[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 152 (Tuesday, November 4, 1997)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1202-D1206]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the nominations of Kevin Emanuel Marchman, of 
Colorado, to be Assistant Secretary for Public and Indian Housing, Saul 
N. Ramirez, Jr., of Texas, to be Assistant Secretary for Community 
Planning and Development, Richard F. Keevey, of Virginia, to be Chief 
Financial Officer, Eva M. Plaza, of Maryland, to be Assistant Secretary 
for Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity, and Gail W. Laster, of New 
York, to be General Counsel, all of the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development, Jo Ann Jay Howard, of Texas, to be Federal Insurance 
Administrator, Federal Emergency Management Agency, and F. Amanda 
Debusk, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary, R. Roger Majak, of 
Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary for Export Administration, and 
David L. Aaron, of New York, to be Under Secretary for International 
Trade, all of the Department of Commerce.

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YEAR 2000 LIABILITY AND DISCLOSURE
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on 
Financial Services and Technology concluded hearings to examine 
potential economic risks associated with the Year 2000 computer 
conversion problem and its impact on the financial services industry, 
and proposals to require United States corporations to fully disclose 
all information concerning their year 2000 remediation efforts and 
potential liabilities, after receiving testimony from Edward E. 
Yardeni, Deutsche Morgan Grenfell, New York, New York.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee ordered 
favorably reported the following business items:
  The nominations of Terry D. Garcia, of California, to be Assistant 
Secretary for Oceans and Atmosphere, and Raymond G. Kammer, of 
Maryland, to be Director, National Institute of Standards and 
Technology, both of the Department of Commerce, and Arthur Bienenstock, 
of California, and Duncan T. Moore, of New York, each to be an 
Associate Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, and 
two promotion lists in the U.S. Coast Guard, received in the Senate on 
October 7 and October 29, 1997;
  S. 442, to establish a national policy against State and local 
government interference with interstate commerce on the Internet or 
interactive computer services, and to exercise Congressional 
jurisdiction over interstate commerce by establishing a moratorium on 
the imposition of exactions that would interfere with the free flow of 
commerce via the Internet, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute;
  S. 608, to authorize the enforcement by State and local governments 
of certain Federal Communications Commission regulations regarding use 
of citizens band radio equipment;
  S. 1354, to provide for the designation of common carriers not 
subject to the jurisdiction of a State commission as eligible 
telecommunications carriers;
  S. 852, to establish nationally uniform requirements regarding the 
titling and registration of salvage, nonrepairable, and rebuilt 
vehicles, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  H.R. 624, to revise certain requirements for State reciprocity of 
weapons licenses for armored car company crew members;
  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;
  S. 1213, to establish a National Ocean Council and a Commission on 
Ocean Policy to develop and implement national ocean and coastal policy 
to conserve use fisheries and other ocean and coastal resources and to 
protect the marine environment, with amendments;
  Provisions of S. 1216, to approve and implement the Agreement 
Respecting Normal Competitive Conditions in the Commercial Shipbuilding 
and Repair Industry (Shipbuilding Agreement), negotiated under the 
auspices of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, 
with an amendment;
  S. 1248, to authorize the Secretary of Transportation to issue a 
certificate of documentation with appropriate endorsement for 
employment in the coastwise trade for vessel SUMMER BREEZE;
  S. 1272, to authorize the Secretary of Transportation to issue a 
certificate of documentation with appropriate endorsement for 
employment in the coastwise trade for the vessel ARCELLA; and
  H.R. 1271, authorizing funds for fiscal years 1998 through 2000 for 
Federal Aviation Administration's research, engineering, and 
development programs, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. 
(As approved by the Committee, the amendment incorporates provisions of 
S. 1358, Senate companion measure and authorizes $229.7 million for 
fiscal year 1998.)
  Also, committee began consideration of S. 943, to allow a dependent 
of a victim of an international aviation accident occurring on or after 
January 1, 1995, to sue for pecuniary loss, but did not complete action 
thereon, and recessed subject to call.
NEXT GENERATION INTERNET
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Science, Technology, and Space concluded hearings to examine the 
federal management of the President's Next Generation Internet 
initiative, a research program to foster partnerships among academia, 
industry and Federal laboratories to develop and experiment with 
technologies that will promote a high-quality network infrastructure, 
after receiving testimony from John H. Gibbons, Assistant to the 
President, Office of Science and Technology Policy; Martha Krebs, 
Director of Energy Research, Department of Energy; George Strawn, 
Director, Networking, Communications, Research, and Infrastructure 
Division, National Science Foundation; David L. Tennenhouse, Director, 
Information Technology Office, Defense Advanced Research Projects 
Agency; John Miller, Montana State University, Bozeman; Robert C. Ward, 
University of Tennessee,

