[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 143 (Wednesday, October 22, 1997)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1121-D1123]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NATO ENLARGEMENT
Committee on Appropriations: Committee continued hearings to examine 
the costs of enlarging NATO membership to include Poland, Hungary, and 
the Czech Republic and the impact of enlargement on Department of 
Defense readiness, receiving testimony from Gen. Henry H. Shelton, 
Chairman, Joint Chiefs of Staff; and Gen. Wesley K. Clark, Commander in 
Chief, United States European Command.
  Hearings continue tomorrow.
TEACHING HOSPITAL AUDITS/MEDICAL RESEARCH FUNDING
Committee on Appropriations: On Tuesday, October 21, Subcommittee on 
Labor, Health and Human Services, Education and Related Agencies 
concluded hearings to examine the billing practices of physicians at 
teaching hospitals and related Medicare requirements, after receiving 
testimony from Michael F. Mangano, Principal Deputy Inspector General, 
and Barbara Wynn, Director, Plan and Provider Purchasing Policy Group, 
Health Care Financing Administration, both of the Department of Health 
and Human Services; Jordan J. Cohen, Association of American Medical 
Colleges, Washington, D.C.; C. McCollister Evarts, PennState Geisinger 
Health System/Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, 
University Park.
  Also, subcommittee concluded hearings on a legislative proposal to 
increase funding for medical research and provide a 5 year extension of 
exclusivity for certain pharmaceutical products, after receiving 
testimony from Daniel P. Perry, Alliance for Aging, and James Love, 
Center for Study of Responsive Law, both of Washington, D.C.; Gina 
Cioffi, Cooley's Anemia Foundation, Brooklyn, New York; Scott 
Hallquist, Immunex International, Inc., Seattle, Washington; and 
Kenneth Clarkson, University of Miami, Miami, Florida.
YEAR 2000 LIABILITY AND DISCLOSURE
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on 
Financial Services and Technology held hearings to examine potential 
litigation which may result from the Year 2000 computer problem and its 
impact on the financial services industry, and proposed legislation to 
require United States corporations to fully disclose all information 
concerning their Year 2000 remediation efforts and potential 
liabilities, receiving testimony from Brian Lane, Director, Division of 
Corporation Finance, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission; Jeff 
Jinnett, LeBoeuf Computing Technologies, New York, New York; Dana D. 
McDaniel, Williams, Mullen, Christian & Dobbins, Richmond, Virginia; 
Harris N. Miller, Information Technology Association of America, 
Arlington, Virginia; and Robert B. Austrian, NationsBanc Montgomery 
Securities Inc., San Francisco, California.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.

[[Page D1122]]


BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following business items:
  H.R. 858, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a pilot 
project on designated lands within Plumas, Lassen, and Tahoe National 
Forests in the State of California to demonstrate the effectiveness of 
the resource management activities proposed by the Quincy Library Group 
and to amend current land and resource management plans for these 
national forests to consider the incorporation of these resource 
management activities, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute, 
and in lieu of S. 1028, Senate companion measure;
  H.R. 960, to validate certain conveyances of land from the Southern 
Pacific Railroad Company to the Redevelopment Agency of the City of 
Tulare, California;
  S. 814, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to transfer to John 
R. and Margaret J. Lowe of Big Horn County, Wyoming, certain land so as 
to correct an error in the patent issued to their predecessors in 
interest, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 799, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to transfer to the 
personal representative of the estate of Fred Steffens of Big Horn 
County, Wyoming, certain land comprising the Steffens family property, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  H.R. 765, to ensure the maintenance of a free-roaming herd of wild 
horses at Cape Lookout National Seashore, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute;
  S. 940, to provide for a study of the establishment of Midway Atoll 
as a national memorial to the Battle of Midway, with an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute;
  H.R. 848, to extend the deadline under the Federal Power Act 
applicable to the construction of the AuSabel Hydroelectric Project in 
the State of New York;
  H.R. 651, to extend the deadline under the Federal Power Act for the 
construction of a hydroelectric project located in the State of 
Washington;
  H.R. 652, to extend the deadline under the Federal Power Act for the 
construction of a hydroelectric project located in the State of 
Washington;
  H.R. 1217, to extend the deadline under the Federal Power Act for the 
construction of a hydroelectric project located in the State of 
Washington;
  H.R. 1184, to extend the deadline under the Federal Power Act for the 
construction of the Bear Creek hydroelectric project in the State of 
Washington;
  S. 538, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to convey certain 
facilities of the Minidoka project in the State of Idaho to the Burley 
Irrigation District, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute; 
and
  The nomination of M. John Berry, of Maryland, to be Assistant 
Secretary of the Interior for Policy, Management and Budget.
OZONE AND PARTICULATE MATTER RESEARCH ACT
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on Clean Air, 
Wetlands, Private Property, and Nuclear Safety concluded hearings on S. 
1084, to establish a research and monitoring program for the national 
ambient air quality standards for ozone and particulate matter to 
reinstate the original standards under the Clean Air Act, after 
receiving testimony from James A. Martin, Martin's Famous Pastry 
Shoppe, Inc., Chambersburg, Pennsylvania, on behalf of the American 
Bakers Association; Adam Sharp, American Farm Bureau Federation, 
Washington, D.C.; Ande Abbott, International Brotherhood of 
Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers & Helpers, 
Fairfax, Virginia; Jason S. Grumet, Northeast States for Coordinated 
Air Use Management, Boston, Massachusetts; George D. Thurston, New York 
University School of Medicine, New York, New York; and Tom Smith, 
Griffin, Georgia, on behalf of the National Coalition of Petroleum 
Retailers.
AFGHANISTAN
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South 
Asian Affairs concluded hearings to examine the current situation with 
regard to the ongoing war in Afghanistan and its implications for the 
United States, after receiving testimony from Karl F. Inderfurth, 
Assistant Secretary of State for South Asian Affairs; Zalmay Khalilzad, 
Project AIRFORCE/RAND Corporation, Washington, D.C.; Marty F. Miller, 
Unocal Corporation, Sugar Land, Texas; and Thomas E. Gouttierre, Center 
for Afghanistan Studies/University of Nebraska, Omaha.
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 Stephen 
Smith and Chief Petty Officer Charles McGrath, both of the White House 
Communications Agency.
  Hearings continue tomorrow.

