[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 14 (Tuesday, February 15, 2000)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D92-D94]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
COMMODITY EXCHANGE ACT--OVER-THE-COUNTER DERIVATIVES MARKETS
Committee on Agriculture: Subcommittee on Risk Management, Research, 
and Specialty Crops held a hearing to review the President's Working 
Group Report on the over-the-counter derivatives markets and the 
Commodity Exchange Act. Testimony was heard from Lee Sachs, Assistant 
Secretary, Financial Markets, Department of the Treasury; C. Robert 
Paul, General Counsel, CFTC; Patrick M. Parkinson, Associate Director, 
Division of Research and Statistics, Board of Governors, Federal 
Reserve System; Annette L. Nazareth, Director, Division of Market 
Regulation, SEC; and public witnesses.
INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Interior held an oversight 
hearing on the Fish and Wildlife Service Land Acquisition Accounts and 
Priority Setting. Testimony was heard from Jim Wells, Director, Energy 
and Natural Resources Division, GAO; and Jamie Rappaport Clark, 
Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior.

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LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, and Education held a hearing on the Director, National 
Institutes of Health, and on the National Cancer Institute. Testimony 
was heard from the following officials of the Department of Health and 
Human Services: Ruth Kirschstein, M.D., Acting Director, NIH; and 
Richard D. Klausner, M.D., Director, National Cancer Institute.
MILITARY CONSTRUCTION APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Military Construction held 
a hearing on overview. Testimony was heard from William J. Lynn, III, 
Under Secretary, Comptroller, Department of Defense.
TRANSPORTATION APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Transportation held a 
hearing on the Secretary of Transportation. Testimony was heard from 
Rodney E. Slater, Secretary of Transportation.
AMERICAN HOMEOWNERSHIP AND ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITY ACT
Committee on Banking and Financial Services: Subcommittee on Housing 
and Community Opportunity approved for full Committee action, as 
amended, H.R. 1776, American Homeownership and Economic Opportunity Act 
of 1999.
FAIRNESS IN SECURITIES TRANSACTION ACT
Committee on Commerce: Subcommittee on Finance and Hazardous Materials 
approved for full Committee action, as amended, H.R. 2441, Fairness in 
Securities Transactions Act.
EMERGENCY COMMODITY DISTRIBUTION ACT
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Subcommittee on Early 
Childhood, Youth, and Families held a hearing on H.R. 3614, Emergency 
Commodity Distribution Act of 2000. Testimony was heard from public 
witnesses.
ERISA--25 YEARS LATER
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Subcommittee on Employee-
Employer Relations held a hearing on the Evolving Pension and 
Investment World After 25 years of ERISA. Testimony was heard from 
public witnesses.
OVERSIGHT--2000 CENSUS
Committee on Government Reform: Subcommittee on the Census held an 
oversight hearing of the 2000 Census: Examining the GAO's Census 2000 
Oversight Activities. Testimony was heard from J. Christopher Mihm, 
Acting Associate Director, Federal Management and Workforce Issues, 
GAO.
COLOMBIA CRISIS--U.S. RESPONSE
Committee on Government Reform: Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug 
Policy and Human Resources held a hearing on The U.S. Response to the 
Crisis in Colombia. Testimony was heard from Barry R. McCaffrey, 
Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy; the following 
officials of the Department of Defense: Gen. Charles Wilhelm, USMC, 
Commander, U.S. Southern Command; and Ana Maria Salazar, Drug 
Enforcement Policy and Support; William Ledwith, Chief, International 
Operations, DEA, Department of Justice; Ambassador Peter F. Romero, 
Department of State; and public witnesses.
``IS THE DEPARTMENT OF LABOR REGULATING THE PUBLIC THROUGH THE 
BACKDOOR?''
Committee on Government Reform: Subcommittee on National Economic 
Growth, Natural Resources, and Regulatory Affairs held a hearing on 
``Is the Department of Labor Regulating the Public Through the 
Backdoor?'' Testimony was heard from Henry L. Solano, Solicitor, 
Department of Labor; and public witnesses.
