[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 122 (Tuesday, September 15, 1998)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D975-D977]
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 concluded hearings on the nominations 
of James M. Bodner, of Virginia, to be Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for 
Policy, and Vice Adm. Dennis C. Blair, USN, for appointment to the grade of 
Admiral, and to be Commander-in-Chief of United States Pacific Command, 
after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
hearings on the nominations of Robert Clarke Brown, of Ohio, John Paul 
Hammerschmidt, of Arkansas, and Norman Y. Mineta, of California, each to be 
a Member of the Board of Directors of the Metropolitan Washington Airports 
Authority, Eugene A. Conti, Jr., of Maryland, to be Assistant Secretary of 
Transportation for Transportation Policy, and Peter J. Basso, Jr., of 
Maryland, to be Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Budget and 
Programs, after the nominees testified and answered questions in their own 
behalf. Mr. Brown was introduced by Senator Warner and Representative 
Sherrod Brown, Mr. Hammerschmidt was introduced by Senators Warner and 
Hutchinson, Mr. Mineta was introduced by Senators Warner and Boxer, Mr. 
Conti was introduced by Senator Sarbanes and

[[Page D976]]

Representative Price, and Mr. Basso was introduced by Senator Sarbanes.
COASTWISE TRADE LAWS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee held hearings 
on S. 2390, to permit ships built in foreign countries to engage in 
coastwise in the transport of certain products, receiving testimony from 
Clyde J. Hart, Jr., Administrator, Maritime Administration, Department of 
Transportation; Donald R. Quartel, Jones Act Reform Coalition, Dean 
Kleckner, American Farm Bureau Federation, Thomas A. Danjczek, Steel 
Manufacturers Association, and Cynthia L. Brown, American Shipbuilding 
Association, all of Washington, D.C.; William B. Saunders, Murphy Family 
Farms, Rose Hill, North Carolina; Donald T. Bollinger, Bollinger Shipyards, 
Inc., Lockport, Louisiana, on behalf of the National Shipyard Association; 
Thomas A. Allegretti, American Waterways Operators, Arlington, Virginia; and 
James R. Barker, Interlake Steamship Company/Mormac Marine Group, Inc., 
Stamford, Connecticut, on behalf of the Maritime Cabotage Task Force.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
TREATIES
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded hearings on the 
Extradition Treaty between the United States and the Argentine Republic, 
signed at Buenos Aires on June 10, 1997 (Treaty Doc. 105-18), Extradition 
Treaty between the United States and Barbados, signed at Bridgetown on 
February 28, 1996 (Treaty Doc. 105-20), Extradition Treaty between the 
United States and France, signed at Paris on April 23, 1996 (Treaty Doc. 
105-13), Extradition Treaty between the United States and the Grand Duchy of 
Luxembourg, signed at Washington on October 1, 1996 (Treaty Doc. 105-10), 
Extradition Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Poland, 
signed at Washington on July 10, 1996 (Treaty Doc. 105-14), Extradition 
Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Zimbabwe, signed at 
Harare on July 25, 1997 (Treaty Doc. 105-33), Extradition Treaty between the 
United States and the Republic of Austria, signed at Washington on January 
8, 1998 (Treaty Doc. 105-50), Extradition Treaty between the United States 
and the Republic of Cyprus, signed at Washington on June 17, 1996 (Treaty 
Doc. 105-16), Extradition Treaty between the United States and the Republic 
of India, signed at Washington on June 25, 1997 (Treaty Doc. 105-30), 
Protocol to the Extradition Treaty between the United States and the United 
Mexican States of May 4, 1978, signed at Washington on November 13, 1997 
(Treaty Doc. 105-46), Third Supplementary Extradition Treaty between the 
United States and the Kingdom of Spain, signed at Madrid on March 12, 1996 
(Treaty Doc. 105-15), Extradition Treaty between the United States and 
Trinidad and Tobago, signed at Port of Spain on March 4, 1996 (Treaty Doc. 
105-21), Extradition Treaty between the United States and the Organization 
of Eastern Caribbean States (Treaty Doc. 105-19), Treaty between the United 
States and Australia on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed at 
Washington on April 30, 1997 (Treaty Doc. 105-27), Treaty between the United 
States and the Federative Republic of Brazil on Mutual Legal Assistance in 
Criminal Matters, signed at Brasilia on October 14, 1997 (Treaty Doc. 105-
42), Agreement between the United States and Hong Kong on Mutual Legal 
Assistance in Criminal Matters, with Annex, signed in Hong Kong on April 15, 
1997 (Treaty Doc. 105-6), Treaty between the United States and the Republic 
of Latvia on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed at 
Washington on June 13, 1997 (Treaty Doc. 105-34), Treaty between the United 
States and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg on Mutual Legal Assistance in 
Criminal Matters, signed at Washington on March 13, 1997 (Treaty Doc. 105-
11), Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Poland on Mutual 
Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed at Washington on July 10, 1996 
(Treaty Doc. 105-12), Treaty between the United States and Barbados on 
Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed at Bridgetown on 
February 28, 1996 (Treaty Doc. 105-23), Treaty between the United States and 
the Czech Republic on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed at 
Washington on February 4, 1998 (Treaty Doc. 105-47), Treaty between the 
United States and the State of Israel on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal 
Matters, signed at Tel Aviv on January 26, 1998, and a related exchange of 
notes (Treaty Doc. 105-40), Treaty between the United States and the 
Republic of Lithuania on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed 
at Washington on January 16, 1998 (Treaty Doc. 105-41), Treaty between the 
United States and the Republic of Venezuela on Mutual Legal Assistance in 
Criminal Matters, signed at Caracas on October 12, 1997 (Treaty Doc. 105-
38), Treaty between the United States and Trinidad and Tobago on Mutual 
Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed at Port of Spain on March 4, 
1996 (Treaty Doc. 105-22), Treaty between the United States and Saint Kitts 
and Nevis on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed at 
Basseterre on September 18, 1997, and a related exchange of notes (Treaty 
Doc. 105-37), Treaty between the United States and Saint Vincent and the 
Grenadines on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, and a related 
Protocol, signed at Kingstown on January 8, 1998 (Treaty Doc. 105-44), 
Treaties between the United States and the Organization of Eastern Caribbean 
States on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Treaty Doc. 105-24), 
Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Estonia on Mutual Legal 
Assistance in Criminal Matters, signed at Washington on April 2, 1998 
(Treaty Doc. 105-52), and the Agreement between the United States and Hong 
Kong for the Transfer of Sentenced Persons

