[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 16 (Thursday, February 26, 1998)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D130-D133]
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 Natural Resources Conservation 
Service of the Department of Agriculture, receiving testimony from 
James R. Lyons, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, 
and Thomas A. Weber, Acting Chief, Natural Resources Conservation 
Service, both of the Department of Agriculture, who were accompanied by 
several of his associates.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Tuesday, March 3.
APPROPRIATIONS--STATE DEPARTMENT
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, 
and Judiciary, and Related Agencies held hearings on proposed budget 
estimates

[[Page D131]]

for fiscal year 1999 for the Department of State, receiving testimony 
from Madeleine K. Albright, Secretary of State.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Tuesday, March 3.
APPROPRIATIONS--DEFENSE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense held hearings on 
proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 1999 for the Department of 
Defense, receiving testimony from John J. Hamre, Deputy Secretary of 
Defense.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Wednesday, March 4.
APPROPRIATIONS--CAPITOL POLICE/SECRETARY OF THE SENATE/CBO
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch 
held hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 1999, 
receiving testimony in behalf of funds for their respective activities 
from Wilson Livingood, House Sergeant at Arms, Gregory S. Casey, Senate 
Sergeant at Arms, Alan M. Hantman, Architect of the Capitol, and Gary 
L. Abrecht, Chief of Police, all on behalf of the Capitol Police Board; 
Gary Sisco, Secretary of the Senate; and June E. O'Neill, Director, 
Congressional Budget Office.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Thursday, March 12.
APPROPRIATIONS--TREASURY
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on the Treasury and General 
Government held hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 
1999 for law enforcement programs of the Department of the Treasury, 
receiving testimony from Raymond W. Kelly, Under Secretary for 
Enforcement, John W. Magaw, Director, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and 
Firearms, Lewis C. Merletti, Director, United States Secret Service, 
Samuel Banks, Acting Commissioner, United States Customs Service, Ted 
F. Brown, Assistant Commissioner for Criminal Investigation, Internal 
Revenue Service, W. Ralph Basham, Director, Federal Law Enforcement 
Training Center, and William Baity, Deputy Director, Financial Crimes 
Enforcement Network, all of the Department of the Treasury.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Thursday, March 5.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported 1,078 
military nominations in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.
EXPORT PROMOTION
Committee on the Budget: Committee's International Affairs Task Force 
concluded hearings to examine the success of the National Trade 
Strategy from the perspective of international affairs funding, after 
receiving testimony from David L. Aaron, Under Secretary of Commerce 
for International Trade; JayEtta Z. Hecker, Associate Director, 
International Relations and Trade Issues, National Security and 
International Affairs Division, General Accounting Office; and Edmund 
Rice, Coalition for Employment Through Exports, Inc., Washington, D.C.
GLOBAL TOBACCO SETTLEMENT
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee resumed 
hearings to examine the scope and depth of the proposed settlement 
between States Attorneys Generals and tobacco companies to mandate a 
total reformation and restructuring of how tobacco products are 
manufactured, marketed, and distributed in America, focusing on those 
provisions that would limit the liability of tobacco companies, 
receiving testimony from Mississippi Attorney General Mike Moore, 
Jackson; Kansas Attorney General Carla J. Stovall, Topeka; Colorado 
Attorney General Gale Norton, Denver; Stanley M. Chesley, Waite, 
Schneider, Bayless & Chesley Co., Cincinnati, Ohio, on behalf of the 
Castano Plaintiffs Litigation Committee; Eugene I. Pavalon, Chicago, 
Illinois, on behalf of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America; 
Kris W. Kobach, University of Missouri at Kansas City School of Law, 
Kansas City, Missouri; and Richard F. Scruggs, Scruggs, Millette, 
Lawson, Bozeman & Dent, Pascagoula, Mississippi.
  Hearings continue on Tuesday, March 3.
FAA MODERNIZATION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Aviation concluded hearings to examine the Federal Aviation 
Administration's plans to replace and upgrade the National Airspace 
System's equipment and facilities to meet the increase in traffic 
volume, enhance the margin of air safety, and increase the efficiency 
of the air traffic control system, focusing on its problems in meeting 
cost, schedule, and performance goals, after receiving testimony from 
Jane F. Garvey, Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration, FAA; 
Gerald L. Dillingham, Associate Director, Transportation Issues, 
Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division, General 
Accounting Office; Margaret T. Jenny, US Airways, Arlington, Virginia; 
and Phil Boyer, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Washington, 
D.C.

[[Page D132]]


