[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 142 (Tuesday, October 19, 1999)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D1160-D1162]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
NATIONAL SUSTAINABLE FUELS AND CHEMICALS ACT
Committee on Agriculture: Subcommittee on Risk Management, Research, 
and Specialty Crops held a hearing on H.R. 2827, National Sustainable 
Fuels and Chemicals Act of 1999. Testimony was heard from

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Representative Udall of Colorado; I.M. Gonzalez, Under Secretary, 
Research, Education, and Economics, USDA; Dan W. Reicher, Assistant 
Secretary, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Department of 
Energy; and public witnesses.
KOSOVO--LESSONS LEARNED
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Military Procurement held 
a hearing on lessons learned from the Kosovo conflict--the effect of 
the operation on both deployed/non-deployed forces and on future 
modernization plans. Testimony was heard from the following officials 
of the Department of Defense: Lt. Gen. Larry R. Ellis, USA, Deputy 
Chief of Staff (Operations and Plans), Department of the Army; Vice 
Adm. Conrad C. Lautenbacher, USN, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations 
(Resources, Warfare Requirements and Assessments), Department of the 
Navy; Lt. Gen. Marvin R. Esmond, USAF, Deputy Chief of Staff (Air and 
Space Operations), Department of the Air Force; and Lt. Gen. John E. 
Rhodes, USMC, Commanding General, Marine Corps Combat Development 
Command, Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps.
BLOOD SAFETY AND AVAILABILITY
Committee on Commerce: Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations 
concluded hearings on Blood Safety and Availability. Testimony was 
heard from public witnesses.
COMPLEMENTARY MEDICINE--IMPROVING CARE AT THE END OF LIFE
Committee on Government Reform: Held a hearing on Improving Care at the 
End of Life with Complementary Medicine. Testimony was heard from 
Thomas V. Holohan, Chief, Patient Care Services, Veterans Health 
Administration, Department of Veterans Affairs; the following officials 
of the Department of Health and Human Services: Kathy Buto, Deputy 
Director, Center for Health Plans and Providers, Health Care Financing 
Administration; and Patricia Grady, Director, National Institute for 
Nursing Research, NIH; and public witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES; U.S. POLICY TOWARD RUSSIA
Committee on International Relations: Favorably considered the 
following resolutions and adopted motions urging the Chairman to 
request that they be considered on the Suspension Calendar: H. Con. 
Res. 102, celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions of 
1949 and recognizing the humanitarian safeguards these treaties provide 
in times of armed conflict; H. Con. Res. 188, commending Greece and 
Turkey for their mutual and swift response to the recent earthquakes in 
both countries by providing to each other humanitarian assistance and 
rescue relief; H. Con. Res. 46, urging an end of the war between 
Eritrea and Ethiopia and calling on the United Nations Human Rights 
Commission and other human rights organizations to investigate human 
rights abuse in connection with the Eritrean and Ethiopian conflict; 
and H. Con. Res. 20, concerning economic, humanitarian, and other 
assistance to the northern part of Somalia.
  The Subcommittee also concluded hearings on U.S. Policy Toward 
Russia, Part III: Administration Views. Testimony was heard from Strobe 
Talbott, Deputy Secretary, Department of State.
SMALL BUSINESS LIABILITY REFORM ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Began mark up of H.R. 2366, Small Business 
Liability Reform Act of 1999.
  Will continue October 25.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health held 
a hearing on the following bills: H.R. 1680, to provide for the 
conveyance of Forest Service property in Kern County, California, in 
exchange for county lands suitable for inclusion in Sequoia National 
Forest; H.R. 1969, Arizona National Forest Improvement Act of 1999; and 
H.R. 3089, to provide for a comprehensive scientific review of the 
current conservation status of the northern spotted owl as a result of 
implementation of the President's Northwest Forest Plan, which is a 
national strategy for the recovery of the species on public forest 
lands. Testimony was heard from Representative Thomas; and Paul Brouha, 
Associate Deputy Chief, National Forest Systems, Forest Service, USDA.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on National Parks and Public Lands 
held a hearing on the following bills: H.R. 2795, Shivwits Plateau 
National Conservation Area Establishment Act; and H.R. 3935, Utah 
National Parks and Public Lands Wilderness Act. Testimony was heard 
from Representatives Shadegg, Stump, Cook and Hinchey; Bruce Babbitt, 
Secretary of the Interior; Michael Leavitt, Governor, State of Utah; W. 
Hays Gilstrtap, Commissioner, Game and Fish Department, State of 
Arizona; and public witnesses.
STUDENTS RESULTS ACT
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, a modified open rule on 
H.R. 2, Students Result Act of 1999. providing ninety minutes of 
general debate equally divided and controlled by the chairman and 
ranking minority member of the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce. The rule waives all points of order against consideration of 
the bill. The rule

