[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 9 (Tuesday, February 10, 1998)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D76-D78]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS--AGRICULTURE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural 
Development, and Related Agencies held hearings on proposed budget 
estimates for fiscal year 1999 for the Department of Agriculture, 
receiving testimony from Daniel R. Glickman, Secretary, Richard 
Rominger, Deputy Secretary, Keith Collins, Chief Economist, and Stephen 
B. Dewhurst, Director, Office of Budget and Program Analysis, all of 
the Department of Agriculture.
  Committee will meet again on Tuesday, February 24.
AUTHORIZATIONS--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Committee resumed hearings on proposed 
legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1999 for the Department 
of Defense and the future years defense program, receiving testimony 
from Robert M. Walker, Acting Secretary of the Army; and Gen. Dennis J. 
Reimer, USA, Chief of Staff of the Army.
  Hearings continue on Thursday, February 12.
FDIC
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on 
Financial Services and Technology

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concluded hearings to examine the efforts of the Federal Deposit 
Insurance Corporation to bring its systems and those of its regulated 
institutions into compliance with the Year 2000, after receiving 
testimony from Jack L. Brock, Jr., Director, Governmentwide and Defense 
Information Systems, Accounting and Information Management Division, 
General Accounting Office; and Michael J. Zamorski, Deputy Director, 
Division of Supervision, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
U.S. REVENUE
Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded hearings to examine the 
impact of recent revenue growth in the United States, after receiving 
testimony from James E. Glassman, Chase Securities, Inc., New York, New 
York; John G. Wilkins, Coopers and Lybrand, Washington, D.C.; and David 
A. Wyss, Standard & Poor's DRI, Lexington, Massachusetts.
INTERNET INDECENCY
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee held 
hearings to examine the extent of obscene material available on the 
Internet and measures to restrict its access, including S. 1619, to 
direct the Federal Communications Commission to study systems for 
filtering or blocking certain matter on the Internet, and to require 
the installation of such a system on computers in schools and libraries 
with Internet access, and S. 1482, to establish a prohibition on 
commercial distribution on the World Wide Web of material that is 
harmful to minors, receiving testimony from Senators Coats and Murray; 
Seth Warshavsky, Internet Entertainment Group, Inc., Seattle, 
Washington; Andrew L. Sernovitz, Association for Interactive Media, and 
Christine Varney, Hogan & Hartson, both of Washington, D.C.; Elizabeth 
Whitacker, Tucson Unified School District, Tucson, Arizona; and a 
protected witness.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
COMPUTER SECURITY
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Science, Technology, and Space concluded hearings to examine current 
computer security vulnerabilities within civilian federal agencies and 
current activities to prevent unauthorized computer access, after 
receiving testimony from G. Edward DeSeve, Acting Deputy Director for 
Management, Office of Management and Budget; Raymond G. Kammer, 
Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Department of 
Commerce; Frank A. Perry, Technical Director and Deputy Director, 
Engineering and Interoperability, Defense Information Systems Agency, 
Department of Defense; Len Baptiste, Director of Systems Standards and 
Evaluation, Internal Revenue Service, Department of the Treasury; and 
Lee B. Holcomb, Chief Information Officer, National Aeronautics and 
Space Administration.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee ordered favorably 
reported the nominations of Donald J. Barry, of Wisconsin, to be 
Assistant Secretary of the Interior for Fish and Wildlife, and 
Sallyanne Harper, of Virginia, to be Chief Financial Officer, 
Environmental Protection Agency.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  The nominations of Richard W. Fisher, of Texas, to be Deputy United 
States Trade Representative, with the rank of Ambassador, Donald C. 
Lubick, of Maryland, to be an Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, L. 
Paige Marvel, of Maryland, to be a Judge of the United States Tax 
Court, and Michael B. Thornton, of Virginia, to be a Judge of the 
United States Tax Court; and
  S. 1133, to allow tax-free expenditures from education individual 
retirement accounts for elementary and secondary school expenses and to 
increase the maximum annual amount of contributions to such accounts, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
FOREIGN POLICY/STATE DEPARTMENT BUDGET
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee held hearings to review 
foreign policy issues for 1998 and the President's proposed budget 
request for fiscal year 1999 for the Department of State, receiving 
testimony from Madeleine K. Albright, Secretary of State.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
INTERNET FRAUD
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Permanent Subcommittee on 
Investigations held hearings to examine certain incidences of fraud and 
deception on the Internet, and how to protect consumers, receiving 
testimony from Robert Pitofsky, Chairman, and Jody Bernstein, Director, 
Bureau of Consumer Protection, both of the Federal Trade Commission; 
Susan Grant, National Fraud Information Center/National Consumers 
League, Washington, D.C.; Tatiana Gau, America Online, Inc., Vienna, 
Virginia; and Barry D. Wise, Matthews, North Carolina.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
GLOBAL TOBACCO SETTLEMENT
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee resumed hearings to examine the 
scope and depth of the proposed

[[Page D78]]

settlement between State Attorneys General and tobacco companies to 
mandate a total reformation and restructuring of how tobacco products 
are manufactured, marketed, and distributed in America, focusing on 
First Amendment issues related to cigarette advertising regulations and 
litigation concerning those restrictions, and civil liability 
provisions of the proposed settlement, and related provisions of S. 
1530, Placing Restraints on Tobacco's Endangerment of Children and 
Teens Act (pending on Senate calendar), receiving testimony from David 
W. Ogden, Counselor to the Attorney General, Department of Justice; 
Richard A. Daynard, Northeastern University School of Law, Boston, 
Massachusetts; Martin H. Redish, Northwestern University School of Law, 
Chicago, Illinois; and David S. Versfelt, Freedom to Advertise 
Coalition, and Floyd Abrams, both of New York, New York.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
GLOBAL TOBACCO SETTLEMENT
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee resumed hearings to 
examine the scope and depth of the proposed settlement between State 
Attorneys General and tobacco companies to mandate a total reformation 
and restructuring of how tobacco products are manufactured, marketed, 
and distributed in America, focusing on public health goals, receiving 
testimony from Michael P. Eriksen, Director, Office on Smoking and 
Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health 
Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Alan I. Leshner, 
Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Marc W. Manley, Division on 
Cancer Prevention and Control, National Cancer Institute, John M. 
Eisenberg, Administrator, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, 
and William B. Schultz, Deputy Commissioner for Policy, Food and Drug 
Administration, all of the Department of Health and Human Services; and 
Matthew L. Myers, Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids/National Center for 
Tobacco-Free Kids, R. Timothy Columbus, Collier Shannon Rill & Scott, 
on behalf of the National Association of Convenience Stores, and Scott 
D. Ballin, American Lung Association, all of Washington, D.C.
  Hearings continue on Tuesday, February 24.
SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded hearings to examine the 
future of the Social Security system and goals to restore its long-term 
solvency, after receiving testimony from Kenneth S. Apfel, 
Commissioner, Social Security Administration; Jane L. Ross, Director, 
Income Security Issues, Health, Education, and Human Services Division, 
General Accounting Office; Fidel A. Vargas, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
former Member of the Advisory Council on Social Security; and Timothy 
J. Penny, Cato Institute, and Joseph Perkins, American Association of 
Retired Persons, both of Washington, D.C.