[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 29 (Wednesday, February 24, 1999)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D164-D167]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
AGRICULTURE BUDGET
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
hearings on the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 
2000 for the Department of Agriculture, focusing on crop insurance 
reform, Russian food assistance, and certain Y2K issues, after 
receiving testimony from Dan Glickman, Secretary of Agriculture.
Y2K NATIONAL SECURITY IMPACT
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Readiness and Management 
Support concluded hearings to examine the preparation and readiness 
for, and the potential impact of, the Year 2000 computer problem on the 
Department of Defense and the intelligence community, after receiving 
testimony from Senators Dodd and Bennett; John J. Hamre, Deputy 
Secretary, and Arthur L. Money, Assistant Secretary for Command, 
Control, Communications, and Intelligence, both of the Department of 
Defense; and John A. Gordon, USAF, Deputy Director of Central 
Intelligence.
AUTHORIZATION--DOD
Committee on Armed Services: Strategic Subcommittee concluded hearings 
on proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 2000 for the 
Department of Defense, focusing on national missile defense programs 
and policies, and the future years defense program, after receiving 
testimony from Lt. Gen. Lester L. Lyles, USAF, Director, Ballistic 
Missile Defense Organization, Department of Defense; Rear Adm. Rodney 
P. Rempt, USN, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Theater 
Combat Systems; Gen. Larry D. Welch, USAF (Ret.), Institute for Defense 
Analyses, Arlington, Virginia; and John B. Peller, The Boeing Company, 
Seal Beach, California.

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AUTHORIZATION--DOD
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Personnel concluded 
hearings on proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 2000 
for the Department of Defense, focusing on recruiting and retention 
policies, and the future years defense program, after receiving 
testimony from Mark Gebicke, Director, William Beusse, Assistant 
Director, and Beverly Schladt, Senior Evaluator, all of Military 
Operations and Capabilities Issues, General Accounting Office; SSG 
Monica Duncan-Boney, USA; MM2 Jeffery P. McCinney, USN; SSG Robert A. 
Austin, USAF; SSG Cari A. Baumer, USMC; Frank M. Rush, Jr., Acting 
Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management Policy; Lt. Gen. 
David H. Ohle, USA, Deputy Chief of Army Staff for Personnel; Vice Adm. 
Daniel T. Oliver, USN, Chief of Naval Personnel; Lt. Gen. Jack W. 
Klimp, USMC, Deputy Chief of Marine Corps Staff for Manpower and 
Reserve Affairs; Lt. Gen. Donald L. Peterson, USAF, Deputy Chief of Air 
Force Staff for Personnel; Maj. Gen. Evan R. Gaddis, USA, Commanding 
General, US Army Recruiting Command; Rear Adm. Barbara E. McGann, USN, 
Commander, Navy Recruiting Command; Maj. Gen. Garry L. Parks, USMC, 
Commanding General, Marine Corps Recruiting Command; and Brig. Gen. 
Peter U. Sutton, USAF, Commander, Air Force Recruiting Service.
FINANCIAL SERVICES MODERNIZATION
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee continued 
hearings on proposed legislation to enhance competition in the 
financial services industry by providing framework for the affiliation 
