[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 36 (Thursday, March 26, 1998)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D309-D311]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]



                                           Thursday, March 26, 1998

[[Page D309]]

                              Daily Digest


HIGHLIGHTS

      The House agreed to the conference report on H.R. 1757, Foreign 
      Affairs Reform and Restructuring Act and
      The House passed H.R. 3310, Small Business Paperwork Reduction 
      Act and H.R. 3246, Fairness for Small Business and Employees Act.


                                 Senate


Chamber Action
Routine Proceedings, pages S2587-S2692
Measures Introduced: Nine bills and one resolution were introduced, as 
follows: S. 1864-1872, and S. Res. 200.                      
  Page S2660
Measures Reported: Reports were made as follows:
  H.R. 927, to amend title 28, United States Code, to provide for 
appointment of United States marshals by the Attorney General, with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute.                     
Page S2660
Measure Passed:
  National Maritime Arbitration Day: Senate agreed to S. Res. 200, 
designating March 26, 1998, as ``National Maritime Arbitration Day''. 
                                                             Page S2690
Measure Rejected:
  Mexico Drug Decertification: Committee on Foreign Relations was 
discharged from further consideration of S.J. Res. 42, to disapprove 
the certification of the President under section 490(b) of the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961 regarding foreign assistance for Mexico during 
the fiscal year 1998 and, by 45 yeas to 54 nays (Vote No. 47), the 
resolution was rejected:                                 
  Pages S2636-57
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations: Senate concluded consideration 
of S. 1768, making emergency supplemental appropriations for recovery 
from natural disasters, and for overseas peacekeeping efforts, for the 
fiscal year ending September 30, 1998, after taking action on 
amendments proposed thereto, as follows:              
  Pages S2587-S2631
Adopted:
  Enzi Amendment No. 2133, to prohibit the Secretary of the Interior 
from promulgating certain regulations relating to Indian gaming 
activities.                                              
Pages S2588-94
  Stevens (for McCain) Amendment No. 2136, to clarify that unmarried 
adult children of Vietnamese reeducation camp internees are eligible 
for refugee status under the Orderly Departure Program. 
                                                         Pages S2594-96
  Stevens (for Murkowski/Stevens) Amendment No. 2137, to make technical 
corrections to the Michigan Indian Lands Claims Settlement Act to 
provide certain health care services for Alaska natives. 
                                                         Pages S2594-96
  Stevens (for Murkowski/Stevens) Amendment No. 2138, to make technical 
corrections to the Fiscal Year 1998 Department of Interior 
Appropriations Act (P.L. 105-83).                        
Pages S2594-96
  Stevens (for Bond/Stevens) Amendment No. 2139, to make emergency 
funds available for the purchase of F/A-18 aircraft.     
Pages S2594-96
  Stevens (for Chafee) Amendment No. 2140, to modify the Energy and 
Water Development section of the bill.                   
Pages S2594-96
  Stevens (for Wyden) Amendment No. 2141, to eliminate secrecy in 
international financial and trade organizations.         
Pages S2594-96
  Stevens (for Bond) Amendment No. 2142, to make technical corrections 
to Economic Development Grant program funded in 1992 as part of the 
Empowerment Zone Act.                                    
Pages S2594-96
  Stevens (for Craig) Amendment No. 2143, to make technical corrections 
to Section 405 of the bill regarding Forest Service transportation 
system moratorium.                                       
Pages S2594-96

[[Page D310]]


