[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 77 (Wednesday, May 26, 1999)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D594-D596]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
RURAL AREAS--ELECTRIC DEREGULATION EFFECTS
Committee on Agriculture: Subcommittee on General Farm Commodities, 
Resource Conservation, and Credit held a hearing to review the effects 
of electric deregulation on rural areas and an examination of 
legislative proposals. Testimony was heard from Wally Beyer, 
Administrator, Rural Utilities Service, USDA; Mark Mazur, Director, 
Office of Policy, Department of Energy; and public witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Banking and Financial Services: Ordered reported the 
following bills: H.R. 629, Community Development Financial Institutions 
Fund Amendments Act of 1999; and H.R. 413, Program for Investment in 
Microentrepreneurs Act of 1999.
  Prior to this action, the Committee held a hearing on these measures. 
Testimony was heard from Senator Kennedy; Representative Rush; Gary 
Gensler, Under Secretary, Domestic Finance, Department of the Treasury; 
and public witnesses.
ELECTRICITY COMPETITION
Committee on Commerce: Subcommittee on Energy and Power continued 
hearings on Electricity Competition, focusing on State Restructuring 
Efforts and Consumer Protection Issues. Testimony was heard from Elaine 
Kolish, Associate Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, FTC; Mary 
Ellen Burns, Assistant Attorney General in Charge, Bureau of Energy and 
Telecommunications, State of New York; and public witnesses.
CHEMICAL SAFETY INFORMATION AND SITE SECURITY ACT
Committee on Commerce: Subcommittee on Health and Environment concluded 
hearings on H.R. 1790, Chemical Safety Information and Site Security 
Act of 1999. Testimony was heard from Leon G. Billings, member, House 
of Delegates, State of Maryland; and public witnesses.
DOE'S-FUNDED ENVIRONMENTAL CLEANUP TECHNOLOGIES
Committee on Commerce: Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations 
held a hearing on a Review of the Department of Energy's Deployment of 
DOE-Funded Environmental Cleanup Technologies. Testimony was heard from 
Representative Hastings of Washington; Gary L, Jones, Associate 
Director, Energy, Resources, and Sciences Issues, GAO; the following 
officials of the Department of Energy: Ernest J. Moniz, Under 
Secretary; James Owendoff, Acting Assistant Secretary, Environmental 
Management; and Gerald Boyd, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Science 
and Technology; and public witnesses.
COMBATING TERRORISM
Committee on Government Reform: Subcommittee on National Security, 
Veteran's Affairs and International Relations held a hearing on 
Combating Terrorism: Proposed Transfer of the Domestic Preparedness 
Program to the Department of Justice. Testimony was heard from Charles 
L. Cragin, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary, Reserve Affairs, 
Department of Defense; Andy Mitchell, Deputy Director, Office for State 
and Local Domestic Preparedness Support, Office of Justice Programs, 
Department of Justice; and the following officials of the FEMA: Barbara 
Y. Martinez, Deputy Director, National Domestic Preparedness Office; 
and Catherine Light, Director, Office of National Security Affairs.
COX COMMITTEE REPORT
Committee on International Relations: Subcommittee on Asia and the 
Pacific held a hearing on The Cox Committee: Report of the Select 
Committee on U.S. Security and Military/Commercial Concerns with the 
People's Republic of China. Testimony was heard from Representatives 
Cox and Dicks.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on the Judiciary: Ordered reported the following measures: 
H.J. Res. 33, proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United 
States authorizing the Congress to prohibit the physical desecration of 
the flag of the United States; H.R. 354, amended, Collections of 
Information Antipiracy Act; H.R. 1565, amended, Trademark Amendments 
Act of 1999; H.R. 1761, amended, Copyright Damages

[[Page D595]]

