[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 68 (Wednesday, May 12, 1999)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D515-D516]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Committee met in closed session and began 
markup of S. 974, to authorize appropriations for fiscal years 2000 and 
2001 for military activities of the Department of Defense, and to 
prescribe military personnel strengths for fiscal years 2000 and 2001, 
but did not complete action thereon, and will meet again tomorrow.
LOW-INCOME HOUSING TAX CREDIT
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on 
Housing and Transportation concluded hearings to examine the 
effectiveness of the low income housing tax credit provisions of 
Section 42 of the Internal Revenue Code in producing affordable housing 
and revitalizing neighborhoods, after receiving testimony from Senators 
Graham and Mack; David W. Herlinger, Colorado Housing and Finance 
Authority, Denver; Richard K. Barnhart, Pennrose Properties, Inc., and 
Rita Alice Brown, both of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Patrick A. 
Barbolla, Fountainhead Companies, Fort Worth, Texas, on behalf of the 
Rural Rental Housing Association of Texas, Inc.; Richard J. Ferrara, 
Housing Opportunities Commission of Montgomery County, Kensington, 
Maryland; and Howard Earl Cohen, Beacon Residential Properties Limited 
Partnership, Boston, Massachusetts.
WIRELESS COMMUNICATION AND PUBLIC SAFETY
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Communications concluded hearings on S. 800, to promote and enhance 
public safety through the use of 9-1-1 as the universal emergency 
assistance number, further deployment of wireless 9-1-1 service, 
support of States in upgrading 9-1-1 capabilities and related 
functions, encouragement of construction and operation of seamless, 
ubiquitous, and reliable networks for personal wireless services, after 
receiving testimony from George Heinrichs, SCC Communications 
Corporation, Boulder, Colorado; Thomas E. Wheeler, Cellular 
Telecommunications Industry Association, Washington, D.C.; and Mark 
Wildey, West Metro Fire Protection District, Lakewood, Colorado.
EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on 
Science, Technology, and Space concluded hearings to examine incentives 
and barriers created by the federal government in bringing new 
technologies to the marketplace, after receiving testimony from Terry 
Douglass, Knoxville, Tennessee, and Don Jenkins, Columbia, South 
Carolina, both of Conversion Technologies Industries, Inc.; Ralph 
Hutcheson, Scientific Materials Corporation, Bozeman, Montana; Timothy 
Hammond, Tulane University Medical Center Environmental Astrobiology 
Center, New Orleans, Louisiana; Richard E. Smalley, Rice University, 
Houston, Texas; and Helena Wisniewski, ANSER, Arlington, Virginia.
ALLEGED CHINESE ESPIONAGE
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee held open and 
closed hearings to examine damage to the national security from alleged 
Chinese espionage at the Department of Energy nuclear weapons 
laboratories, receiving testimony from Mary Anne Sullivan, General 
Counsel, Department of Energy; and Neil Gallagher, Assistant Director, 
National Security Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and James 
Baker, Deputy Counsel for Intelligence Operations, Office of 
Intelligence Policy and Review, both of the Department of Justice.
  Hearings recessed subject to call.
MEDICARE REFORM
Committee on Finance: Committee resumed hearings on Medicare reform 
issues, focusing on the key differences between Medicare and other 
group health

[[Page D516]]

insurance programs, receiving testimony from Harry P. Cain II, Blue 
Cross and Blue Shield Association, Chicago, Illinois; P. Anthony 
Hammond, Institute for Health Policy Solutions, Paul B. Ginsburg, 
Center for Studying Health System Change, and Murray N. Ross, Medicare 
Payment Advisory Commission, all of Washington, D.C.; Christine C. 
Ferguson, Rhode Island Department of Human Services, Providence; Keith 
J. Mueller, University of Nebraska Center for Rural Health Research, 
Omaha; John W. Rowe, Mount Sinai-New York University Medical Center and 
Health System, New York; and David Blumenthal, Massachusetts General 
Hospital/Partners HealthCare System, Boston, on behalf of the 
Commonwealth Fund Task Force on Academic Health Centers.
  Hearings recessed subject to call.
DEMOCRACY/RULE OF LAW IN THE AMERICAS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere, 
Peace Corps, Narcotics and Terrorism concluded hearings on the state of 
democracy and the rule of law in the Americas, focusing on Latin 
America and the Caribbean, after receiving testimony from Elliott 
Abrams, Ethics and Public Policy Center, former Assistant Secretary of 
State of Inter-American Affairs, Luigi R. Aeneid, Inter-American 
Dialogue, former U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American 
States, and John P. Sweeney, Heritage Foundation, all of Washington, 
D.C.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and 
Government Information approved for full committee consideration S.692, 
to prohibit Internet gambling, with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute.
FARM WORKER PROGRAMS
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Immigration concluded 
hearings to examine workforce needs of American agriculture, farm 
workers, and the United States economy, focusing on illegal migrant 
farm workers, H-2A reform, AgJOBS, collective bargaining agreements, 
sanitation, and farm worker unemployment and wages, after receiving 
testimony from Senators Graham, McConnell, Gorton, and Gordon Smith; 
Representatives Berman and Bishop; Joshua Wunsch, Michigan Farm Bureau, 
Traverse City, on behalf of the American Farm Bureau; James S. Holt, 
McGuiness and Williams, on behalf of the National Council of 
Agricultural Employers, Demetri Papademetriou, Carnegie Endowment for 
International Peace, and Cecilia Munoz, National Council of La Raza, 
all of Washington, D.C.; Dolores C. Huerta, United Farm Workers of 
America, AFL-CIO, Keene, California; and Manuel Cunha, Jr., Nisei 
Farmers League, Fresno, California.
AUTHORIZATION: ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee 
concluded hearings on proposed legislation authorizing funds for 
programs of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, focusing on the 
Title 1 program, Helping Disadvantaged Children Meet High Standards, 
including issues as accountability, targeting assistance to low-income 
students, allocating resources for early childhood initiatives, and 
making Title One a portable entitlement, after receiving testimony from 
Christopher T. Cross, Independent Review Panel/Council for Basic 
Education, Washington, D.C.; Lisa Graham Keegan, Arizona Department of 
Education, Phoenix; and Iris T. Metts, Delaware Department of 
Education, Dover.
HUBZONES
Committee on Indian Affairs: Committee concluded oversight hearings on 
the implementation of the Small Business Administration's HUBZone 
Empowerment Contracting Program, SBA's initiatives to promote economic 
development opportunities for Native Americans and within Indian 
reservation communities, and other SBA programs that support economic 
development on Indian reservations, after receiving testimony from 
Richard L. Hayes, Associate Deputy Administrator, Office of Government 
Contracting and Minority Enterprise Development, Small Business 
Administration; Stanley Pino, All Indian Pueblo Council, Albuquerque, 
New Mexico; Sophie Minich, Cook Inlet Regional, Inc., Anchorage, 
Alaska; and Pete Homer, National Indian Business Association, 
Washington, D.C.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on 
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the 
intelligence community.
  Committee will meet again Wednesday, May 19.