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Knoxville; and Stephen S. Wolff, Cisco Systems, Inc., Washington, D.C.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded hearings 
on the nominations of Linda Key Breathitt, of Kentucky, and Curt Hebert 
Jr., of Mississippi, each to be a Member of the Federal Energy 
Regulatory Commission, Department of Energy, after the nominees 
testified and answered questions in their own behalf. Ms. Breathitt was 
introduced by Senator Ford, and Mr. Hebert was introduced by Senator 
Lott.
ELEPHANT CONSERVATION
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded hearings 
on S. 627 and H.R. 39, bills authorizing funds through fiscal year 2002 
for programs of the African Elephant Conservation Act, and S. 1287 and 
H.R. 1787, bills to assist in the conservation of Asian elephants by 
supporting and providing financial resources for the conservation 
programs of nations within the range of Asian elephants and projects of 
persons with demonstrated expertise in the conservation of Asian 
elephants, after receiving testimony from Senator Jeffords; 
Representative Saxton; Marshall P. Jones, Assistant Director for 
International Affairs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of 
the Interior; Ginette Hemley, World Wildlife Fund, and John W. Grandy, 
Humane Society of the United States, both of Washington, D.C.; and 
Stuart A. Marks, Safari Club International, Herndon, Virginia.
TRANSPORTATION FUNDING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure concluded hearings to examine the 
status of federal surface transportation programs in the absence of 
funding from a federal highway reauthorization act, and strategies to 
temporarily assist States to continue to fund highway programs, after 
receiving testimony from Peter J. Basso, Acting Assistant Secretary of 
Transportation for Budget and Programs; Phyllis F. Scheinberg, 
Associate Director, Transportation Issues, Resources, Community, and 
Economic Development Division, General Accounting Office; Kentucky 
Governor Paul E. Patton, Frankfort, on behalf of the National 
Governors' Association; and Steve L. Massie, Williamsburg, Virginia, on 
behalf of the Transportation Construction Coalition.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
  S. 759, to provide for an annual report to Congress concerning 
diplomatic immunity, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. Con. Res. 48, expressing the sense of the Congress regarding 
proliferation of missile technology from Russia to Iran;
  S. Con. Res. 58, expressing the concern of Congress over Russia's 
newly passed religion law; and
  The nominations of Steven J. Green, of Florida, to be Ambassador to 
the Republic of Singapore, Daniel Fried, of the District of Columbia, 
to be Ambassador to the Republic of Poland, Peter Francis Tufo, of New 
York, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Hungary, James Carew 
Rosapepe, of Maryland, to be Ambassador to Romania, Thomas J. Miller, 
of Virginia, for the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as 
Special Coordinator for Cyprus, David Timothy Johnson, of Georgia, for 
the rank of Ambassador during his tenure of service as Head of the 
United States Delegation to the Organization for Security and 
Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), Cheryl F. Halpern, of New Jersey, to be a 
Member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, United States 
Information Agency, Richard Frank Celeste, of Ohio, to be Ambassador to 
India, Shaun Edward Donnelly, of Indiana, to be Ambassador to the 
Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, and to serve concurrently 
and without additional compensation as Ambassador to the Republic of 
Maldives, Edward M. Gabriel, of the District of Columbia, to be 
Ambassador to the Kingdom of Morocco, Cameron R. Hume, of New York, to 
be Ambassador to the Democratic and Popular Republic of Algeria, Daniel 
Charles Kurtzer, of Maryland, to be Ambassador to the Arab Republic of 
Egypt, James A. Larocco, of Virginia, to be Ambassador to the State of 
Kuwait, and Edward S. Walker, Jr., of Maryland, to be Ambassador to 
Israel, Harriet C. Babbitt, of Arizona, to be Deputy Administrator, 
Terrence J. Brown, of Virginia, to be Assistant Administrator for 
Management, and Thomas H. Fox, of the District of Columbia, to be 
Assistant Administrator for Policy and Program Coordination, all of the 
Agency for International Development, Amy L. Bondurant, of the District 
of Columbia, to be Representative of the United States to the 
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, with the rank of 
Ambassador, Kirk K. Robertson, of Virginia, to be Executive Vice 
President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Joseph A. 
Presel, of Rhode Island, to be Ambassador to the Republic of 
Uzbekistan, Stanley Tuemler Escudero, of Florida, to be Ambassador to 
the Republic of Azerbaijan, B. Lynn Pascoe, of Virginia, for the rank 
of Ambassador during his tenure of Service as Special Negotiator for 
Nagorno-Karabakh, Steven Karl Pifer, of California,