[[Page D1123]]


NOMINATION
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded hearings on the 
nomination of Bill Lann Lee, of California, to be Assistant Attorney 
General, Department of Justice, after the nominee, who was introduced 
by Senators D'Amato, Akaka, Feinstein, and Boxer, testified and 
answered questions in his own behalf. Testimony was also received from 
Susan Au Allen, U.S. Pan Asian American Chamber of Commerce, and Gerald 
A. Reynolds, Center for New Black Leadership, both of Washington, D.C.; 
Andrew C. Peterson, Morgan, Lewis and Bockius, Los Angeles, California; 
and Barbara Towers, Hawthorne, California.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the following business items:
  S. 1294, to amend the Higher Education Act of 1965 to allow the 
consolidation of student loans under the Federal Family Loan Program 
and the Direct Loan Program, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 1237, to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to 
further improve the safety and health of working environments, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute; and
  The nominations of David Satcher, of Tennessee, to be an Assistant 
Secretary of Health and Human Services, and to be Medical Director in 
the Regular Corps of the Public Health Service, subject to 
qualifications therefor as provided by law and regulations, and to be 
Surgeon General of the Public Health Service, Jeanette C. Takamura, of 
Hawaii, to be Assistant Secretary of Health and Human Services for 
Aging, Espiridion A. Borrego, of Texas, to be Assistant Secretary of 
Labor for Veterans' Employment and Training, Charles N. Jeffress, of 
North Carolina, to be an Assistant Secretary of Labor, Susan Robinson 
King, of the District of Columbia, to be Assistant Secretary of Labor 
for Public Affairs, Patricia Watkins Lattimore, of the District of 
Columbia, to be Assistant Secretary of Labor for Administration, Robert 
H. Beatty Jr., of West Virginia, to be a Member of the Federal Mine 
Safety and Health Review Commission, and Ela Yazzie King, of Arizona, 
to be a Member of the National Council on Disability.
SMALL BUSINESS TAX POLICY
Committee on Small Business: Committee held hearings to examine the 
impact of tax law reform on the small business community, receiving 
testimony from Jack Faris, National Federation of Independent Business, 
Karen Kerrigan, Small Business Survival Committee, Todd McCracken, 
National Small Business United, John S. Satagaj, Small Business 
Legislative Council, and Bennie L. Thayer, National Association for the 
Self-Employed, all of Washington, D.C.; Charles E. Kruse, Missouri Farm 
Bureau, Jefferson City, on behalf of the American Farm Bureau 
Federation; and Terry Neese, Terry Neese Personnel Services, Oklahoma 
City, Oklahoma, on behalf of the Association of Women Business Owners.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on 
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the 
intelligence community.
  Committee recessed subject to call.