[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 15 (Wednesday, February 25, 1998)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D122-D125]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
AGRICULTURE, RURAL DEVELOPMENT, FDA, AND RELATED AGENCIES 
APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural 
Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies held a 
hearing on FDA. Testimony was heard from Michael A. Friedman, M.D., 
Lead Deputy Commissioner, FDA, Department of Health and Human Services.
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE, AND JUDICIARY APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, 
and Judiciary held a hearing on the Legal Services Corporation and on 
the Secretary of State. Testimony was heard from the following 
officials from Legal Service Corporation; Douglas Eakelely, Chairman; 
John Erlenborn, Vice Chairman; and John McKay, President; and Madeleine 
K. Albright, Secretary of State.
FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING, AND RELATED PROGRAMS 
APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export 
Financing and Related Programs held a hearing on Security Assistance. 
Testimony was heard from Walter B. Slocombe, Under Secretary, Policy, 
Department of Defense; and John Holum, Acting Under Secretary, Arms 
Control and International Security Affairs, Department of State.
LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, and Education held a hearing on Pension Agencies, the Office 
of Inspector

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General (Labor), the Employment Standards Administration and Bureau of 
Labor Statistics. Testimony was heard from the following officials from 
the Department of Labor: Olena Berg, Assistant Secretary, Pension 
Welfare Benefits Administration; Charles C., Masten, Inspector General; 
Katherine G. Abraham, Commissioner, Bureau of Labor Statistics; Bernard 
E. Anderson, Assistant Secretary, Employment Standards Administration; 
and David M. Strauss, Executive Director, Pension Benefit Guaranty 
Corporation.
MILITARY CONSTRUCTION APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Military Construction held 
a hearing on Army Construction. Testimony was heard from Alma Boyd 
Moore, Acting Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Department of Army.
NATIONAL SECURITY APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on National Security held a 
hearing on FY 1999, Navy/Marine Corps Budget Overview. Testimony was 
heard from the following officials of the Department of the Navy: John 
H. Dalton, Secretary; Adm. Jay L. Johnson, USN, Chief of Naval 
Operations; and Gen. Charles C. Krulak, USMC, Commandant of the Marine 
Corps.
  The Subcommittee also met in executive session to hold a hearing on 
FY 1999, Navy/Marine Corps Acquisition Program. Testimony was heard 
from the following officials of the Department of the Navy: John W. 
Douglass, Assistant Secretary (Research, Development and Acquisition); 
Vice Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, Jr., USN, Deputy Chief of Naval 
Operations (Resources, Warfare Requirements and Assessments); and Lt. 
Gen. Jeffrey W. Oster, USMC, Deputy Chief of Staff, Programs and 
Resources.
TREASURY, POSTAL SERVICE, AND GENERAL GOVERNMENT APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service, 
and General Government held a hearing on Treasury Law Enforcement. 
Testimony was heard from the following officials of the Department of 
the Treasury; Robert Rubin, Secretary; Raymond Kelly, Under Secretary, 
Enforcement; Sam Banks, Acting Commissioner, Customs Service; John 
Magaw, Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms; Lew 
Merletti, Director, Secret Service; William Baity, Deputy Director, 
Financial Crime Enforcement Network; and Ralph Basham Director, Federal 
Law Enforcement Training Center.
VA-HUD-INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent 
Agencies held a hearing on the Consumer Product Safety Commission and 
on the Consumer Information Center. Testimony was heard from Ann Brown, 
Chairman, Consumer Product Safety Commission; and Teresa Nasif, 
Director, Consumer Information Center, GSA.
TOBACCO SETTLEMENT
Committee on Commerce: Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and 
Consumer Protection held a hearing on the tobacco settlement. Testimony 
was heard from public witnesses.
CONFRONTING IRAQ--U.S. OPTIONS
Committee on International Relations: Held a hearing on U.S. Options in 
Confronting Iraq. Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
CHINA-HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION; PERUVIAN POPULATION CONTROL PROGRAM
Committee on International Relations: Subcommittee on International 
Operations and Human Rights approved for full Committee action amended 
H.Res. 364, urging introduction and passage of a resolution on the 
human rights situation in the People's Republic of China at the 54th 
Session of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.
  The Subcommittee also held a hearing on the Peruvian Population 
Control Program. Testimony was heard from Mark Schneider, Assistant 
Administrator, Latin America and the Carribbean, AID, U.S. 
International Development Cooperation Agency; and public witnesses.
REGULATORY ANALYSIS CREATION ACT; OVERSIGHT: U.S. ATTORNEY
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Commercial and 
Administrative Law approved for full Committee action amended H.R. 
1704, Congressional Office of Regulatory Analysis Creation Act.
  The Subcommittee also held an oversight hearing on the Department of 
Justice's Executive Office for U.S. Attorney, Environment and Natural 
Resources Division, and Executive Office for U.S. Trustees. Testimony 
was heard from the following officials of the Department of Justice: 
Donna A. Bucella, Director, Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys; Karen 
E. Schreier, U.S. Attorney for the District of South Dakota and Vice 
Chairman, Attorney General's Advisory Committee for U.S. Attorneys; 
Lois Schiffer, Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural 
Resources Division; and Joseph Patchan, Director, Executive Office for 
the U.S. Trustees.