of banks, securities firms, and other financial service providers, 
receiving testimony from Robert E. Rubin, Secretary of the Treasury, 
John D. Hawke, Jr., Comptroller of the Currency, and Ellen S. Seidman, 
Director, Office of Thrift Supervision, all of the Department of the 
Treasury; Arthur Levitt, Jr., Chairman, Securities and Exchange 
Commission; Donna A. Tanoue, Chairman, Federal Deposit Insurance 
Corporation; Texas Savings and Loan Commissioner James L. Pledger, on 
behalf of the American Conference of State Savings Supervisors, and 
Texas Banking Commissioner Catherine A. Ghiglieri, on behalf of the 
Conference of State Bank Supervisors, both of Austin; Kentucky 
Commissioner of Insurance George Nichols III, Frankfort, on behalf of 
the National Association of Insurance Commissioners; and Thomas E. 
Geyer, Ohio Division of Securities, Columbus, on behalf of the North 
American Securities Administrators Association, Inc.
  Hearings will continue tomorrow.
NATIONAL DEFENSE BUDGET
Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded hearings on national 
security and defense budget issues, including defense strategy, 
operational tempo, procurement budget, readiness, modernization, 
nuclear forces, ballistic missile defense, waste and inefficiency, 
operation and support, and Pentagon infrastructure, after receiving 
testimony from James R. Schlesinger, former Secretary of Defense; and 
Robert B. Zoellick, Center for Strategic and International Studies, and 
Lawrence J. Korb, Council on Foreign Relations, both of Washington, 
D.C.
COAST GUARD BUDGET
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Oceans and Fisheries concluded hearings on the President's proposed 
budget request for fiscal year 2000 for the United States Coast Guard, 
Department of Transportation, after receiving testimony from Admiral 
James M. Loy, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, Department of 
Transportation.
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE BUDGET
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on National 
Parks, Historic Preservation, and Recreation concluded hearings on the 
President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2000 for National 
Park Service programs and operations, focusing on visitor services, 
maintenance and infrastructure repair, and cultural and natural 
resource enhancement, after receiving testimony from Robert G. Stanton, 
Director, National Park Service, Department of the Interior.
EPA BUDGET
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded hearings 
on the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2000 for the 
Environmental Protection Agency, after receiving testimony from Carol 
M. Browner, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency, who was 
accompanied by several of her associates.
Y2K/NUCLEAR INDUSTRY AND CHEMICAL SAFETY
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on Clean Air, 
Wetlands, Private Property, and Nuclear Safety concluded hearings on 
potential year 2000 computer problem issues relative to the nuclear 
industry and chemical safety, after receiving testimony from Gerald V. 
Poje, Board Member, Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board; 
William D. Travers, Executive Director for Operations, Nuclear 
Regulatory Commission; and David L. Swanson, Edison Electric Institute, 
Washington, D.C.