Improvement Act of 1999; and H.R. 1225, United States Patent and 
Trademark Office Reauthorization Act, Fiscal Year 2000.
RELIGIOUS LIBERTY PROTECTION ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution approved 
for full Committee action amended H.R. 1691, Religious Liberty 
Protection Act of 1999.
OVERSIGHT
Committee on Resources: Held an oversight hearing on Use of Land and 
Money Mitigation Requirements in Endangered Special Act Enforcement. 
Testimony was heard from Jamies Clark, Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Department of the Interior; Penelope Dalton, Assistant 
Administrator, Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, 
Department of Commerce; and public witnesses.
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT
Committee on Rules: Granted, by a vote of 9 to 2, a structured rule 
providing one hour of general debate to be equally divided between the 
chairman and ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services 
on H.R. 1401, National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal years 2000 
and 2001. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of 
the bill. The rule makes in order the Committee on Armed Services 
amendment in the nature of a substitute now printed in the bill, 
modified by the amendment printed in Part A of the Rules Committee 
report, which shall be considered as read. The rule also waives all 
points of order against the amendment in the nature of a substitute, as 
modified. The rule makes in order only those amendments printed in the 
Rules Committee report and pro forma amendments offered by the chairman 
and ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services for the 
purpose of debate Amendments printed in Part C of the Rules Committee 
report may be offered en bloc. The rule provides that, except as 
specified in section 5 of the resolution, amendments will be considered 
only in the order specified in the report, may be offered only by a 
Member designated in the report, shall be considered as read, and shall 
not be subject to a demand for division of the question. The rule 
provides that, except as otherwise specified in the report, each 
amendment printed in the report shall be debatable for 10 minutes 
equally divided and controlled by the proponent and an opponent and 
shall not be subject to amendment (except that the chairman and ranking 
minority member of the Committee on Armed Services each may offer one 
pro forma amendment for the purpose of further debate on any pending 
amendment). The rule waives all points of order against amendments 
printed in the Rules Committee report and those amendments en bloc 
described in section 3 of the resolution. The rule provides for an 
additional one hour of general debate at the beginning of the second 
legislative day of consideration of H.R. 1401, which shall be equally 
divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking minority member of 
the Committee on Armed Services. The rule authorizes the chairman of 
the Armed Services Committee or his designee to offer amendments en 
bloc consisting of the amendments in Part C of the Rules Committee 
report or germane modifications thereto, which shall be considered as 
read (except that modifications shall be reported), shall be debatable 
for 20 minutes equally divided between the chairman and ranking member 
of the Armed Services Committee or their designees, and shall not be 
subject to amendment or demand for division of the question. The rule 
provides that, for the purposes of inclusion in such amendments en 
bloc, an amendment printed in the form of a motion to strike may be 
modified to the form of a germane perfecting amendment to the text 
originally proposed to be stricken. The original proponent of an 
amendment included in such amendments en bloc may insert a statement in 
the Congressional Record immediately before the dispositions of the en 
bloc amendments. The rule allows the chairman of the Committee of the 
Whole to postpone votes during consideration of the bill, and to reduce 
voting time to five minutes on a postponed question if the vote follows 
a fifteen minute vote. The rule permits the chairman of the Committee 
of the Whole to recognize for consideration of any amendment printed in 
the report out of the order in which printed, but not sooner than one 
hour after the chairman of the Armed Services Committee or a designee 
announces from the floor a request to that effect. Finally, the rule 
provides one motion to recommit, with or without instructions. 
Testimony was heard from Chairman Spence and Representatives Weldon of 
Pennsylvania, Thornberry, Hostettler, Hilleary, Ryun of Kansas, Riley, 
Goodling, Boehlert, Shays, Castle, Collins, Hoekstra, Frelinghuysen, 
Metcalf, Ney, Weldon of Florida, Thune, Sweeney. Wilson, Ose, Skelton, 
Evans, Taylor of Mississippi, Abercrombie, Allen, Sanchez, McIntyre, 
Rodriguez, Stenholm, Frank of Massachusetts, Traficant, Costello, 
Roemer, Waters, Hinchey, Velazquez and Kucinich.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Science: Ordered reported amended the following bills: 
H.R. 1742, Environmental Protection Agency Office of Research and 
Development and Science Advisory Board Authorization Act of

[[Page D596]]

1999; H.R. 1743, Environmental Protection Agency Office of Air and 
Radiation Authorization Act of 1999; and H.R. 1656, Department of 
Energy Commercial Application of Energy Technology Authorization Act of 
1999.
  The Committee began markup of H.R. 1744, National Institute of 
Standards and Technology Authorization Act of 1999.
  The Committee recessed subject to call.
ELECTRONIC COMMERCE
Committee on Small Business: Held a hearing on Electronic Commerce: The 
Benefits and Pitfalls of Conducting Business Over the Internet. 
Testimony was heard from Daniel O. Hill, Assistant Administrator, 
Technology, SBA; and public witnesses.
OVERSIGHT--OFFICE OF MOTOR CARRIERS AND OF BUS SAFETY
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on Ground 
Transportation held an oversight hearing on the Office of Motor 
Carriers and of Bus Safety. Testimony was heard from the following 
officials of the Department of Transportation: Eugene A. Conti, Jr., 
Assistant Secretary, Transportation Policy; and Kenneth R. Wykle, 
Administrator, Federal Highway Administration; Joseph Osterman, 
Director, Office of Highway Safety, National Transportation Safety 
Board; the following officials of the State of New Jersey: C. Richard 
Kamin, Assistant Commissioner, Division of Motor Vehicles; and James 
Crawford, Executive Director, South Jersey Transportation Authority; 
former Representative Norman Mineta of California; and public 
witnesses.
ADMINISTRATION'S HARBOR SERVICES FEE PROPOSAL
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on Water 
Resources and Environment held a hearing on the Administration's Harbor 
Services Fee Proposal. Testimony was heard from Joseph W. Westphal, 
Assistant Secretary of the Army (Civil Works), Department of Defense; 
and public witnesses.
FOSTER CARE INDEPENDENCE ACT
Committee on Ways and Means: Ordered reported amended H.R. 1802, Foster 
Care Independence Act of 1999.