[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 72 (Tuesday, May 18, 1999)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D544-D545]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOXIOUS WEEDS AND PLANT PESTS
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Subcommittee on 
Forestry, Conservation, and Rural Revitalization concluded hearings on 
S. 910, to streamline, modernize, and enhance the authority of the 
Secretary of Agriculture relating to plant protection and quarantine, 
after receiving testimony from Senator Akaka; Craig A. Reed, 
Administrator, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, and Robert 
Lewis, Deputy Chief for Research and Development, Forest Service, both 
of the Department of Agriculture; William Brown, Secretary's Science 
Advisor, Office of the Secretary, Department of the Interior; Virginia 
State Senator John C. Watkins III, Midlothian, on behalf of the 
American Nursery and Landscape Association; Frank Priestley, Idaho Farm 
Bureau Federation, Boise, on behalf of the American Farm Bureau 
Federation; Elizabeth A. Chornesky, The Nature Conservancy, Arlington, 
Virginia; and Gene B. Cross, North Carolina Department of Agriculture 
and Consumer Services, Raleigh, on behalf of the Weed Science Society 
of America.
TELEVISION VIOLENCE
Committee on Commerce: Committee concluded hearings on issues relating 
to the effects of violence in mass media programming, and S. 876, to 
amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require that the broadcast of 
violent video programming be limited to hours when children are not 
reasonably likely to comprise a substantial portion of the audience, 
after receiving testimony from Leonard D. Eron, University of Michigan 
Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor; William S. Abbott, National 
Foundation to Improve Television, Boston, Massachusetts; Robert L. 
Corn-Revere, Hogan and Hartson/Catholic University of America Columbus 
School of Law, Washington, D.C.; James T. Hamilton, Duke University, 
Durham, North Carolina; and Dale Kunkel, University of California, 
Santa Barbara.
FEDERAL ROYALTY CERTAINTY ACT
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Energy 
Research, Development, Production and Regulation concluded hearings on 
S. 924, entitled the ``Federal Royalty Certainty Act'', to codify that 
royalty value is the value of oil and gas

[[Page D545]]

at the lease, after receiving testimony from Thomas R. Kitsos, Deputy 
Director, Minerals Management Service, Department of the Interior; 
Stephen A. Reynolds, Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments, 
Cheyenne; James N. McCabe, City of Long Beach, Long Beach, California; 
and David Blackmon, on behalf of the Independent Petroleum Association 
of America, Larry E. Wooden, Shell Exploration and Production Company, 
and Al Poe Leggette, Fulbright and Jaworski, all of Washington, D.C.
GASOLINE SULFUR STANDARDS
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on Clean Air, 
Wetlands, Private Property, and Nuclear Safety held hearings on the 
Environmental Protection Agency's proposed sulfur standard for gasoline 
as contained in the proposed Tier Two standards for automobiles, 
receiving testimony from Nettie H. Myers, South Dakota Department of 
Environment and Natural Resources, Pierre; James D. Austin, New York 
State Department of Environmental Conservation, Albany; J. Louis Frank, 
Marathon Ashland Petroleum, Findlay, Ohio; Loren K. Beard, 
DaimlerChrysler Corporation, Auburn Hills, Michigan, on behalf of the 
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers; Rebecca D. Stanfield, U.S. Public 
Interest Research Group, Washington, D.C.; Clint W. Ensign, Sinclair 
Oil Corporation, Salt Lake City, Utah; and William E. Nasser, Energy 
BioSystems Corporation, The Woodlands, Texas.
  Hearings recessed subject to call.
CUSTOMS OPERATIONS EFFECTIVENESS
Committee on Finance: Committee resumed oversight hearings on the 
enforcement activities of the United States Customs Service, focusing 
on commercial operations, after receiving testimony from Norman J. 
Rabkin, Director, Administration of Justice Issues, General Government 
Division, General Accounting Office; Lawrence W. Sherman, University of 
Maryland, College Park; Michael Chertoff, Latham and Watkins, Newark, 
New Jersey; and a protected witness.
  Hearings will continue Tuesday, May 25.
AUTHORIZATION--ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION ACT
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee resumed 
hearings on proposed legislation authorizing funds for programs of the 
Elementary and Secondary Education Act, receiving testimony from Samuel 
Halperin, American Youth Policy Forum, and Courtney Adams, Lincoln 
Multi-Cultural Middle School, both of Washington, D.C.; James E. Fish, 
Sherwood High School, Sandy Spring, Maryland; and Hamid Ebrahimi, 
Project Seed, Inc., Dallas, Texas.
  Hearings will continue on Thursday, May 20.