testimony from Eleanor Towns, Director of Lands, Forest Service, Department of Agriculture; Mayor Lonnie Anderson, and Gordon Jackson, Kake Tribal Corporation, both of Kake, Alaska; Albert Dick, Huna Totem Corporation, Hoonah, Alaska; and Jack Hession, Sierra Club, Anchorage, Alaska. AUTHORIZATION--TRANSPORTATION Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably reported S. 1173, authorizing funds for construction of highway safety programs and for mass transit programs, with amendments. FAST-TRACK TRADE AUTHORITY Committee on Finance: Committee held hearings on proposed legislation to renew fast track trade authority to allow the President to negotiate further trade agreements to open foreign markets to United States goods and services, and other related trade proposals, receiving testimony from Robert E. Rubin, Secretary of the Treasury; Charlene Barshefsky, United States Trade Representative; and Jeffrey M. Lang, Deputy United States Trade Representative. Hearings were recessed subject to call. INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION TREATY Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded hearings on the Constitution and Convention of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), with Annexes, signed at Geneva on December 22, 1992, and amendments to the Constitution and Convention, signed at Kyoto on October 14, 1994, together with declarations and reservations by the United States as contained in the Final Acts (Treaty Doc. 104-34), after receiving testimony from Vonya B. McCann, Coordinator for International Communications and Information Policy, Department of State; David F. Fisher, ADC Telecommunications, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Lon C. Levin, American Mobile Radio Corporation/American Mobile Satellite Corporation, Reston, Virginia. CHINA POLICY ACT Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee held hearings on S. 1164, to state a policy of the United States that engages the People's Republic of China in areas of mutual interest, promotes human rights, [[Page D961]] religious freedom, and democracy in China and enhances the national security interests of the United States with respect to China, receiving testimony from Senator Abraham; Stanley O. Roth, Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; and Gary L. Bauer, Family Research Council, Robert A. Kapp, United States-China Business Council, Robert Kagan, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Abigail E. Abrash, Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Center for Human Rights, and Richard N. Haass, Brookings Institution, all of Washington, D.C. Hearings were recessed subject to call. CAMPAIGN FINANCING INVESTIGATION Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee resumed hearings to examine certain matters with regard to the committee's special investigation on campaign financing, receiving testimony from Sheila Heslin, former Director of Russian, Ukrainian, and Eurasian Affairs, National Security Council. Hearings continue tomorrow. INDIAN COUNTRY GANG ACTIVITY Committee on the Judiciary/Committee on Indian Affairs: Committees concluded joint hearings to examine the incidence of youth violence and criminal gang activity within Indian country, and the Federal response, after receiving testimony from Kevin V. DiGregory, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, and Charles F. Rinkevich, Director, Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (Glynco, Georgia), both of the Department of Justice; Judge William A. Thorne, Third District Court of Utah, Salt Lake City; Ivan Makil, Salt River Pima- Maricopa Indian Community, Scottsdale, Arizona; David Nez, Navajo Nation, Window Rock, Arizona; and Daniel N. Lewis, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, Phoenix, Arizona. TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPETITION Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Antitrust, Business Rights and Competition concluded hearings to examine the outlook for competition in the telecommunications industry as a result of the Telecommunications Act of 1996, and the role of the Department of Justice in promoting and protecting this competition, after receiving testimony from Joel I. Klein, Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, Department of Justice; Reed E. Hundt, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission; Barry K. Allen, Ameritech Corporation, Chicago, Illinois; Mark C. Rosenblum, AT&T Corp., Basking Ridge, New Jersey; William P. Barr, GTE Corporation, and Gene Kimmelman, Consumers Union, both of Washington, D.C.; and John C. Shapleigh, Brooks Fiber Properties, Inc., St. Louis, Missouri.