[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 103 (Tuesday, July 28, 1998)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D848-D850]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
nominations of Carolyn H. Becraft, of Virginia, to be an Assistant 
Secretary of the Navy, Ruby Butler DeMesme, of Virginia, to be an 
Assistant Secretary of the Air Force, Patrick T. Henry, of Virginia, to 
be an Assistant Secretary of the Army, and 5,101 military nominations 
in the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Air Force.
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
hearings on the nominations of Ritajean Hartung Butterworth, of 
Washington,

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and Diane D. Blair, of Arkansas, each to be a Member of the Board of 
Directors of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and Kelley S. 
Coyner, of Virginia, to be Administrator of the Research and Special 
Programs Administration, Department of Transportation, after the 
nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf. Ms. 
Butterworth was introduced by Senators Gorton and Hutchinson, Ms. Blair 
was introduced by Senator Bumpers, and Ms. Coyner was introduced by 
Senator Robb.
CABLE RATES
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee held 
hearings to examine the regulation of cable television rates, focusing 
on the impact of the proposed March 31, 1999 expiration of the Federal 
Communication Commission's authority to regulate the rates charged for 
cable programming services as directed by the 1996 Telecommunications 
Act, and the status of federal and congressional efforts to create 
viable competition to cable television, receiving testimony from 
Senator Feingold; Representatives DeFazio and Tauzin; Charles Ergen, 
Echostar Communications Corporation, and Gene Kimmelman, Consumers 
Union, both of Washington, D.C.; Leo J. Hindery, Jr., Tele-
Communications, Inc., Englewood, Colorado; and James O. Robbins, Cox 
Communications, Inc., Atlanta, Georgia.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
ALASKA REGION OPERATING COSTS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee held hearings to 
examine the Government Accounting Office report on the increase in the 
costs for fiscal years 1993 through 1998 to operate the Forest Service 
Alaska region, receiving testimony from James K. Meissner, Associate 
Director, Energy, Resources, and Science Issues, Resources, Community, 
and Economic Development Division, General Accounting Office; and Roger 
C. Viadero, Inspector General, and Thomas J. Mills, Director, Pacific 
Northwest Research Station, and James A. Caplan, Acting Regional 
Forester, Alaska Region, both of the Forest Service, all of the 
Department of Agriculture.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported S. 442, to 
establish a national policy against State and local government 
interference with interstate commerce on the Internet or interactive 
computer services, and to exercise Congressional jurisdiction over 
interstate commerce by establishing a moratorium on the imposition of 
exactions that would interfere with the free flow of commerce via the 
Internet, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. (As approved 
by the committee, the amendment provides for a two-year moratorium on 
the imposition of state and local taxes on the Internet.)
SUBSTANCE ABUSE
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee concluded hearings on 
S. 1147 and provisions of H.R. 2409, measures to provide for 
nondiscriminatory coverage for substance abuse treatment services under 
private group and individual health coverage, focusing on scientific 
evidence with regard to substance abuse and addiction and the 
effectiveness of certain prevention and treatment strategies, after 
receiving testimony from Senator Wellstone; Representative Ramstad; 
Alan I. Leshner, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Department 
of Health and Human Services; David C. Lewis, Brown University, 
Providence, Rhode Island, on behalf of the Physician Leadership on 
National Drug Policy; Robert M. Morse, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, 
Minnesota; Ted Suhl, The Lord's Ranch, Warm Springs, Arkansas; Richard 
G. Frank, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Willis D. 
Gradison, Jr., Health Insurance Association of America, Washington, 
D.C.; John Saylor, AMR Corporation, Fort Worth, Texas; and June Gertig, 
Herndon, Virginia.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the following business items:
  S. 2273, to provide a cost-of-living allowance adjustment in 
compensation, dependency and indemnity compensation, and other VA 
benefits, effective December 31, 1998;
  S. 1021, to strengthen current laws relating to veterans' preference 
in Federal employment, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
  S. 2358, to provide a scientific basis for VA to assess the 
association between illness and exposure to toxic agents and 
environmental or other wartime hazards during the Persian Gulf War, to 
extend VA authority to provide medical care services to Persian Gulf 
War veterans, to extend and modify VA authority to evaluate the health 
status of spouses and children of Gulf War veterans, and to require an 
assessment of the feasibility of establishing an independent entity to 
evaluate veterans' post-conflict illnesses;
  S. 1385, to expand the list of diseases presumed to be service 
connected with respect to radiation-exposed veterans, with an amendment 
in the nature of a substitute; and
  S. 1822, to amend title 38, United States Code, to authorize 
provision of care to veterans treated with nasopharyngeal radium 
irradiation, with an

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amendment in the nature of a substitute. (As approved by the committee, 
the amendment incorporates provisions of S. 1822, S. 2115, 2181 S.)
  Also, committee reconsidered their action of October 7, 1997, and 
again ordered favorably reported S. 730, to make retroactive the 
entitlement of certain Medal of Honor recipients to the special pension 
provided for persons entered and recorded on the Army, Navy, Air Force, 
and Coast Guard Medal of Honor Roll, with an amendment in the nature of 
a substitute. (As approved by the committee, the amendment incorporates 
provisions of S. 730, S. 1743, S. 1745, and S. 2108.)
CALIFORNIA NURSING HOMES
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded hearings to examine the 
quality of care in California nursing homes, focusing on certain 
allegations of abuse and neglect and the adequacy of the Health Care 
Financing Administration's enforcement of federal care requirements for 
nursing homes, after receiving testimony from William J. Scanlon, 
Director, Health Financing and Systems Issues, Health, Education, and 
Human Services Division, General Accounting Office; Michael Hash, 
Deputy Administrator, Health Care Financing Administration, Department 
of Health and Human Services; Charlene Harrington, University of 
California, San Francisco; Andrew M. Kramer, University of Colorado 
Health Sciences Center, Boulder; Dennis Stone, American Medical 
Directors Association, Columbia, Maryland, on behalf of the California 
Association of Health Facilities; and Paul R. Willging, American Health 
Care Association, and Sheldon L. Goldberg, American Association of 
Homes and Services for the Aging, both of Washington, D.C.