[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 49 (Tuesday, April 28, 1998)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D415-D416]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
JAPAN'S ECONOMY
Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded hearings to examine the 
current state of the Japanese economy and banking system and their 
implications for the United States economy, after receiving testimony 
from Tadashi Nakamae, Nakamae International Economic Research, Tokyo, 
Japan; John H. Makin, American Enterprise Institute, Washington, D.C.; 
and David Malpass, Bear Stearns, New York, New York.
YEAR 2000 COMPUTER CONVERSION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
hearings to examine the potential impact of the Year 2000 computer 
conversion problem on the U.S. and world economies, and to review 
efforts to address potential problems, after receiving testimony from 
Senator Bennett; Edward W. Kelley, Jr., Member, Board of Governors of 
the Federal Reserve System; Robert L. Mallett, Deputy Secretary of 
Commerce; William E. Kennard, Chairman, Federal Communications 
Commission; Mortimer L. Downey, Deputy Secretary of Transportation; and 
Richard A. Grasso, New York Stock Exchange, Inc., Washington, D.C.
FEDERAL R&D FUNDING
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Science, Technology, and Space concluded hearings to examine the state 
of Federal research and development (R&D) funding in the United States, 
focusing on America's future role in the dominance of science and 
technology, after receiving testimony from Senators Bingaman, Gramm, 
and Lieberman; Kerri-Ann Jones, Acting Director, Office of Science and 
Technology Policy; Judith Rodin, Member, President's Committee of 
Advisors on Science and Technology, and University of Pennsylvania, 
Philadelphia; Dan Peterson, DAP and Associates, Winter Park, Florida; 
and Albert H. Teich, American Association for the Advancement of 
Science, Washington, D.C.
MINING LAW REFORM
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Forests and 
Public Land Management held hearings on S. 326, to provide for the 
reclamation of abandoned hardrock mines, S. 327, to ensure that Federal 
taxpayers receive a fair return for the extraction of locatable 
minerals on public domain lands, and S. 1102, to provide a reasonable 
royalty from mineral activities on Federal lands, and to create a State 
program for the reclamation of abandoned hardrock mining sites on 
Federal lands, receiving testimony from Senators Reid and Bryan; Nevada 
Governor, Bob Miller, Carson City; Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the 
Interior; Douglas C. Yearley, Phelps Dodge Corporation, Phoenix, 
Arizona, on behalf of the National Mining Association; Stephen 
D'Esposito, Mineral Policy Center, and Jill Lancelot, Taxpayers for 
Common Sense, both of Washington, D.C.; Stephen D. Alfers, Alfers and 
Carver, Denver, Colorado; Steven C. Borell, Alaska Miners Association, 
Inc., Anchorage; Stephen A. Orr, Homestake Mining Company, San 
Francisco, California; and Roger Flynn, Western Mining Action Project, 
Boulder, Colorado.

[[Page D416]]


  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
IRS
Committee on Finance: Committee held oversight hearings on the 
operation of the Internal Revenue Service, focusing on ethics and 
allegations of abuses and improper conduct by high-level agency 
officials, receiving testimony from Harry G. Patsalides, Deputy 
Assistant Inspector General for Investigations, and Yvonne D. 
Desjardins, Chief, Employee and Labor Relations Section, Personnel 
Branch, both of the Department of the Treasury; Ray Cody Mayo, Jr., 
Louisiana Assistant District Attorney, Shreveport; Robert Edwin Davis, 
Dallas, Texas, former Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Tax Division, 
Department of Justice; J. Earl Epstein, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and 
Philip A. MacNaughton, Houston, Texas.
  Hearings continue tomorrow.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded hearings on S.J. Res. 
44, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States to 
protect the rights of crime victims, after receiving testimony from 
Raymond C. Fisher, Associate Attorney General, Department of Justice; 
Paul G. Cassell, University of Utah College of Law, Salt Lake City; 
Kathleen Krenek, Wisconsin Coalition Against Domestic Violence, 
Madison; Robert P. Mosteller, Duke University Law School, Durham, North 
Carolina; Marlene A. Young, Washington, D.C., and Norman S. Early, Jr., 
Denver, Colorado, both on behalf of the National Organization for 
Victim Assistance; and Steven J. Twist, VIAD Corporation, Scottsdale, 
Arizona, and former Chief Assistant Attorney General of Arizona, on 
behalf of the National Victims' Constitutional Amendment Network.
READING AND LITERACY INITIATIVES
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee concluded hearings to 
examine proposals to improve the reading and literacy skills of 
children and families, focusing on S. 1596 and H.R. 2614, bills to 
provide for reading excellence by improving in-service instructional 
practices for teachers who teach reading, to stimulate the development 
of more high-quality family literacy programs, to support extended 
learning-time opportunities for children, and to ensure that children 
can read well and independently not later than third grade, after 
receiving testimony from G. Reid Lyon, Chief, Child Development and 
Behavior Branch, National Institute of Child Health and Human 
Development, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and 
Human Services; Janet R. Arnowitz, Fairfax County Public Schools, both 
of Bethesda, Maryland; Blanche Podhajski, Stern Center for Language and 
Learning, Williston, Vermont; Catherine E. Snow, Committee on the 
Prevention of Reading Difficulties in Young Children, Cambridge, 
Massachusetts; Perri Klass, Boston Medical Center, Boston, 
Massachusetts; Charles I. Bunting, Vermont State College, Waterbury; 
Peggy Minnis and Raynice Brumfield, both of the District of Columbia 
Public Schools, Washington, D.C.; Noel C.R. Gunther, WETA Learning 
Project, Arlington, Virginia; and Dawnna Lanctot, Danville, Vermont.
ENVIRONMENTAL COMPLIANCE TOOLS FOR SMALL BUSINESS
Committee on Small Business: Committee held hearings to examine 
environmental compliance assistance for small businesses provided by 
the Environmental Protection Agency under Federal laws and initiatives, 
environmental self-audits, and State audit privilege and qualified 
disclosure laws, receiving testimony from Montana State Representative 
Scott J. Orr, Helena, on behalf of the American Legislative Exchange 
Council; Benjamin Y. Cooper, Printing Industries of America, 
Alexandria, Virginia; Elizabeth Glass Geltman, George Washington 
University, Washington, D.C.; James L. King, New York Small Business 
Development Center, Albany, on behalf of the Association of Small 
Business Development Centers; and David S. Marsh, Marsh Plating 
Corporation, Ypsilanti, Michigan, on behalf of the National Association 
of Metal Finishers, the Metal Finishing Suppliers' Association, and the 
American Electroplating and Surface Finishing Society.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.