[[Page D1205]]

to be Ambassador to Ukraine, Lyndon Lowell Olson, Jr., of Texas, to be 
Ambassador to Sweden, Gerald S. McGowan, of Virginia, to be Ambassador 
to the Republic of Portugal, Kathryn Linda Haycock Proffitt, of 
Arizona, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Malta, James Catherwood 
Hormel, of California, to be Ambassador to Luxembourg, and David B. 
Hermelin, of Michigan, to be Ambassador to Norway, Christopher C. 
Ashby, of Connecticut, to be Ambassador to the Oriental Republic of 
Uruguay, Hank Brown, of Colorado, to be a Member of the United States 
Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, Timothy Michael Carney, of 
Washington, to be Ambassador to the Republic of Haiti, Carolyn Curiel, 
of Indiana, to be Ambassador to Belize, Mark Erwin, of Florida, to be 
Member of the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment 
Corporation, Mary Mel French, of the District of Columbia, to be Chief 
of Protocol, and to have the rank of Ambassador during her tenure of 
service, Kathryn Walt Hall, of Texas, to be Ambassador to the Republic 
of Austria, Betty Eileen King, of Maryland, to be Representative of the 
United States on the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, 
with the rank of Ambassador, Penne Percy Korth, of Texas, to be a 
Member of the United States Advisory Commission on Public Diplomacy, 
Victor Marrero, of New York, to be the Permanent Representative of the 
United States to the Organization of American States, with the rank of 
Ambassador, Stanley Louis McLelland, of Texas, to be Ambassador to 
Jamaica, William Dale Montgomery, of Pennsylvania, to be Ambassador to 
the Republic of Croatia, George Edward Moose, of Maryland, to be 
Representative of the United States to the European Office of the 
United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador, Phyllis E. Oakley, of 
Louisiana, to be Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and 
Research, Nancy H. Rubin, of the District of Columbia, for the rank of 
Ambassador during her tenure of service as Representative of the United 
States on the Human Rights Commission of the Economic and Social 
Council of the United Nations, Lange Schermerhorn, of New Jersey, to be 
Ambassador to the Republic of Djibouti, Brenda Schoonover, of Maryland, 
to be Ambassador to the Republic of Togo, Carl Spielvogel, of New York, 
to be a Member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, Julia V. Taft, 
of the District of Columbia, to be Assistant Secretary of State for 
Population, Refugees and Migration, William H. Twaddell, of Rhode 
Island, to be Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Alexander 
Vershbow, of the District of Columbia, to be United States Permanent 
Representative on the Council of the North Atlantic Treaty 
Organization, with the rank and status of Ambassador, Frank D. Yturria, 
of Texas, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the Inter-
American Foundation, Bill Richardson, of New Mexico, to be a 
Representative of the United States to the Sessions of the General 
Assembly of the United Nations during his tenure of service as 
Representative of the United States to the United Nations, A. Peter 
Burleigh, of California, to be a Representative of the United States to 
the Sessions of the General Assembly of the United Nations during his 
tenure of service as Deputy Representative of the United States to the 
United Nations, Betty Eileen King, of Maryland, to be an Alternate 
Representative of the United States to the Sessions of the General 
Assembly of the United Nations during her tenure of service as 
Representative of the United States on the Economic and Social Council 
of the United Nations, Richard Sklar, of California, to be an Alternate 
Representative of the United States to the Sessions of the General 
Assembly of the United Nations during his tenure of service as 
Representative of the United States to the United Nations for UN 
Management and Reform, and three Foreign Service Officer promotion 
lists received in the Senate on September 3 (omit John M. O'Keefe), 
October 8, and October 9, 1997 (omit Stephen A. Dodson).
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded hearings on the 
nominations of Ernesta Ballard, of Alaska, to be a Governor of the 
United States Postal Service, Dale Cabaniss, of Virginia, to be a 
Member of the Federal Labor Relations Authority, and Susanne T. 
Marshall, of Virginia, to be a Member of the Merit Systems Protection 
Board, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own 
behalf. Ms. Ballard and Ms. Cabaniss were introduced by Senators 
Stevens and Murkowski, and Ms. Marshall was introduced by Senator 
Stevens.
COMPETITION IN THE DIGITAL AGE
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee held hearings to examine the 
impact of high-growth technology and the internet on antitrust, 
intellectual property, competition policy and enforcement, including 
Microsoft's recent efforts to exercise its monopoly power and the 
Department of Justice's pending action against the company, receiving 
testimony from Robert E. Kahn, Corporation for National Research 
Initiatives, Reston, Virginia; Kathie Sawyer, PaperWork Solutions, 
Inc., Westford, Vermont; Paul M. Ruden, American Society of Travel 
Agents, Alexandria, Virginia; Edward J. Black, Computer and 
Communications Industry Association, Charles F. Rule, Covington and 
Burling, and Kevin J. Arquit, Rogers and Wells, all of Washington, 
D.C.; and Joseph Farrell, University of California, Berkeley.

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  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Veterans Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of Richard J. Griffin, of Illinois, to be Inspector 
General, and Joseph Thompson, of New York, to be Under Secretary for 
Benefits, both of the Department of Veterans Affairs, William P. 
Greene, Jr., of West Virginia, to be an Associate Judge of the United 
States Court of Veterans Appeals, and Espiridion A. Borrego, of Texas, 
to be Assistant Secretary of Labor for Veterans' Employment and 
Training.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  H.R. 976, to provide for the disposition of certain funds 
appropriated to pay judgement in favor of the Mississippi Sioux 
Indians, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute; and
  The nomination of Kevin Gover, of New Mexico, to be Assistant 
Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs.