[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 31 (Thursday, March 19, 1998)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D267-D269]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS--FCC/SEC
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, 
and the Judiciary held hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal 
year 1999, receiving testimony in behalf of funds for their respective 
activities from William E. Kennard, Chairman, Federal Communications 
Commission; and Arthur Levitt, Chairman, Securities and Exchange 
Commission.

[[Page D268]]


  Subcommittee will meet again on Tuesday, March 31.
INTELLIGENCE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense held closed 
hearings to review certain intelligence matters, receiving testimony 
from George J. Tenet, Director, Central Intelligence Agency; and Keith 
Hall, Director, National Reconnaissance Office.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Wednesday, March 25.
APPROPRIATIONS--ARCHITECT OF THE CAPITOL/GAO/GPO
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on the Legislative Branch 
concluded hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 1999, 
after receiving testimony in behalf of their respective activities from 
Alan M. Hantman, Architect of the Capitol; James F. Hinchman, Acting 
Comptroller General, General Accounting Office; and Michael F. DiMario, 
Public Printer, Government Printing Office.
APPROPRIATIONS--TRANSPORTATION
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Transportation and Related 
Agencies held hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 
1999 for the Department of Transportation, receiving testimony from 
Rodney E. Slater, Secretary of Transportation, Jane Garvey, 
Administrator, Federal Aviation Administration, and Adm. Robert E. 
Kramek, USCG, Commandant, United States Coast Guard, all of the 
Department of Transportation.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Tuesday, March 24.
APPROPRIATIONS--VA/ARMY CEMETERIAL EXPENSES
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent 
Agencies held hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 
1999 for the Department of Veterans Affairs and cemeterial expenses of 
the Army, receiving testimony in behalf of funds for their respective 
activities from Togo West, Acting Secretary of Veterans Affairs; and 
John Zirschky, Acting Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works).
  Subcommittee will meet again on Thursday, April 23.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported 1,952 
military nominations in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.
NATO ENLARGEMENT
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded hearings to examine 
issues related to the proposed ratification of the Protocols to the 
North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on Accession of Poland, Hungary, and the 
Czech Republic (Treaty Doc. 105-36), pending on Senate Executive 
Calendar, focusing on the new missions and interests and military 
structure of NATO and its impact on Russia's economic restructuring, 
after receiving testimony from William J. Perry, former Secretary of 
Defense, William Kristol, Project for the New American Century, Susan 
Eisenhower, Center for Political and Strategic Studies, and William 
Hyland, all of Washington, D.C.
AUTHORIZATION--DOE DEFENSE PROGRAMS
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces held 
hearings on proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1999 
for national defense and the future years defense program, focusing on 
the Department of Energy's science-based stockpile stewardship and 
management program, receiving testimony from Victor H. Reis, Assistant 
Secretary for Defense Programs, C. Paul Robinson, Director, Sandia 
National Laboratory, Bruce Tarter, Director, Lawrence Livermore 
National Laboratory, John Browne, Director, Los Alamos National 
Laboratory, Karen Clegg, Manager, Kansas City Plant, Gus Gustavson, 
Manager, Y-12 Plant, William Weinerich, Manager, Pantex Plant, and 
Joseph Buggy, Executive Vice President, Westinghouse Savannah River 
Company/Savannah River Plant, all of the Department of Energy.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Tuesday, March 24.
1999 BUDGET
Committee on the Budget: On Wednesday, March 18, committee ordered 
favorably reported an original concurrent resolution setting forth the 
congressional budget for the United States Government for fiscal years 
1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003.
GLOBAL TOBACCO SETTLEMENT
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee resumed 
hearings on proposed legislation to reform and restructure the process 
by which tobacco products are manufactured, marketed, and distributed, 
to prevent the use of tobacco products by minors, and to redress the 
adverse health effects of tobacco use, receiving testimony from Raymond 
C. Scheppach, National Governors' Association, and R. Timothy Columbus, 
Collier, Shannon, Rill & Scott, on behalf of the National Association 
of Convenience Stores, both of Washington, D.C.; and Martin Feldman, 
Salomon Smith Barney, New York, New York.
  Hearings continue on Tuesday, March 24.