  By unanimous consent, Amendment No. 2062, to establish an emergency 
commission to study the trade deficit, agreed to on March 23, 1998, was 
modified.                                                    
Page S2598
  Stevens (for Cochran/Bumpers) Amendment No. 2144, to make a technical 
correction in the language of the Livestock Disaster Assistance 
Program.                                             
Pages S2594, S2596
  Stevens (for Wellstone/Conrad/Dorgan) Amendment No. 2145, to 
subsidize the cost of additional farm operating and emergency loans. 
                                                  Pages S2594, S2596-98
  Stevens (for Jeffords/Leahy) Amendment No. 2146, to make funds 
available for emergency construction to repair the Mackville Dam, 
Hardwick, Vermont.                                   
Pages S2594, S2596
  Stevens (for Lott) Amendment No. 2147 (to Amendment No. 2100), to 
make a technical correction.                         
Pages S2594, S2596
  Stevens (for Daschle) Amendment No. 2148, to provide funds for 
humanitarian demining activities in Bosnia and Herzegovina. 
                                                     Pages S2594, S2596
  Stevens (for Gregg) Amendment No. 2149, to make a technical 
correction to the Patent and Trademark section of the bill. 
                                                     Pages S2594, S2596
  Stevens (for Levin) Amendment No. 2150 (to Amendment No. 2100), 
dealing with the consultation by the Secretary of the Treasury with the 
Office of the U.S. Trade Representative regarding prospective IMF 
borrower countries.                     
Pages S2594, S2596, S2599-S2600
  Stevens (for Grassley/Stevens) Amendment No. 2151, to make funds 
available for construction of a P3-AEW hangar in Corpus Christie, 
Texas.                                               
Pages S2594, S2596
  Stevens (for Hutchison) Amendment No. 2152, to provide funds to 
rectify damages caused by windstorms in Texas.           
Pages S2598-99
  Stevens (for Boxer) Amendment No. 2153, to provide additional funds 
for construction programs of the Department of the Interior to repair 
damage caused by floods and other natural disasters.     
Pages S2598-99
  Stevens (for Dorgan) Amendment No. 2154, to provide emergency 
Polylchlorinated biphenyls (PCB's) remediation in schools and other 
facilities at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.       
Pages S2598-99
  Robb Amendment No. 2135, to reform agricultural credit programs of 
the Department of Agriculture.                       
Pages S2603, S2605
  By 84 yeas to 16 nays (Vote No. 44), McConnell Modified Amendment No. 
2100, to provide supplemental appropriations for the International 
Monetary Fund for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1998. 
                                               Pages S2596, S2599-S2607
  Stevens (for Lautenberg) Amendment No. 2156, to allocate certain 
funds to the State of New Jersey to carry out housing opportunities for 
persons with AIDS.                                       
Pages S2608-09
  Murkowski Amendment No. 2157, to cancel the sale of oil from the 
Strategic Petroleum Reserve.                             
Pages S2610-11
  Stevens (for Byrd) Amendment No. 2159, to provide assistance to 
employees of the Farm Service Agency of the Department of Agriculture. 
                                                             Page S2612
  Bingaman/Hollings Amendment No. 2160, to provide for school security 
training and technology, and for local school security programs. 
                                                         Pages S2612-14
  Cochran Amendment No. 2161, to make certain technical corrections. 
                                                             Page S2614
  Stevens (for D'Amato) Amendment No. 2163, relating to the use of 
Floyd Bennett Field in New York City by the New York City Police 
Department.                                              
Pages S2625-26
  Stevens (for Nickles) Amendment No. 2120, to strike certain funding 
for the Health Care Financing Administration.            
Pages S2619-29
Rejected:
  Kennedy Amendment No. 2164 (to the language proposed to be stricken 
by Amendment No. 2120), in the nature of a substitute. (By 51 yeas to 
49 nays (Vote No. 45), Senate tabled the amendment.)     
Pages S2627-29
Withdrawn:
  Bumpers Amendment No. 2134, to express the sense of the Senate that 
of the rescissions, if any, which Congress makes to offset 
appropriations made for emergency items in the Fiscal Year 1998 
supplemental appropriations bill, defense spending should be rescinded 
to offset increases in spending for defense programs.        
Page S2600
  Torricelli/Lautenberg Amendment No. 2155, to express the sense of the 
Senate that the Attorney General should not accept a settlement in 
proceedings to recover costs incurred in the cleanup of the Wayne 
Interim Storage Site, Wayne, New Jersey, unless the settlement 
recaptures a substantial portion of the costs incurred by the taxpayer.
                                                         Pages S2607-08
  Cleland Amendment No. 2158, to authorize the establishment of a 
disaster mitigation pilot program in the Small Business Administration.
                                                         Pages S2611-12
  Baucus/Burns Amendment No. 2162, to authorize the Secretary of 
Agriculture to extend the term of a marketing assistance loan made to 
producers on a farm for any loan commodity until September 30, 1998. 
                                                         Pages S2615-18
  A unanimous-consent agreement was reached providing that when the 
Senate receives the House companion measure, all after the enacting 
clause be

[[Page D311]]

stricken and the text of S. 1768, as amended, be substituted in lieu 
thereof and, after passage, the Senate insist on its amendment and 
request a conference with the House thereon, and the Chair be 
authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate.   
Page S2631
  Also, a further consent agreement was reached providing that when the 
Senate receives the House companion measure making supplemental 
appropriations for the International Monetary Fund for the fiscal year 
ending September 30, 1998, that all after the enacting clause be 
stricken and the text of the IMF Title of S. 1768 be substituted in 
lieu thereof and, after passage, the Senate insist on its amendment and 
request a conference with the House thereon, and the Chair be 
authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate.   
Page S2631
  Subsequently, S. 1728 was returned to the Senate Calendar. 
                                                             Page S2631
Education Savings Act for Public and Private Schools--Cloture Vote: By 
58 yeas to 42 nays (Vote No. 46), three-fifths of those Senators duly 
chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, Senate failed to 
close further debate on H.R. 2646, to amend the Internal Revenue Code 
of 1986 to allow tax-free expenditures from education individual 
retirement accounts for elementary and secondary school expenses, and 
to increase the maximum annual amount of contributions to such 
accounts.                                                
  Pages S2631-36
  A fifth motion was entered to close further debate on the bill and, 
in accordance with the provisions of Rule XXII of the Standing Rules of 
the Senate, a vote on the cloture motion would occur on Monday, March 
30, 1998.                                                    
Page S2636
Nomination--Agreement: A unanimous-consent agreement was reached 
providing for the consideration of the nomination of M. Margaret 
McKeown, of Washington, to be United States Circuit Judge for the Ninth 
Circuit, on Friday, March 27, 1998, with a vote to occur thereon. 
                                                             Page S2690
Nominations Received: Senate received the following nominations:
  1 Air Force nomination in the rank of general.
  1 Marine Corps nomination in the rank of general.
  Routine lists in the Foreign Service.                  
Pages S2691-92
Messages From the House:                                     
  Page S2658
Measures Referred:                                           
  Page S2658
Communications:                                              
  Page S2658
Petitions:                                               
  Pages S2658-60
Executive Reports of Committees:                             
  Page S2660
Statements on Introduced Bills:                          
  Pages S2660-83
Additional Cosponsors:                                   
  Pages S2683-84
Amendments Submitted:                                    
  Pages S2684-88
Notices of Hearings:                                         
  Page S2688
Authority for Committees:                                    
  Page S2688
Additional Statements:                                   
  Pages S2688-90
Record Votes: Four record votes were taken today. (Total--47) 
                                     Page S2606-07, S2629, S2636, S2657
Adjournment: Senate convened at 9:30 a.m., and adjourned at 8:08 p.m., 
until 9 a.m., on Friday, March 27, 1998. (For Senate's program, see the 
remarks of the Majority Leader in today's Record, on pages S2690-91.)