[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 79 (Wednesday, June 17, 1998)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D652-D654]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
MULTILATERAL NEGOTIATIONS--AGRICULTURAL TRADE--AFRICA AND THE MIDDLE 
EAST
Committee on Agriculture: Held a hearing to review the 1999 
Multilateral Negotiations on Agricultural Trade--Africa and the Middle 
East. Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
DEFENSE APPROPRIATIONS; TREASURY, POSTAL SERVICE, GENERAL GOVERNMENT 
APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Ordered reported the following 
appropriations for Fiscal Year 1999: Defense; and Treasury, Postal 
Service, General Government.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS FUND REAUTHORIZATION
Committee on Banking and Financial Services: Subcommittee on Financial 
Institutions and Consumer Credit held a hearing on the reauthorization 
of the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund. Testimony was 
heard from the following officials of the Department of the Treasury: 
John D. Hawke, Jr., Under Secretary, Domestic Finance; Ellen Lazar, 
Director, Community Development Financial Institutions Fund; and 
Richard B. Calahan, Deputy Inspector General; Judy A. England-Joseph, 
Director, Housing and Community Development Issues, Resources, 
Community and Economic Division, GAO; and public witnesses.
PORTALS INVESTIGATION
Committee on Commerce: Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations met 
to receive subpoenaed documents in connection with the Subcommittee's 
ongoing Portals investigation.
  Adopted, by a vote of 9 to 6, a resolution finding Franklin L. Haney 
in contempt for failure to comply with the subpoena duces tecum served 
on him, and directing the Chairman of the Subcommittee to report such 
finding to the full Committee for such action as the Committee deems 
appropriate.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Commerce: Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and 
Consumer Protection approved for full Committee action the following 
bills: H.R. 2921, Multichannel Video Competition and Consumer 
Protection Act of 1997; and H.R. 872, amended, Biomaterials Access 
Assurance Act of 1998.

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  The Subcommittee also began markup of H.R. 2281, WIPO Copyright 
Treaties Implementation Act.
  Will continue tomorrow.
TEAMSTERS FINANCE REPORTING AND PENSION DISCLOSURES
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations concluded hearings on International Brotherhood of 
Teamsters Financing Reporting and Pension Disclosures. Testimony was 
heard from the following officials of the Department of Labor: John 
Kotch, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary and Howard Campbell, Acting 
Chief, Reporting and Disclosure Section, both with the Office of Labor-
Management Standards; Alan Lebowitz, Deputy Assistant Secretary; Ian 
Dingwall, Chief Accountant; and Joseph Applebaum, Chief Actuary, all 
with the Pension and Welfare Benefits Administration.
GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE INITIATIVE--CONGRESSIONAL REVIEW ACT 
IMPLEMENTATION
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight: Subcommittee on National 
Economic Growth, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs held a 
hearing on the White House Global Climate Change Initiative and 
Congressional Review Act Implementation: Is OMB Hiding the Truth About 
New Regulations. Testimony was heard from Robert Murphy, General 
Counsel, GAO; and G. Edward DeSeve, Deputy Director-Designate for 
Management, OMB.
ADMINISTRATION'S POW/MIA POLICIES AND PROGRAMS--WORLDWIDE REVIEW
Committee on International Relations: Held a hearing on Worldwide 
Review of the Administration's POW/MIA Policies and Programs. Testimony 
was heard from Charles Kartman, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, 
Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs, Department of State; 
Frederick C. Smith, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, International 
Security Affairs/Office of the Secretary, Department of Defense; 
Ambassador Malcolm Toon, Chairman, U.S.-Russian Joint Commission on 
POW/MIA; and public witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES; COMMITTEE BUSINESS
Committee on the Judiciary: Ordered reported amended the following 
bills: H.R. 3849, Internet Tax Freedom Act; H.R. 3529, Internet Tax 
Freedom Act; and H.R. 371, Hmong Veterans' Naturalization Act of 1997.
  The Committee began markup of H.R. 3682, Child Custody Protection 
Act.
  Will continue June 23.
  The Committee also considered pending Committee business.
EXPORT OF SATELLITES TO CHINA--U.S. POLICY
Committee on National Security and the Committee on International 
Relations: Held a joint hearing on U.S. policy regarding the export of 
satellites to China. Testimony was heard from Joan Johnson Freese, 
Professor of International Security Studies, Air War College, 
Department of the Air Force; Shirley A. Kan, Analyst in Foreign 
Affairs, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress; and 
public witnesses.
  Hearings continue tomorrow.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Ordered reported the following measures: H.J. 
Res. 113, approving the location of a Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial 
in the Nation's Capitol; H.R. 1659, amended, Mount St. Helens National 
Volcanic Monument Completion Act; H.R. 1728, amended, National Park 
Service Administrative Amendment of 1997; H.R. 1983, Narragansett 
Justice Act; H.R. 2993, amended, to provide for the collection of fees 
for the making of motion pictures, television productions, and sound 
tracks in National Park System and National Wildlife Refuge System 
units; H.R. 3460, amended, to approve a governing international fishery 
agreement between the United States and the Republic of Latvia; and 
H.R. 3830, Utah Schools and Lands Exchange Act of 1998.
SELECT COMMITTEE ON U.S. SECURITY AND MILITARY/COMMERCIAL CONCERNS WITH 
PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, a closed rule providing 1 
hour of debate on H. Res. 463, to establish the Select Committee on 
U.S. National Security and Military/Commercial Concerns With the 
People's Republic of China. The rule provides that the resolution shall 
be considered as read. The rule provides that the amendment in the 
nature of a substitute now printed in the resolution shall be 
considered as adopted. The rule provides that the previous question 
shall be considered as ordered without intervening motion.
OVERSIGHT--HUMANE GENOME PROJECT
Committee on Science: Subcommittee on Energy and Environment held an 
oversight hearing on The Humane Genome Project: How Private Sector 
Developments Affect the Government Program. Testimony was heard from 
Aristides A. Patrinos, Associate Director, Energy Research for Health 
and Environmental Research, Department of Energy; Francis Collins, 
M.D., Director, National Human Genome

[[Page D654]]

Research Institute, NIH, Department of Health and Human Services; and 
public witnesses.
VA HEALTH CARE SYSTEM REVIEW
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Subcommittee on Health held a hearing 
on the Future of the VA Health Care System. Testimony was heard from 
Kenneth W. Kizer, M.D., Under Secretary, Health, Department of Veterans 
Affairs; Stephen P. Backhus, Director, Veterans' Affairs and Military 
Health Care Issues, Health, Education, and Human Services Division, 
GAO; representatives of veterans organizations; and public witnesses.
U.S.-CHINA TRADE RELATIONS--RENEWAL OF MFN STATUS
Committee on Ways and Means: Subcommittee on Trade held a hearing on 
U.S.-China trade relations and renewal of China's most-favored (MFN) 
status. Testimony was heard from Representatives Stark, Solomon, Smith 
of New Jersey, Weldon of Pennsylvania, Pelosi and Dooley; Susan 
Esserman, General Counsel, Office of the U.S. Trade Representative; 
Stanley Roth, Assistant Secretary, East Asian and Pacific Affairs, 
Department of State; and public witnesses.
U.S. ELECTORAL PROCESS--ALLEGED EFFORTS BY PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA 
TO INFLUENCE
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Met in executive session to 
hold a hearing on Update on Alleged Efforts by People's Republic of 
China to influence U.S. Electoral Process. Testimony was heard from the 
following officials of the Department of Justice: Janet Reno, Attorney 
General; and Louis J. Freeh, Director, FBI.