[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 88 (Tuesday, July 7, 1998)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D728-D729]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
FISH AND WILDLIFE CONSERVATION
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded hearings 
on S. 263, to prohibit the import, export, sale, purchase, possession, 
transportation, acquisition, and receipt of bear viscera or products 
that contain or claim to contain bear viscera, S. 361, to amend the 
Endangered Species Act of 1973 to prohibit the sale, import, and export 
of products labeled as containing endangered species, S. 659, to amend 
the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Act of 1990 to provide 
for implementation of recommendations of the United States Fish and 
Wildlife Service contained in the Great Lakes Fishery Restoration Study 
Report, S. 1970, to require the Secretary of the Interior to establish 
a program to provide assistance in the conservation of neotropical 
migratory birds, S. 2094, to amend the Fish and Wildlife Improvement 
Act of 1978 to enable the Secretary of the Interior to more effectively 
use the proceeds of sales of certain items, S. 2244, to amend the Fish 
and Wildlife Act of 1956 to promote volunteer programs and community 
partnerships for the benefit of national wildlife refuges, H.R. 2807, 
to amend the Rhinoceros and Tiger Conservation Act of 1994 to prohibit 
the sale, importation, and exportation of products labeled as 
containing substances derived from rhinoceros or tiger, and H.R. 3113, 
to authorize funds through fiscal year 2004 for the Rhinoceros and 
Tiger Conservation Fund, after receiving testimony from John Rogers, 
Deputy Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of 
the Interior; Ginette Hemley, World Wildlife Fund, Wayne Pacelle, 
Humane Society of the United States, and Gary Taylor, International 
Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, all of Washington, D.C.; 
Kristin L. Vehrs, American Zoo and Aquarium Association, Bethesda, 
Maryland; Molly Krival, Ding Darling Wildlife Society, Sanibel, 
Florida; and Thomas Crane, Great Lakes Commission, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
U.S.-VIETNAM EMIGRATION WAIVER
Committee on Finance: Subcommittee on International Trade held hearings 
on S.J. Res. 47, disapproving the recommendation of the President to 
extend the authority to waive freedom of emigration requirements in the 
Trade Act of 1974 with respect to Vietnam, receiving testimony from 
Senators Helms, Kerry, McCain, and Smith; Stanley O. Roth, Assistant 
Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Richard T. 
Childress, former Director of Asian Affairs, National Security Council; 
Bruce Harter, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, and 
Frances Zwenig, United States-Vietnam Trade Council, both of 
Washington, D.C.; and Nguyen Dinh Thang, Boat People, S.O.S., 
Merrifield, Virginia, on behalf of the Vietnamese Community of 
Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia, and the Coalition Against the 
Jackson-Vanik Waiver for Vietnam.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
SSI CHILDHOOD DISABILITY BENEFITS
Committee on Finance: Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy 
held oversight hearings on the Social Security Administration's 
implementation of the new eligibility criteria for childhood disability 
benefits under the Supplemental Security Income program set forth by 
the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act 
(P.L. 104-193), receiving testimony from Kenneth S. Apfel, 
Commissioner, Social Security Administration; Jonathan M. Stein, 
Community Legal Services, Inc., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Dawn 
Wardyga, Family Voices of Rhode Island, Barrington; Michael Brennan, 
National Council of Directors of Disability Determinations, Lincoln, 
Nebraska; Robert E. Cooke, Joseph P. Kennedy Jr. Foundation, 
Washington, D.C.; Laurie Humphries, Lexington, Kentucky, on

[[Page D729]]

behalf of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; and 
James Perrin, Boston, Massachusetts, on behalf of the American Academy 
of Pediatrics.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported S.J. 
Res. 44, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States to protect the rights of crime victims, with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute.
ENTERTAINMENT AND INFORMATION MERGERS
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Antitrust, Business Rights, 
and Competition concluded hearings to examine certain implications with 
regard to the convergence and consolidation of technologies in the 
entertainment and information industries, including the proposed merger 
between AT&T Corp. and TeleCommunications Inc., after receiving 
testimony from Robert A. Iger, ABC, Inc., and Richard D. Parsons, Time 
Warner Inc., both of New York, New York; C. Michael Armstrong, AT&T 
Corp., Basking Ridge, New Jersey; and John Marselle, Sun Microsystems 
Federal, Inc., McLean, Virginia.