[[Page D166]]


RETIREMENT SAVINGS
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded hearings on issues relating 
to retirement savings and the current status, availability, and 
effectiveness of tax-favored savings vehicles, and the proposed 
Retirement Savings Opportunity Act, to expand the opportunities for 
Americans to save for their retirement in IRAs, 401(k)s and other 
retirement saving vehicles, after receiving testimony from Matthew 
Fink, Investment Company Institute, and Paul J. Yakoboski, Employee 
Benefit Research Institute, both of Washington, D.C.; Peter J. Smail, 
Fidelity Investments Institutional Retirement Services Company, Boston, 
Massachusetts, on behalf of the Association of Private Pension and 
Welfare Plans; John J. McCormack, Teachers Insurance and Annuity 
Association/College Retirement Equities Fund, New York, New York; Ray 
Pool, Oklahoma State Deferred Compensation Plan, Oklahoma City, on 
behalf of the National Association of Government Deferred Compensation 
Administrators; G. Joseph Votava, Jr., Rochester, New York, on behalf 
of the International Association for Financial Planning; and Paula A. 
Calimafde, Paley, Rothman, Goldstein, Rosenberg & Cooper, Bethesda, 
Maryland, on behalf of the Small Business Council of America and the 
American Society of Pension Actuaries.
FOREIGN AFFAIRS BUDGET
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded hearings to examine 
the President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2000 for 
foreign assistance programs, and to review the principles and practice 
of U.S. foreign policy around the world, receiving testimony from 
Madeleine K. Albright, Secretary of State.
ANTI-SEMITISM IN RUSSIA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded hearings on anti-
Semitism in Russia, focusing on historical background, the Communist 
Party, Neo-Nazi movement, violence, public opinion, and international 
dialogue, after receiving testimony from Mark B. Levin, National 
Conference on Soviet Jewry, Washington, D.C.; David A. Harris, American 
Jewish Committee, New York, New York; and Pinchas Goldschmidt, Moscow 
Choral Synagogue, Moscow, Russia.
INDEPENDENT COUNSEL ACT
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee held hearings on the 
future of the Independent Counsel Act enacted in 1978 as part of the 
Watergate reform and due to expire this year, receiving testimony from 
former Senator Howard Baker; Griffin B. Bell, King and Spalding, 
Atlanta, Georgia, former U.S. Attorney General; Arthur H. Christy, 
Christy and Viener, New York, New York, former Special Prosecutor, 
Hamilton Jordan Investigation; and Joseph E. diGenova, diGenova 
Toensing, former Independent Counsel, Clinton Passport File 
Investigation, and Curtis Emery von Kann, JAMS/ENDISPUTE, former 
Independent Counsel, Eli Segal Investigation, Americorps Chief, both of 
Washington, D.C.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
MEDICAL RESEARCH AND CONFIDENTIALITY
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded hearings to examine issues involving balancing the needs of 
medical research and confidentiality, including the General Accounting 
Office report Medical Records Privacy, Common Rule, FDA regulations, 
information technology, and the institutional review board system, 
after receiving testimony from Gary B. Ellis, Director, Office for 
Protection from Research Risks, National Institutes of Health, 
Department of Health and Human Services; Bernice Steinhardt, Director, 
Health Services Quality and Public Health Issues, Health, Education, 
and Human Services Division, General Accounting Office; Brent C. James, 
Intermountain Health Care Institute for Health Care Delivery Research, 
Salt Lake City, Utah; Chai R. Feldblum, Georgetown University Law 
Center, Washington, D.C., on behalf of the Consortium for Citizens with 
Disabilities; and Elizabeth B. Andrews, Glaxo Wellcome, Research 
Triangle, North Carolina, on behalf of Pharmaceutical Research and 
Manufacturers of America.
INDIAN PROGRAMS BUDGET
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded hearings on the 
President's proposed budget request for fiscal year 2000 for Indian 
programs, focusing on health, housing, education, government, and law 
enforcement, after receiving testimony from Kevin Gover, Assistant 
Secretary of the Interior for Indian Affairs; Michel E. Lincoln, Deputy 
Director, Indian Health Service, Department of Health and Human 
Services; Jacqueline Johnson, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Housing and 
Urban Development for Native American Programs, Office of Public and 
Indian Housing; Thomas L. LeClaire, Director, Office of Tribal Justice, 
Department of Justice; W. Ron Allen, National Congress of American 
Indians, and Christopher D. Boesen, National American Indian Housing 
Council, both of Washington, D.C.; Buford Rolin, National Indian Health 
Board, Denver, Colorado; Janine Pease-Pretty on Top, Little Big Horn 
College, Crow Agency, Montana, on behalf of the American Indian Higher 
Education Consortium; and

[[Page D167]]

Jill E. Shibles, National American Indian Court Judges Association, 
Mashantucket, Connecticut.
NOMINATION
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee ordered favorably reported 
the nomination of James M. Simon, Jr., of Alabama, to be Assistant 
Director of Central Intelligence for Administration.
U.S.-MEXICO COUNTER NARCOTICS
United States Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control: Caucus 
concluded hearings to evaluate the future of U.S.-Mexico counter 
narcotic relations, reviewing the degree and level of cooperation and 
dedication from Mexico, focusing on the High Level Contact Group, 
Border Task Forces, extradition, cartels, money laundering, Operation 
Casablanca, and air and maritime efforts, after receiving testimony 
from Raymond W. Kelley, Commissioner, U.S. Customs Service, Department 
of the Treasury; Admiral James M. Loy, Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard, 
Department of Transportation; Rand Beers, Assistant Secretary of State 
for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs; Thomas A. 
Constantine, Administrator, Drug Enforcement Administration, Department 
of Justice; Benjamin F. Nelson, Director, International Relations and 
Trade Issues, National Security and International Affairs Division, 
General Accounting Office; and John Bailey, Georgetown University 
School for Foreign Service, Washington, D.C.