[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 84 (Wednesday, June 24, 1998)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D700-D702]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
AGRICULTURAL CREDIT MEASURES
Committee on Agriculture: Subcommittee on Forestry, Resource 
Conservation, and Research approved for full Committee action proposed 
legislation concerning agricultural credit.
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE, AND JUDICIARY APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, 
and Judiciary approved for full Committee action the Commerce, Justice, 
State, and Judiciary appropriations for fiscal year 1999.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on the District of Columbia 
held a hearing on Public Education, on Corrections and Public Safety 
Fiscal Year 1999 Budget requests. Testimony was heard from Gloria 
Jarmon, Director, GAO; Robert E. Langston, Chief, National Park Service 
Police, Department of the Interior; Stephen D. Harlan, member, D.C. 
Financial Responsibility and Management Assistance Authority; Maudine 
Cooper, Chair, Emergency Transitional Education Board of Trustees; and 
the following officials of the District of Columbia: Wilma Harvey, 
President, Board of Education; Arlene Acherman, Superintendent, Public 
Schools; Josephine Baker, Chair, Public Charter School Board; Margaret 
A. Moore, Director, Department of Corrections; John L. Clark, 
Corrections Trustee; John A. Carver, Trustee, Court Services and 
Offender Supervision; Charles H. Ramsey, Chief, Metropolitan Police 
Department; Donald Edwards, Chief, Fire Department; and Annice M. 
Wagner, Chief Judge, Court of Appeals.
  The Subcommittee also obtained information on the general D.C. Fiscal 
year 1999 budget request. Testimony was heard from Members of Congress; 
and public witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES; PORTALS INVESTIGATION--CONTEMPT CITATION
Committee on Commerce: Ordered reported amended the following bills: 
H.R. 872, Biomaterials Access Assurance Act of 1998; H.R. 2921, 
Multichannel Video Competition and Consumer Protection Act of 1997; 
H.R. 8, Border Smog Reduction Act of 1998; and H.R. 1689, Securities 
Litigation Uniform Standards Act of 1998.
  The Committee also approved, by a roll call vote of 26 yeas to 18 
nays, a Report finding Franklin L. Haney in Contempt of Congress and 
directing the Speaker to certify the Report with respect to Mr. Haney 
to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Ordered reported amended the 
following bills: H.R. 3248, Dollars in the Classroom Act; and H.R. 
3007, Commission on the Advancement of Women in Science, Engineering, 
and Technology Development Act.
AMERICAN WORKER PROJECT
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Subcommittee on Oversight and 
Investigations continued hearings on American Worker Project: Meeting 
the Needs of the 21st Century Workplace. Testimony was heard from 
Stephen Goldsmith, Mayor, Indianapolis, State of Indiana; and public 
witnesses.
CIVIL SERVICE REFORM ISSUES
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight: Subcommittee on Civil 
Service held a hearing on Civil Service Reform Issues. Testimony was 
heard from Janice LaChance, Director, OPM; Mike Brostek, Associate 
Director, Federal Workforce and Management Issues, GAO; and public 
witnesses.
KYOTO PROTOCOL
Committee on Government Reform and Oversight: Subcommittee on National 
Economic Growth, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs continued 
hearings

[[Page D701]]

