[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 25 (Wednesday, March 11, 1998)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D210-D212]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



[[Page D210]]

                                          Wednesday, March 11, 1998

                              Daily Digest


HIGHLIGHTS

      House committees ordered reported 20 sundry measures.


                                 Senate


Chamber Action
Routine Proceedings, pages S1715-S1809
Measures Introduced: Seven bills were introduced, as follows: S. 1741-
1747.
  Page S1772
Measures Reported: Reports were made as follows:
  S. Res. 187, expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the human 
rights situation in the People's Republic of China.
Page S1772
Measures Passed:
  Bulletproof Vest Partnership Act: Senate passed 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, after agreeing to a committee amendment.
  Pages S1803-07
  U.S./Thailand Bilateral Relations: Senate agreed to S. Res. 174, to 
state the sense of the Senate that Thailand is a key partner and friend 
of the United States, has committed itself to executing its 
responsibilities under its arrangements with the International Monetary 
Fund, and that the United States should be prepared to take appropriate 
steps to ensure continued close bilateral relations, after agreeing to 
the following amendments proposed thereto:
  Pages S1807-08
  Chafee (for Roth) Amendment No. 1980, relating to the relationship 
between the United States and Thailand.
Page S1807
  Chafee Amendment No. 1981, to amend the preamble.
Page S1807
ISTEA Authorization: Senate resumed consideration of S. 1173, to 
authorize funds for construction of highways, for highway safety 
programs, and for mass transit programs, with a modified committee 
amendment in the nature of a substitute (Amendment No. 1676), taking 
action on amendments proposed thereto, as follows:
  Pages S1723-66
Adopted:
  Chafee Amendment No. 1951 (to Amendment No. 1676), to provide 
additional assistance to certain donor States. 
                                           Pages S1723-24, S1728, S1762
  Subsequently, the amendment was modified.
Page S1762
  Bond/Reid Amendment No. 1952 (to Amendment No. 1676), to express the 
sense of the Senate concerning the operation of certain double-trailer 
and triple-trailer trucks.
Pages S1724-26
  McCain/Hollings Amendment No. 1953 (to Amendment No. 1676), to 
authorize the Secretary of Transportation to implement hazardous 
material transportation pilot programs for certain farm service 
vehicles.
Pages S1726-27
  Abraham/Levin Amendment No. 1380 (to Amendment No. 1676), to provide 
for continuation of eligibility for the International Bridge, Sault 
Ste. Marie, Michigan.
Pages S1728-29
  Abraham Amendment No. 1955 (to Amendment No. 1676), to improve the 
provisions relating to credit for acquired lands.
Pages S1729-30
  Brownback Amendment No. 1956 (to Amendment No. 1676), relating to 
trail use and management of railroad rights-of-way. 
                                                  Pages S1730-32, S1734
  Abraham Modified Amendment No. 1911 (to Amendment No. 1676), to save 
lives and prevent injuries to children in motor vehicles through an 
improved national, State, and local child protection program. 
                                                  Pages S1732-34, S1740
  Warner (for Hutchinson) Amendment No. 1957 (to Amendment No. 1676), 
to allow States to use a portion of their surface transportation funds 
to combat fuel tax evasion.
Pages S1734-35
  Warner (for Stevens) Amendment No. 1958 (to Amendment No. 1676), to 
allow for the application of anti-icing applications to be eligible for 
certain Federal aid highway funds.
Page S1735
  Warner (for Murkowski/Stevens) Amendment No. 1769 (to Amendment No. 
1676), to repeal certain redundant transportation planning 
requirements.
Pages S1735-36

[[Page D211]]