[[Page D269]]


ALASKA NATIVE LAND RIGHTS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded hearings 
on the following bills:
  S. 1488, to ratify an agreement between the Aleut Corporation and the 
United States to exchange land rights received under the Alaska Native 
Claims Settlement Act for certain land interests on Adak Island, and a 
proposed committee amendment to S. 1488, to provide for the transfer of 
personal property at the Adak Naval Complex in Alaska to the Aleut 
Corporation, after receiving testimony from John R. Garamendi, Deputy 
Secretary of the Interior; William J. Cassidy, Jr., Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of the Navy (Conversion and Redevelopment); and Elary 
Gromoff, Aleut Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska; and
  S. 1670, to provide for the selection of lands by certain Native 
Alaskan veterans of the Vietnam era, after receiving testimony from 
John R. Garamendi, Deputy Secretary of the Interior; and Nelson N. 
Angapak, Sr., Alaska Federation of Natives, Anchorage.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following business items:
  The nomination of Richard A. Paez, of California, to be United States 
Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit;
  S. Res. 155, designating April 6 of each year as ``National Tartan 
Day'' to recognize the outstanding achievements and contributions made 
by Scottish Americans to the United States; and
  S. Res. 198, designating April 1, 1998, as ``National Breast Cancer 
Survivors' Day''.
INTERNATIONAL AVIATION ALLIANCES
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Antitrust, Business Rights, 
and Competition concluded hearings to examine certain issues with 
regard to international aviation agreements, including the proposed 
British Airways/American Airlines alliance, focusing on antitrust 
implications and the impact of alliances on airline marketing 
practices, after receiving testimony from John H. Anderson, Jr., 
Director, Transportation Issues, Resources, Community, and Economic 
Development Division, General Accounting Office; Charles A. Hunnicutt, 
Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Aviation and International 
Affairs; Joel I. Klein, Assistant Attorney General, Antitrust Division, 
Department of Justice; Robert J. Ayling, British Airways, and Richard 
Branson, Virgin Atlantic Airways, both of London, England; Gordon 
Bethune, Continental Airlines, Houston, Texas; Robert L. Crandall, 
American Airlines, Fort Worth, Texas; Gerald Greenwald, United 
Airlines, Chicago, Illinois; Leo F. Mullin, Delta Airlines, Atlanta, 
Georgia; and Stephen M. Wolf, US Airways, Arlington, Virginia.
HEALTH INSURANCE STANDARDS
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee concluded oversight 
hearings on the implementation of the Health Insurance Portability and 
Accountability Act (P.L. 104-191), focusing on its impact on consumers, 
issuers of health coverage, State insurance regulators and federal 
regulators, after receiving testimony from Representative Nancy 
Johnson; Nancy-Ann Min Deparle, Administrator, Health Care Financing 
Administration, Department of Health and Human Services; Meredith 
Miller, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Pension and Welfare 
Benefits; William J. Scanlon, Director, Health Financing and Systems 
Issues, Health, Education, and Human Services Division, General 
Accounting Office; Kansas State Senator Sandy Praeger, Topeka, on 
behalf of the Reforming States Group; Maine Superintendent of Insurance 
Alessandro Iuppa, Augusta, on behalf of the National Association of 
Insurance Commissioners; Gail Shearer, Consumers Union, and Bill 
Gradison, Health Insurance Association of America, both of Washington, 
D.C.; and Donald Will Moran, The Lewin Group, Fairfax, Virginia.
SMITHSONIAN/KENNEDY CENTER/WOODROW WILSON CENTER
Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee concluded hearings to 
examine the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 1999 
and operations of the Smithsonian Institution, the Kennedy Center for 
the Performing Arts, and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for 
Scholars, after receiving testimony from I. Michael Heyman, Secretary, 
Constance Newman, Under Secretary, and Dennis J. O'Connor, Provost, all 
of the Smithsonian Institution; Lawrence J. Wilker, President, John F. 
Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts; and Dean W. Anderson, Acting 
Director, and Samuel F. Wells, Deputy Director, both of the Woodrow 
Wilson International Center for Scholars.
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 25.