on ``The Kyoto Protocol: Is the Clinton-Gore Administration Selling Our 
Americans? Part IV.'' Testimony was heard from Senator Enzi; Ernest 
Moniz, Under Secretary, Department of Energy; Eliza Perry, City 
Councilwoman, Homestead, State of Florida; and public witnesses.
COLOMBIAN HEROIN CRISIS
Committee on International Relations: Held a hearing on Colombian 
Heroin Crisis. Testimony was heard from the following officials of the 
Department of Justice: Tom Kneir: Deputy Assistant Director, Criminal 
Investigation Division, FBI; and Donnie Marshall, Acting Deputy 
Administrator, DEA; and Bonnie G. Tischler, Assistant Commissioner, 
Office of Investigation, U.S. Customs Service, Department of the 
Treasury.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on International Relations: Subcommittee on Africa approved 
for full Committee action the following measures: H. Res. 415, to 
promote independent radio broadcasting in Africa; and H. Con. Res, 292, 
amended, calling for an end to the recent conflict between Eritrea and 
Ethiopia.
CHINA AND ECONOMIC ENGAGEMENT: SUCCESS OR FAILURE?
Committee on International Relations: Subcommittee on International 
Economic Policy and Trade held a hearing on China and Economic 
Engagement: Success or Failure? Testimony was heard from public 
witnesses.
OVERSIGHT--TELECOMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY EFFECTS OF CONSOLIDATION
Committee on the Judiciary: Held an oversight hearing on the Effects of 
Consolidation on the State of Competition in the Telecommunications 
Industry. Testimony was heard from Joel Klein, Assistant Attorney 
General, Antitrust Division, Department of Justice; Susan Ness, 
Commissioner, FCC; and public witnesses.
CLASS ACTION JURISDICTION ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual 
Property approved for full Committee action H.R. 3789, Class Action 
Jurisdiction Act of 1998, amended.
INTERNET GAMBLING PROHIBITION ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Crime held a hearing on 
H.R. 2380, Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 1997. Testimony was 
heard from Kevin Di Gregory, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, 
Criminal Division, Department of Justice; and public witnesses.
ENCOURAGE COMPETITION AND TAX FAIRNESS AND PROTECT TAX BASE OF LOCAL 
GOVERNMENTS
Committee on Resources: Held a hearing on H.R. 1168, to encourage 
competition and tax fairness and to protect the tax base of State and 
local governments. Testimony was heard from Representatives Istook, 
Visclosky and LaHood; Kevin Gover, Assistant Secretary, Indian Affairs, 
Department of the Interior; and public witnesses.
LEGISLATIVE BRANCH APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, a structured rule providing 
1 hour of debate on H.R. 4112, making appropriations for the 
Legislative Branch for the fiscal year ending September 30, 1999. The 
rule waives clause 2(I)(6) of rule XI (requiring a 3 day layover of the 
committee report), clause 3 of rule XXI (requiring that the report 
include a list of unauthorized accounts), clause 7 of rule XXI 
(requiring relevant printed hearings and reports be available for three 
days prior to the consideration of a general appropriations bill), and 
section 401 of the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 (prohibiting 
consideration of budget-related legislation, as reported, that is not 
subject to appropriations) against consideration of the bill.
  The rule waives clause 2 (prohibiting unauthorized appropriations or 
legislative provisions in a general appropriations bill), and clause 6 
(prohibiting reappropriations in a general appropriations bill), of 
rule XXI against provisions in the bill, except against section 108 
(mandating participation in government transit programs).
  The rule provides that no amendments will be in order except those 
printed in the Rules Committee report accompanying this resolution. The 
rule provides that each amendment may be considered only in the order 
printed in the report, may be offered only by a member designated in 
the report, shall be debatable for the time specified in the report 
equally divided between the proponent and an opponent, and shall not be 
subject to amendment. The rule waives all points of order against the 
amendments printed in the report. The rule provides that the chairman 
of the Committee of the Whole may postpone recorded votes on any 
amendment and that the chairman may reduce voting time on postponed 
questions to 5 minutes, provided that the voting time on the first in a 
series of questions is not less than 15 minutes. Finally, the rule 
provides one motion to recommit with or without instruction. Testimony 
was heard from Representatives Walsh, Serrano, Hoyer, Farr, Gutierrez 
and Blumenauer.

[[Page D702]]


CONFERENCE REPORT--IRS RESTRUCTURING AND REFORM ACT
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, a rule waiving all points 
of order against the conference report to accompany H.R. 2676, Internal 
Revenue Service Restructuring and Reform Act of 1998, and against its 
consideration. The rule provides that the conference report shall be 
considered as read. Testimony was heard from Chairman Archer.
ADJOURNMENT RESOLUTION
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, a rule providing for the 
consideration of a concurrent resolution providing for the adjournment 
of the House and Senate for the Independence Day district work period. 
The rule waives all points of order against the consideration of the 
resolution.
OVERSIGHT--INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION
Committee on Science: Held an oversight hearing on Houston, We Have a 
Problem: The Administration's Plan to Fix the International Space 
Station. Testimony was heard from the following officials of the NASA: 
Daniel Goldin, Administrator; and Jay Chabrow, Chairman, Cost 
Assessment and Validation Task Force, Advisory Council; and Allen Li, 
Associate Director, GAO.
HUBZONE PROGRAM
Committee on Small Business: Subcommittee on Government Programs and 
Oversight held a hearing on the HubZone Program. Testimony was heard 
from Jesse L. White, Jr., Federal Co-Chairman, Appalachian Regional 
Commission; Ralph C. Thomas, III, Associate Administrator, Office of 
Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, NASA; the following 
officials of the Department of Defense: Loyd C. Alderman, Director, 
Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Defense 
Logistics Agency; and Tracey L. Pinson, Director, Office of Small and 
Disadvantaged Business Utilization, Office of the Secretary of the 
Army; Richard L. Hayes, Associate Deputy Administrator, Government 
Contracting and Minority Enterprise Development, SBA; and Robin 
Douglas, Regional Manager, Western Maryland, Department of Business and 
Economic Development, State of Maryland.
VETERANS LEGISLATION
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Ordered reported the following bills: 
H.R. 3980, amended, Persian Gulf Veterans Health Care and Research Act 
of 1998; and H.R. 4110, Veterans Benefits Improvement Act of 1998.
ERA OF SURPLUSES--MANAGING THE PUBLIC DEBT
Committee on Ways and Means: Held a hearing on Managing the Public Debt 
in an Era of Surpluses. Testimony was heard from Paul L. Posner, 
Director, Budget Issues, Accounting and Information Management 
Division, GAO; Gary Gensler, Assistant Secretary, Financial Markets, 
Department of the Treasury; and public witnesses.

Joint Meetings
IRS REFORM
  Conferees agreed to file a conference report on the differences 
between the Senate- and House-passed versions of H.R. 2676, to amend 
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to restructure and reform the 
Internal Revenue Service.