CONGO--PEACE KEEPING
Committee on International Relations: Subcommittee on Africa held a 
hearing on Peace Keeping in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. 
Testimony was heard from Ambassador Richard Holbrooke, U.S. 
Representative to the United Nations, Department of State.
BUDGET VIEWS AND ESTIMATES; TRAFFIC STOPS STATISTICS STUDY ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Began consideration of the following: 
Committee Budget Views and Estimates for Fiscal Year 2001 for 
submission to the Committee on the Budget; and H.R. 1443, Traffic Stops 
Statistics Study Act of 1999.
  Will continue tomorrow.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURE
Committee on Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources 
held a hearing on H.R. 3432, to direct the Minerals Management Service 
to grant the State of Louisiana and its lessees a credit in the payment 
of Federal offshore royalties to satisfy the authorization for 
compensation contained in the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 for oil and gas 
drainage in the West Delta field. Testimony was heard from Walt 
Rosenbusch, Director, Minerals Management Service,

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Department of the Interior; Jack C. Caldwell, Secretary, Department of 
Natural Resources, State of Louisiana; and a public witness.
OVERSIGHT--FUNDING OF ENVIRONMENTAL INITIATIVES
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health held 
an oversight hearing on the Funding of Environmental Initiatives and 
Their Impacts on Local Communities. Testimony was heard from public 
witnesses.
SMALL BUSINESS LIABILITY REFORM ACT
Committee on Rules: The Committee granted, by voice vote, a structured 
rule, providing one hour of general debate on H.R. 2366, Small Business 
Liability Reform Act of 2000, equally divided between the chairman and 
ranking minority member of the Committee on the Judiciary. The rule 
makes in order the Committee on the Judiciary amendment in the nature 
of a substitute now printed in the bill as an original bill for the 
purpose of amendment. The rule makes in order only those amendments 
printed in the Rules Committee report accompanying the resolution. The 
rule provides that the amendments made in order may be offered only in 
the order printed in the report, may be offered only by a Member 
designated in the report, shall be considered as read, shall be 
debatable for the time specified in the report equally divided and 
controlled by the proponent and an opponent, shall not be subject to 
amendment, and shall not be subject to a demand for a division of the 
question in the House or in the Committee of the Whole. The rule waives 
all points of order against the amendments printed in the report. The 
rule permits 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 Representatives Rogan, 
Conyers, Scott, Berman, Watt of North Carolina, Lofgren, and Jackson-
Lee.
  The Committee also approved the Committee Budget Views and Estimates 
for Fiscal Year 2001 for submission to the Committee on the Budget.
U.S. AND GREAT BRITAIN--AVIATION NEGOTIATIONS BREAKDOWN
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on 
Aviation held a hearing on the Recent Breakdown of Aviation 
Negotiations Between the United States and the United Kingdom. 
Testimony was heard from Rodney E. Slater, Secretary of Transportation; 
and public witnesses.
CERTAIN EPA'S PROPOSED REGULATIONS
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on Water 
Resources and Environment concluded hearings on the EPA's Proposed 
Regulations Regarding Total Maximum Daily Loads, the National Pollutant 
Discharge Elimination System, and the Federal Anti-Degradation Policy. 
Testimony was heard from Jim Lyons, Under Secretary, Natural Resources 
and Environment, USDA; and public witnesses.
PRESCRIPTION DRUG BENEFITS--SENIORS' ACCESS
Committee on Ways and Means: Subcommittee on Health held a hearing on 
Seniors' Access to Prescription Drug Benefits. Testimony was heard from 
David M. Walker, Comptroller General, GAO; and public witnesses.
SOCIAL SECURITY WORK INCENTIVES IMPROVEMENTS
Committee on Ways and Means: Subcommittee on Social Security held a 
hearing on improving Social Security Work Incentives. Testimony was 
heard from Representatives Sam Johnson of Texas and Peterson of 
Minnesota; Kenneth S. Apfel, Commissioner, SSA; and public witnesses.
COMMITTEE BUSINESS
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence: Met in executive session to 
consider pending business.