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FAIR HOUSING AMENDMENTS; OVERSIGHT: CIVIL RIGHTS DIVISION DEPARTMENT OF 
JUSTICE
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution approved 
for full Committee action H.R. 3206, Fair Housing Amendments Act of 
1998.
  The Subcommittee also held an oversight hearing regarding the Civil 
Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Testimony was heard 
from Bill Lann Lee, Acting Assistant Attorney General, Department of 
Justice; and public witnesses.
MARIJUANA-SHOULD NOT BE LEGALIZED FOR MEDICINAL USE
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Crime approved for full 
Committee action a proposed resolution expressing the sense of the 
House of Representatives that marijuana is a dangerous and addictive 
narcotic and should not be legalized for medicinal use.
THREAT ASSESSMENT BRIEFING
Committee on National Security: Met in executive session to hold a 
threat assessment briefing. The Committee was briefed by John A. 
Gordon, Deputy Director, CIA; and Lt. Gen. Patrick M. Hughes, USA, 
Director, Defense Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense.
DEPOT ISSUES
Committee on National Security: Subcommittee on Military Readiness 
concluded hearings on depot issues. Testimony was heard from the 
following officials of the Department of Defense: J.S. Gansler, Under 
Secretary, Acquisition and Technology; and Darleen A. Druyan, Principal 
Deputy Assistant Secretary, Air Force, Acquisition and Management, 
Department of the Air Force.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Held a hearing on the following bills: H.R. 
2756, Kake Tribal Corporation Land Exchange Act; H.R. 2812, 
Unrecognized Southeast Alaska Native Communities Recognition Act; H.R. 
2924, to amend the Alaskan Native Claims Settlement Act to provide for 
selection of lands by certain veterans of the Vietnam era and by the 
Elim Native Corporation; H.R. 3087, to require the Secretary of 
Agriculture to grant an easement to Chugrach Alaska Corporation; and 
H.R. 3088, to amend the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, regarding 
Huna Totem Corporation public interest land exchange. Testimony was 
heard from Eleanor Towns, Director of Lands, Forest Service, USDA; John 
R. Garamendi, Deputy Secretary, Department of the Interior; and public 
witnesses.
FOREST SERVICE ROADLESS AREA MORATORIUM
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health held 
an oversight hearing on the Administration's Forest Service Roadless 
Area Moratorium. Testimony was heard from Representatives Hutchinson, 
Oberstar, Herger, Stupak and Taylor of North Carolina; Mike Dombeck, 
Chief, Forest Service, USDA; and public witnesses.
WIRELESS TELEPHONE PROTECTION ACT
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, an open rule providing 1 
hour of debate on H.R. 2460, Wireless Telephone Protection Act. The 
rule waives clause 2(I)(6) of rule XI requiring a three-day layover of 
the committee report. The rule makes in order the Judiciary Committee 
amendment in the nature of a substitute as an original bill for the 
purpose of amendment, each section of which shall be considered as 
read. The rule accords priority in recognition to Members who have pre-
printed their amendments in the Congressional Record. The rule further 
allows the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to postpone votes 
during consideration of the bill, and to reduce voting time to five 
minutes on a postponed question if the vote follows a fifteen minute 
vote. The rule provides one motion to recommit with or without 
instructions. Finally, the rule provides that after passage of the 
House bill, it will be in order to move to insert the House-passed 
language in the Senate bill number. Testimony was heard from 
Representative McCollum.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Science: Subcommittee on Energy and Environment held a 
hearing on the following: Department of Energy FY 1999 Budget 
Authorization Request; H.R. 1806, to provide for the consolidation of 
the Office of Fossil Energy and the Office of Renewable Energy and 
Energy Efficiency of the Department of Energy; and S. 965, to amend 
title II of the Hydrogen Future Act of 1996 to extend an authorization 
contained therein. Testimony was heard from the following officials of 
the Department of Energy: Martha A. Krebs, Director, Office of Energy 
Research; William D. Magwood, Associate Director, Policy and Analysis, 
Office of Nuclear Energy, Science and Technology; Patricia Fry Godley, 
Assistant Secretary, Fossil Energy; Peter N. Brush, Acting Assistant 
Secretary, Environment, Safety and Health; Dan W. Reicher, Assistant 
Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy; and James M. 
Owendoff, Acting Assistant Secretary, Environmental Management.