  Warner (for Specter/Moynihan/Santorum) Amendment No. 1838 (to 
Amendment No. 1676), to improve the magnetic levitation transportation 
technology deployment program.
Pages S1736, S1738
  Warner (for Campbell/Gramm) Amendment No. 1959 (to Amendment No. 
1676), to establish a prohibition on lobbying activities. 
                                                         Pages S1736-38
  Warner/Chafee/Baucus Amendment No. 1960 (to Amendment No. 1676), to 
give preference under the Interstate 4R and bridge discretionary 
program to States that are bordered by 2 navigable rivers that each 
comprise at least 10 percent of the boundary of the State.
Page S1738
  Warner (for Levin/Abraham) Amendment No. 1961 (to Amendment No. 
1676), to provide that a State with respect to which certain conditions 
are met shall be eligible for the funds made available to carry out the 
high density transportation program that remain after each State that 
meets the primary eligibility criteria for the program has received the 
minimum amount of funds.
Pages S1738-39
  Baucus (for Daschle) Amendment No. 1962 (to Amendment No. 1676), to 
provide additional uses for the payment by Amtrak to non-Amtrak States.
                                                         Pages S1739-40
  Roth Amendment No. 1963 (to Amendment No. 1676), to extend for six 
years the existing transportation taxes and tax credits, to extend the 
ethanol tax exemption, to provide for a repeal of the tax on diesel 
fuel used by trains, and to provide for an increase in the tax 
exemption for employer-provided transit passes.
Pages S1741-58, S1760
  McConnell Amendment No. 1969 (to Amendment No. 1676), to allow 
entities and persons to comply with court orders relating to 
disadvantaged business enterprises and to require the Comptroller 
General to carry out a biennial review of the impact of complying with 
requirements relating to disadvantaged business enterprises. 
                                                         Pages S1758-59
  Chafee (for Byrd) Amendment No. 1970 (to Amendment No. 1676), to 
impose certain requirements concerning the biennial infrastructure 
investment needs report.
Page S1760
  Chafee (for Moseley-Braun Amendment No. 1971 (to Amendment No. 1676), 
to improve highway safety by utilizing different crash cushion designs.
                                                             Page S1760
  Chafee (for Sarbanes) Amendment No. 1972 (to Amendment No. 1676), to 
authorize the continuance of commercial operations at the service 
plazas on the John F. Kennedy Memorial Highway.
Page S1760
  Chafee (for Moynihan) Amendment No. 1973 (to Amendment No. 1676), to 
provide for the inclusion of the Secretary of Transportation and 
Federal Railroad Administrator on the Boards of Directors of the 
Pennsylvania Station Redevelopment Corporation and the Union Station 
Redevelopment Corporation.
Page S1760
  Chafee (for McCain) Amendment No. 1974 (to Amendment No. 1676), to 
reduce the amounts authorized to be appropriated for motor carrier 
safety.
Pages S1760-61
  Chafee Amendment No. 1975 (to Amendment No. 1676), to make a 
technical correction.
Pages S1760-61
  Stevens Amendment No. 1976 (to Amendment No. 1676), to authorize the 
ferry discretionary program.
Pages S1761-62
  Warner (for Cleland) Amendment No. 1977 (to Amendment No. 1676), to 
add certain counties to the Appalachian region for the purposes of the 
Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1965.
Page S1763
  Chafee (for Stevens/Murkowski) Amendment No. 1979 (to Amendment No. 
1676), to provide for the reconstruction of national defense highways 
located outside the United States.
Pages S1763-65
  Jeffords Modified Amendment No. 1716 (to Amendment No. 1676), to 
provide for the preservation of historic covered bridges in the United 
States.
Pages S1765-66
Rejected:
  McCain Amendment No. 1968 (to Amendment No. 1963), to prohibit 
extension of inequitable ethanol subsidies. (By 71 yeas to 26 nays 
(Vote No. 27), Senate tabled the amendment.
Pages S1753-57
Pending:
  McCain Amendment No. 1726 (to Amendment No. 1676), to provide that 
demonstration projects shall be subject to any limitation on 
obligations established by law that applies in Federal-aid highways and 
highway safety construction programs.
Pages S1727-28, S1740-41
  During consideration of this measure today, Senate also took the 
following action:
  By 18 yeas to 80 nays (Vote No. 26), three-fifths of those Senators 
duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, Senate 
rejected a motion to waive section 311(a)(2)(b) of the Congressional 
Budget Act of 1974 with respect to the consideration of Mack Amendment 
No. 1906 (to Amendment No. 1963), to repeal the 4.3-cent transportation 
motor fuels excise tax. Subsequently, a point of order that the 
amendment was in violation of the Congressional Budget Act was 
sustained, and the amendment thus fell.
Pages S1743-52
  By 96 yeas to 3 nays (Vote 28), three-fifths of those Senators duly 
chosen and sworn having voted

[[Page D212]]

in the affirmative, Senate agreed to close further debate on the 
modified committee amendment in the nature of a substitute (Amendment 
No. 1676).
Pages S1762-63
  A unanimous-consent agreement was reached providing for further 
consideration of the bill on Thursday, March 12, 1998.
Page S1808
Messages From the President: Senate received the following message from 
the President of the United States:
  Transmitting the report of a Presidential Determination (98-17) 
relative to Vietnam; referred to the Committee on Finance. (PM-110). 
                                                             Page S1772
Nominations Confirmed: Senate confirmed the following nominations:
  Hilda G. Tagle, of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the 
Southern District of Texas.
  Sam A. Lindsay, of Texas, to be United States District Judge for the 
Northern District of Texas.
  Judith M. Barzilay, of New Jersey, to be a Judge of the United States 
Court of International Trade.
  Delissa A. Ridgway, of the District of Columbia, to be a Judge of the 
United States Court of International Trade.
Pages S1808-09
Nominations Received: Senate received the following nominations:
  Thomas Ehrlich, of California, to be a Member of the Board of 
Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service for a 
term of five years.
  Dorothy A. Johnson, of Michigan, to be a Member of the Board of 
Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service for a 
term of five years.
  Alice Rae Yelen, of Louisiana, to be a Member of the National Museum 
Services Board for a term expiring December 6, 2001.
  Stephen C. Robinson, of Connecticut, to be United States Attorney for 
the District of Connecticut for the term of four years.
Page S1809
Nomination Withdrawn: Senate received notification of the withdrawal of 
the following nomination:
  Ida L. Castro, of New York, to be Director of the Women's Bureau, 
Department of Labor, which was sent to the Senate on October 9, 1997. 
                                                             Page S1809
Messages From the President:
  Page S1772
Messages From the House:
  Page S1772
Executive Reports of Committees:
  Page S1772
Statements on Introduced Bills:
  Pages S1772-84
Additional Cosponsors:
  Pages S1784-85
Amendments Submitted:
  Pages S1785-97
Authority for Committees:
  Page S1797
Additional Statements:
  Pages S1797-S1803
Record Votes: Three record votes were taken today. (Total-28) 
                                           Pages S1752, S1757, S1762-63
Adjournment: Senate convened at 9 a.m., and adjourned at 6:48 p.m., 
until 9:30 a.m., on Thursday, March 12, 1998. (For Senate's program, 
see the remarks of the Acting Majority Leader in today's Record, on 
page S1808.)