[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 34 (Tuesday, March 24, 1998)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D290-D293]
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 Farm and Foreign Agricultural 
Service of the Department of Agriculture, receiving testimony from 
August Schumacher, Jr., Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign 
Agricultural Programs, Keith Kelly, Administrator, Farm Service Agency, 
Christopher E. Goldthwait, General Sales Manager, Lon S. Hatamiya, 
Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service, and Kenneth D. Ackerman, 
Administrator, Risk Management Agency, all of the Department of 
Agriculture.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Tuesday, March 31.
ALZHEIMERS DISEASE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, and Education concluded hearings to examine issues with 
regard to Alzheimers disease, focusing on its impact on families and 
research and development programs, after receiving testimony from 
Steven DeKosky, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, 
Pennsylvania; Donald Schmechel, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, 
North Carolina; Orien Reid, Laverock, Pennsylvania, on behalf of the 
Alzheimer's Association; Bob and Rosemary Cronin, Dubuque, Iowa; and 
Piper Laurie, Los Angeles, California.

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DRUG ADDICTION AND RECOVERY
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, and Education concluded hearings on proposals to provide for 
nondiscriminatory coverage for substance abuse treatment services under 
private group and individual health coverage, after receiving testimony 
from Senator Wellstone; Representative Ramstad; Alan I. Leshner, 
Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Department of Health and 
Human Services; Fred D. Hafer, General Public Utilities, Inc., 
Morristown, New Jersey; William Cope Moyers, Hazelden Foundation, 
Center City, Minnesota; John T. Schwarzlose, Betty Ford Center, Indian 
Wells, California, on behalf of the Partnership for Recovery and the 
National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers; Buzz Aldrin, 
Santa Monica, California; Shawn Colvin and Bill Moyers, both of New 
York, New York; and Carroll O'Connor and Mackenzie Phillips, both of 
Los Angeles, California.
APPROPRIATIONS--AMTRAK
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Transportation and Related 
Agencies held hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 
1999 for the National Railroad Passenger Corporation (Amtrak), focusing 
on how to improve intercity passenger rail in the United States, 
receiving testimony from Senators Roth, Biden, and Baucus; Phyllis F. 
Scheinberg, Associate Director, Transportation Issues, Resources, 
Community, and Economic Development Division, General Accounting 
Office; Kenneth M. Mead, Inspector General, Department of 
Transportation; Jack Lew, Deputy Director, Office of Management and 
Budget; Mayor Ed Rendell, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Robert Kiley, New 
York City Partnerships, New York, New York; Robert Poole, Reason 
Foundation, Los Angeles, California; and Jeff Ladd, Metra Commuter 
Rail, Chicago, Illinois.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Thursday, April 2.
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT REFORM
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Acquisition and Technology 
resumed hearings on proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal 
year 1999 for the Department of Defense and the future years defense 
program, focusing on the management of research, development, test and 
evaluation programs, receiving testimony from John W. Lyons, Director, 
Army Research Laboratory, Richard E. Metrey, Director, Carderock 
Division, Naval Surface Warfare Center, George T. Singley, III, Acting 
Director, Defense Research and Engineering, and Patricia A. Sanders, 
Director, Test, Systems Engineering and Evaluation, all of the 
Department of Defense.
  Subcommittee recessed subject to call.
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces resumed 
hearings on proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1999 
for the Department of Defense and the future years defense program, 
focusing on ballistic missile defense programs, receiving testimony 
from Lt. Gen. Lester L. Lyles, USAF, Director, Ballistic Missile 
Defense Organization, Department of Defense; Gen. Larry D. Welch, USAF 
(Ret.), Institute for Defense Analyses, Alexandria, Virginia; David J. 
Smith, Global Horizons, Inc., Annandale, Virginia; and William R. 
Graham, National Security Research, Inc., Fairfax, Virginia.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Thursday, March 26.
PROFESSIONAL BOXING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
hearings to examine certain business practices within the professional 
boxing industry, focusing on the role and status of State regulation, 
contract issues, and the promotion of the athletes, after receiving 
testimony from Gregory P. Sirb, Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission, 
Harrisburg, on behalf of the Association of Boxing Commissions; Cedric 
Kushner, Cedric Kushner Promotions, Long Island, New York; James J. 
Binns, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on behalf of the World Boxing 
Association and the World Boxing Association of North America; Patrick 
C. English, Clifton, New Jersey; and Fredric G. Levin, Pensacola, 
Florida.
GLOBAL TOBACCO SETTLEMENT
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation:Committee concluded 
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, after receiving testimony from 
Lawrence H. Summers, Deputy Secretary, and Jonathan Gruber, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, both of the Department of the Treasury; Scott R. 
Strand, Minnesota Office of Attorney General, St. Paul; Floyd Abrams, 
Cahill, Gordon & Reindel, Martin Feldman, Smith Barney, Inc., and 
Harvey R. Miller, Weil, Gotshal & Manges, all of New York, New York; 
and Harvey S. Rosen, Burke, Rosen & Associates, Cleveland, Ohio.
NATIONAL PARKS/HISTORIC SITES/MEMORIALS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on National 
Parks, Historic Preservation,