MEDICARE PRIVATE CONTRACTING
Committee on Finance: Committee held hearings on S. 1194, to amend 
title XVIII of the Social Security Act to clarify the right of medicare 
beneficiaries to enter into private contracts with physicians and other 
health care professionals for the provision of health services for 
which no payment is sought under the medicare program, receiving 
testimony from Senators Kyl and Durbin; Representative Cardin; Nancy-
Ann Min DeParle, Administrator, Health Care Financing Administration, 
Department of Health and Human Services; Beatrice Braun, Spring Hill, 
Florida, on behalf of the American Association of Retired Persons; Kent 
Masterson Brown, United Seniors Association, Inc., Fairfax, Virginia; 
J. Edward Hill, Tupelo, Mississippi, on behalf of the American Medical 
Association; and William A. Reynolds, Missoula, Montana, on behalf of 
the American College of Physicians.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
U.S. TRADE SANCTIONS IN ASIA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on East Asia and Pacific 
Affairs held hearings to examine whether unilateral trade sanctions are 
an effective tool of United States foreign policy in Asia, receiving 
testimony from Frank D. Kittredge, National Foreign Trade Council, 
Inc., Ernest H. Preeg, Center for Strategic and International Studies, 
Ernest Z. Bower, US-ASEAN Business Council, Inc., Arthur T. Downey, 
Baker Hughes, Incorporated, on behalf of the National Association of 
Manufacturers, and Douglas H. Paal, Asia Pacific Policy Center, all of 
Washington, D.C.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
DRUG CERTIFICATION
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, 
Peace Corps, Narcotics and Terrorism held hearings to examine the 
effectiveness of the certification process under the Foreign Service 
Act used by the United States to assess how other nations cooperate in 
their counternarcotics efforts, receiving testimony from Thomas A. 
Constantine, Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration, Department 
of Justice; John P. Walters, Philanthropy Roundtable, Washington, D.C.; 
Richard B. Craig, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio; and Rensselaer W. 
Lee III, Global Advisory Services, McLean, Virginia.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
MERIT SYSTEM PROTECTION ACT
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee on International 
Security, Proliferation and Federal Services concluded hearings on S. 
1495, to strengthen the ability of the Office of Personnel Management 
to obtain judicial review of a final order or decision of the Merit 
Systems Protection Board within 60 days after receiving notice thereof, 
after receiving testimony from Lorraine Lewis, General Counsel, Office 
of Personnel Management; David M. Cohen, Director, Commercial 
Litigation Branch of the Civil Division, Department of Justice; and 
Robert M. Tobias, National Treasury Employees Union, and Mark D. Roth, 
American Federation of Government Employees (AFL-CIO), both of 
Washington, D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  The nominations of M. Margaret McKeown, of Washington, to be United 
States Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit, Thomas J. Umberg, of 
California, to be Deputy Director for Supply Reduction, Office of 
National Drug Control Policy, Randall Dean Anderson, to be United 
States Marshal for the District of Utah, and Robert A. Miller, of South 
Dakota, to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the State Justice 
Institute;
  H.R. 1534, to simplify and expedite access to the Federal courts for 
injured parties whose rights and privileges, secured by the United 
States Constitution, have been deprived by final actions of Federal 
agencies, or other government officials or entities acting under color 
of State law; to prevent Federal courts from abstaining from exercising 
Federal jurisdiction in actions where no State law claim is alleged; to 
permit certification of unsettled State law questions that are 
essential to resolving Federal claims arising under the Constitution; 
and to clarify when government action is sufficiently final to ripen 
certain Federal claims arising under the Constitution, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 1605, to establish a matching grant program to help States, units 
of local government, and Indian tribes to purchase armor vests for use 
by law enforcement officers, with an amendment;
  S. 1244, to amend Federal bankruptcy law with respect to avoidance by 
the trustee in bankruptcy of fraudulent transfers and obligations to 
cite circumstances under which a transfer of a charitable contribution 
to a qualified religious or charitable unit shall not be considered to 
be fraudulent, and to prohibit the trustee from avoiding such 
charitable contributions when acting as lien creditors and successor to 
certain creditor and purchasers, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute; and
  S. Res. 181, expressing the sense of the Senate that on March 2, 
every child in America should be in the company of someone who will 
read to him or her.

[[Page D133]]


ANTITRUST OVERSIGHT
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Antitrust, Business Rights 
and Competition held oversight hearings to review the state of 
antitrust enforcement within the Antitrust Division of the Department 
of Justice, and proposals to improve international antitrust 
enforcement, including increasing criminal fines for corporate price-
fixing conspiracies, receiving testimony from Joel I. Klein, Assistant 
Attorney General, Antitrust Division, Department of Justice.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Wednesday, March 4.
MEDICAL CONFIDENTIALITY
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee concluded hearings on 
proposed legislation to protect the confidentiality of medical 
information, including S. 1368, to provide individuals with access to 
health information of which they are the subject, ensure personal 
privacy with respect to personal medical records and health care-
related information, impose criminal and civil penalties for 
unauthorized use of personal health information, and to provide for the 
strong enforcement of these rights, after receiving testimony from 
Senators Bennett and Leahy; Kathleen Sebelius, Kansas Department of 
Insurance, Topeka, on behalf of the National Association of Insurance 
Commissioners; Janlori Goldman, Georgetown University Medical Center, 
and Christine Brunswick, National Breast Cancer Coalition, both of 
Washington, D.C.; Michael L. Rhodes, Intermountain Health Care, Salt 
Lake City, Utah; and Bonnie Rogers, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, on 
behalf of the American Association of Occupational Health Nurses.
TRIBAL PRIORITY ALLOCATIONS
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded oversight hearings to 
examine Tribal Priority Allocation funding as contained in the 
President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 1999 for the Bureau 
of Indian Affairs, Department of the Interior, after receiving 
testimony from Kevin Gover, Assistant Secretary of the Interior for 
Indian Affairs; John Washakie, Eastern Shoshone Tribe of the Wind River 
Reservation, Fort Washakie, Wyoming, on behalf of the Shoshone Business 
Council; Andrew L. Othole, Pueblo of Zuni, Zuni, New Mexico; Edward K. 
Thomas, Central Council of Tlingit and Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, 
Juneau; Bernida Churchill, Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe Indians, Onamia, 
Minnesota; and James T. Martin, United South and Eastern Tribes, Inc., 
Nashville, Tennessee.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on 
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the 
intelligence community.
  Committee will meet again on Wednesday, March 4.