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FY 1999 BUDGET REQUEST NASA
Committee on Science: Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics held an 
oversight hearing on FY 1999 Budget Request: The Sciences at NASA. 
Testimony was heard from the following officials of NASA: Wesley T. 
Huntress, Associate Administrator, Space Science; Arnauld E. 
Nicogossian, Associate Administrator, Life and Microgravity Sciences 
and Applications; Ghassem Asrar. Associate Administrator, Earth 
Science; and Joseph Rothenberg, Associate Administrator, Human Space.
REDUCING SMALL BUSINESS TAX BURDEN
Committee on Small Business: Held a hearing on Reducing America's Small 
Business Tax Burden. Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
GSA BUDGET
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on Public 
Buildings and Economic Development met and agreed to postpone a hearing 
on the GSA FY 1999 Budget, and related issues.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Ways and Means: Ordered reported amended the following 
bills: H.R. 3130, Child Support Performance and Incentive Act of 1998; 
and H.R. 1432, African Growth and Opportunity Act.
  The Committee also held a hearing on the revenue provisions in the 
Administration's FY 1999 Budget. Testimony was heard from Lawrence H. 
Summers, Deputy Secretary, Department of the Treasury.
BUDGET OVERVIEW BRIEFING
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Met in executive session to 
hold a briefing on Budget Overview. The Committee was briefed by 
departmental witnesses.


                             Joint Meetings

RADIO FREQUENCY WEAPONS
Joint Economic Committee: Committee concluded hearings to examine the 
proliferation and use of radio frequency weapons technology, and their 
potential impact on United States infrastructure and economy after 
receiving testimony from James F. O'Bryon, Deputy Director, Operational 
Test and Evaluation Live Fire Testing, Office of the Secretary of 
Defense; Ira W. Merritt, Missile Defense and Space Technology Center, 
U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command, Huntsville, Alabama; and 
R. Alan Kehs, U.S. Army Research Laboratories, Adelphi, Maryland; and 
David Schriner, Ridgecrest, California.