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and Recreation concluded hearings on S. 887, to establish in the 
National Park Service the National Underground Railroad Network to 
Freedom Program, S. 991, to make technical corrections to the Omnibus 
Parks and Public Lands Management Act of 1996, S. 1695, to establish 
the Sand Creek Massacre National Historic Site in the State of 
Colorado, and S.J.Res. 41, approving the location of a Martin Luther 
King, Jr., Memorial in the Nation's Capital, after receiving testimony 
from Senators Warner, Sarbanes, DeWine, and Moseley-Braun; Katherine H. 
Stevenson, Associate Director, Cultural Resource Stewardship and 
Partnerships, National Park Service, Department of the Interior; Steve 
Brady, Northern Cheyenne Band of Sand Creek Descendants, Lame Deer, 
Montana; Laird Cometsevah, Clinton, Oklahoma; David Fridtjof Halaas, 
Colorado Historical Society, Denver; Iantha Gantt-Wright, National 
Parks and Conservation Association, Washington, D.C.; Cathy Nelson, 
Ohio Underground Railroad Association, Columbus; Ed Rigaud, National 
Underground Railroad Freedom Center, Cincinnati, Ohio; Glennette Tilley 
Turner, Wheaton, Illinois, on behalf of the Underground Railroad 
Advisory Committee; and John H. Carter, BellSouth Telecommunications, 
Inc., Atlanta, Georgia, on behalf of the Washington D.C. Martin Luther 
King, Jr. National Memorial Project Foundation, Inc.
AUTHORIZATION--SUPERFUND
Committee on Environment and Public Works:Committee began mark up of S. 
8, to revise and authorize funds for fiscal years 1998 through 2002 for 
programs of the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Liability, and 
Compensation Act (Superfund), but did not complete action thereon, and 
will meet again tomorrow.
INDONESIA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific 
Affairs concluded hearings to examine the current economic and 
political situation in Indonesia, after receiving testimony from 
Aurelia E. Brazeal, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian 
and Pacific Affairs; Arian Ardie, Deputy Secretary General of KIKAS 
(Kadin Indonesia Komite America Serikat), Indonesian Chamber of 
Commerce and Industry, Jakarta, Indonesia; and Walter B. Lohman, U.S.-
ASEAN Business Council, Edward E. Masters, U.S.-Indonesia Society, and 
Adam Schwarz, Council on Foreign Relations, all of Washington, D.C.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded hearings on the 
nominations of Ivan L.R. Lemelle, to be United States District Judge 
for the Eastern District of Louisiana, A. Howard Matz, to be United 
States District Judge for the Central District of California, and 
George Caram Steeh III and Arthur J. Tarnow, each to be a United States 
District Judge for the Eastern District of Michigan, after the nominees 
testified and answered questions in their own behalf. Mr. Lemelle was 
introduced by Senators Breaux and Landrieu, Mr. Matz was introduced by 
Senator Boxer, and Messrs. Steeh and Tarnow were introduced by Senator 
Levin.
HEALTH CARE QUALITY
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee concluded hearings on 
proposals to promote quality and fairness in employment-based group 
health plans and to improve consumer protections and the quality of 
health care in the employment-based system, including S. 1712, S. 644, 
S. 373, S. 353, S. 449, and S. 346, after receiving testimony from 
Senator Lieberman; Margaret A. Hamburg, Assistant Secretary of Health 
and Human Services for Planning and Evaluation; Meredith Miller, Deputy 
Assistant Secretary of Labor for Pension and Welfare Benefits; Colorado 
Commissioner of Insurance Jack Ehnes, Denver, on behalf of the National 
Association of Insurance Commissioners; Beau Carter, Integrated 
Healthcare Association, Pleasanton, California; Joanne L. Hustead, 
National Partnership for Women and Families, Washington, D.C.; Mark S. 
Waskow, Waskow Group, Burlington, Vermont, on behalf of the National 
Federation of Independent Business; Thomas R. Reardon, Portland, 
Oregon, on behalf of the American Medical Association; Joe Laymon, 
Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, New York, on behalf of the Business 
Roundtable; and Staci J. Froelich, Tacoma Park, Maryland.
VETERANS' EMPLOYMENT
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee concluded hearings on S. 
1021, to provide that a veterans' preference eligible (PE) or an 
individual who has been separated from military service under honorable 
conditions after three or more years of active duty shall not be denied 
the opportunity to compete for a vacant position within a Federal 
agency, either in the competitive or excepted service, after receiving 
testimony from Senator Cleland; Representative Mica; Michael Brostek, 
Associate Director, Federal Management and Workforce Issues, General 
Government Division, General Accounting Office; Mary Lou Lindholm, 
Associate Director for Employment, Office of Personnel Management; 
Espiridion Borrego, Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Veterans' 
Employment and Training Service; Stephen A. Moe, Manager, Selection, 
Evaluation, and Recognition, United States Postal Service; Kimo S. 
Hollingsworth, American Legion, and Sidney Daniels, Veterans of

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Foreign Wars of the United States, both of Washington, D.C.; Veronica 
A'zera, AMVETS, Lanham, Maryland; Larry D. Rhea, Non Commissioned 
Officers Association of the United States of America, Alexandria, 
Virginia; and Gary D. Miles, American Federation of Government 
Employees (AFL-CIO), and Kurt Vorndran, National Treasury Employees 
Union, both of Washington, D.C.