[[Page D977]]

signed at Hong Kong on April 15, 1997 (Treaty Doc. 105-7), after receiving 
testimony from Jamison Selby-Borek, Deputy Legal Adviser, Department of 
State; and Mark M. Richard, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal 
Division, Department of Justice.
RUSSIA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on European Affairs concluded 
hearings to examine policy options for the United States with regard to the 
current economic and political situation in Russia, after receiving 
testimony from Stephen Sestanovich, Special Adviser to the Secretary of 
State for the New Independent States; Richard Pipes and Marshall I. Goldman, 
both of Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Thomas Graham, 
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington, D.C.
TELECOMMUNICATION CONSOLIDATION
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Antitrust, Business Rights, and 
Competition concluded hearings to examine the impact of consolidation within 
the telecommunications industry, focusing on the proposed merger between 
Bell Atlantic and GTE, after receiving testimony from William T. Esrey, 
Sprint Corporation, Westwood, Kansas; Gene Kimmelman, Consumers Union, 
Washington, D.C.; Charles R. Lee, GTE Corporation, Stamford, Connecticut; 
Clark E. McLeod, McLeodUSA, Incorporated, Cedar Rapids, Iowa; and Ivan G. 
Seidenberg, Bell Atlantic Corporation, New York, New York.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Small Business: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following bills:
  H.R. 3412, to amend and make technical corrections in title III of the 
Small Business Investment Act, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute; and
  H.R. 3853, to encourage businesses to adopt drug-free workplace programs, 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute.
        H