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makes in order the Committee on Education and the Workforce amendment 
in the nature of a substitute now printed in the bill as an original 
bill for the purpose of amendment, which shall be open for amendment at 
any point. The rule waives all points of order against the amendment in 
the nature of a substitute. The rule provides that the amendment 
process shall not exceed 6 hours. The rules makes in order only those 
amendments printed in the Congressional Record. The rule provides that 
each amendment printed in the Congressional Record may be offered only 
by the Member who caused it to be printed or his designee, and that 
each amendment shall be considered as read. The rule provides that 
amendment number 5 printed in the Congressional Record shall not be 
subject to amendment and shall not be subject to a demand for a 
division of the question. 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. Finally, the rule provides one motion to 
recommit with or without instructions. Testimony was heard from 
Chairman Goodling and Representatives Castle, Clay, Kildee, Payne, Mink 
of Hawaii, and Woolsey.
CONFERENCE REPORT--COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE, AND JUDICIARY 
APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, a rule waiving all points 
of order against the conference report on H.R. 2670, making 
appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, and State, the 
Judiciary, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending September 
30, 2000 and against its consideration. The rule provides that the 
conference report shall be considered as read. Testimony was heard from 
Representatives Rogers and Serrano.
PLANT GENOME SCIENCE
Committee on Science: Subcommittee on Basic Research concluded hearings 
on Plant Genome Science: From the Lab to the Field to the Market, Part 
III. Testimony was heard from Sally L. McCammon, Science Advisor, 
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, USDA; Janet L. Andersen, 
Director, Bio-Pesticides and Pollution Prevention Division, Office of 
Pesticide Programs, EPA; James Maryanski, Biotechnology Coordinator, 
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition, FDA, Department of Health 
and Human Services; and public witnesses.
POSTAL SERVICE'S REGULATIONS--COMMERCIAL MAIL RECEIVING AGENCIES
Committee on Small Business: Subcommittee on Regulatory Reform and 
Paperwork Reduction held a hearing on the U.S. Postal Service's 
regulations regarding Commercial Mail Receiving Agencies (CMRAs). 
Testimony was heard from Tony Crawford, Inspector, Mid-Atlantic 
Division, U.S. Postal Service; and public witnesses.
BRIEFING--COLOMBIA; INTELLIGENCE ISSUES
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Met in executive session to 
receive a briefing on Colombia: Intelligence Issues. The Committee was 
briefed by departmental officials.

Joint Meetings
UZBEKISTAN DEMOCRACY AND HUMAN RIGHTS
  Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe: On Monday, October 
18, Commission concluded hearings on the state of democratization and 
human rights in Uzbekistan, after receiving testimony from John Beyrle, 
Deputy to the Ambassador-at-Large/Special Advisor to the Secretary of 
State for the New Independent States; Sodyq Safaev, Ambassador of the 
Republic of Uzbekistan; Cassandra Cavanaugh, Human Rights Watch, 
Helsinki, New York, New York; Paul Goble, Radio Free Europe/Radio 
Liberty, and Abdurahim Polat, Birlik Party, both of Washington, D.C.; 
and Lawrence Uzzell, Keston Institute, Moscow, Russia.