[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 42 (Thursday, April 6, 2000)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D327-D329]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
EMERGENCY FOOD ASSISTANCE ENHANCEMENT ACT
Committee on Agriculture: Subcommittee on Department Operations, 
Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry held a hearing on H.R. 3453, 
Emergency Food Assistance Enhancement Act of 1999. Testimony was heard 
from Representative Hall of Ohio; Shirley Watkins, Under Secretary, 
Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services, USDA; Gary Gay, Director, 
Commodity Options, Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, 
State of North Carolina; and public witnesses.
COMMERCE, JUSTICE, STATE AND JUDICIARY APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State, 
and Judiciary held a hearing on the Bureau of the Census; and NOAA. 
Testimony was heard from the following officials of the Department of 
Commerce: Kenneth Prewitt, Director, Bureau of the Census; and D. James 
Baker, Under Secretary, Oceans and Atmosphere, and Administrator, NOAA.
FOREIGN OPERATIONS, EXPORT FINANCING AND RELATED PROGRAMS 
APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Foreign Operations, Export 
Financing and Related Programs held a hearing on the Under Secretary of 
Defense for Policy. Testimony was heard from James Bodner, Principal 
Deputy Under Secretary, Policy, Department of Defense; and John Holum, 
Senior Advisor, Arms Control and International Security, Department of 
State.
INTERIOR APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Interior held a hearing on 
Natural Resources, Energy, and other programs. Testimony was heard from 
public witnesses.
LABOR-HHS-EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human 
Services, and Education held a hearing on the Armed Forces Retirement 
Home; National on Disability; Elementary and Secondary Education; and 
Bilingual Education and Minority Language Affairs. Testimony was heard 
from David F. Lacy, CEO/Chairman of the Board, Armed Forces Retirement 
Home; and the following officials of the Department of Education: 
Michael Cohen, Assistant Secretary, Elementary and Secondary Education; 
and Arthur Love, Acting Director, Bilingual Education and Minority 
Language Affairs.
VA, HUD AND INDEPENDENT AGENCIES APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on VA, HUD and Independent 
Agencies held a hearing on FEMA; and on NASA. Testimony was heard from 
James Lee Witt, Director, FEMA; and the following officials of NASA: 
Dan S. Goldin, Administrator; Malcom Peterson, Associate Chief 
Financial Officer; Joseph H. Rothenberg, Associate Administrator, Space 
Flight; Edward J. Weiler, Associate Administrator, Space Science; 
Ghassem Asrar, Associate Administrator, Earth Science; and Samuel L. 
Venneri, Associate Administrator, Aero-Space Technology.
THIRD PARTY BILLING COMPANY FRAUD: ASSESSING MEDICARE THREAT
Committee on Commerce: Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations 
held a hearing on Third Party Billing Company Fraud: Assessing the 
Threat Posed to Medicare. Testimony was heard from the following 
officials of the GAO: Robert Hast, Acting Assistant Comptroller 
General, Office of Special Investigations; and Leslie Aronovitz, 
Associate Director, Health Financing and Public Health Issues; the

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following officials of the Department of Health and Human Services: Lew 
Morris, Counsel, Office of the Inspector General; and Penny Thompson, 
Director, Medicare Program Integrity Group, Health Care Financing 
Administration; and a public witness.
ADVISORY COMMISSION ON ELECTRONIC COMMERCE REPORT; WIRELESS 
TELECOMMUNICATIONS SOURCING AND PRIVACY ACT
Committee on Commerce: Subcommittee on Telecommunications, Trade, and 
Consumer Protection held a hearing to receive the report of the 
Advisory Commission on Electronic Commerce. Testimony was heard from 
James S. Gilmore III, Governor, State of Virginia.
  The Subcommittee also held a hearing on H.R. 3489, Wireless 
Telecommunications Sourcing and Privacy Act. Testimony was heard from 
public witnesses.
EDUCATION OPTIONS
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Continued markup of H.R. 
4141, Education Opportunities To Protect and Invest In Our Nation's 
Students (Education OPTIONS) Act.
AUTISM; PRESENT CHALLENGES, FUTURE NEEDS
Committee on Government Reform: Held a hearing on Autism: Present 
Challenges, Future Needs--Why the Increased Rates? Testimony was heard 
from the following officials of the Department of Health and Human 
Services: Coleen A. Boyle, Chief, Developmental Disability Branch 
Division of Birth Defects, Child Development, Disability and Health; 
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; and Deborah Hirtz, M.D., 
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH; and 
public witnesses.
CHINA AND TIBET--STATUS OF NEGOTIATIONS
Committee on International Relations: Held a hearing on the Status of 
Negotiations Between China and Tibet. Testimony was heard from Julia 
Taft, U.S. Special Coordinator for Tibetan Issues, Assistant Secretary, 
Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration, Department of State; and 
Lodi Gyari, Special Envoy, His Holiness The Dalai Lama.
NATIONAL DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION ACT AMENDMENTS
Committee on International Relations: Subcommittee on International 
Economic Policy and Trade approved for full Committee action H.R. 3680, 
to amend the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1998 
with respect to the adjustment of composite theoretical performance 
levels of high performance computers.
INTERNET GAMBLING PROHIBITION ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Ordered reported, as amended, H.R. 3125, 
Internet Gambling Prohibition Act of 1999.
OVERSIGHT--FOURTH AMENDMENT AND THE INTERNET
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on the Constitution held an 
oversight hearing on the Fourth Amendment and the Internet. Testimony 
was heard from the following officials of the Department of Justice: 
Kevin V. DeGregory, Deputy Associate Attorney General; and David Green, 
Deputy Chief, Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section; and 
public witnesses.
PROJECT EXILE: THE SAFE STREETS AND NEIGHBORHOODS ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Crime held a hearing on 
H.R. 4051, Project Exile: The Safe Streets and Neighborhoods Act of 
2000. Testimony was heard from Walter C. Holton, Jr., U.S. Attorney, 
Middle District of North Carolina, Department of Justice; the following 
officials of the State of Virginia: James S. Gilmore III, Governor; and 
Mark L. Earley, Attorney General; and public witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, 
Wildlife and Oceans approved for full Committee action the following 
bills: H.R. 3176, to direct the Secretary of the Interior to conduct a 
study to determine ways of restoring the natural wetlands conditions in 
the Kealia Pond National Wildlife Refuge, Hawaii; and H.R. 3292, 
amended, to provide for the establishment of the Cat Island National 
Wildlife Refuge in West Feliciana Parish, Louisiana.
  The Subcommittee held an oversight hearing on Section 118 of the 
Marine Mammal Protection. Testimony was heard from Andrew Rosenberg, 
Deputy Assistant Administrator, Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries 
Service, NOAA, Department of Commerce; John E. Reynolds, Chairman, 
Marine Mammal Commission; and public witnesses.
  The Subcommittee also held an oversight hearing on Section 119 of the 
Marine Mammal Protection Act. Penelope Dalton, Assistant Administrator, 
Fisheries, National Marine Fisheries Service, NOAA, Department of 
Commerce; David B. Allen, Regional Director, U.S. Fish and Wildlife 
Service, Department of the Interior; and public witnesses.

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GENERAL AVIATION ACCESS ACT
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on National Parks, and Public 
Lands, the Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health and the 
Subcommittee on Aviation of the Committee on Transportation and 
Infrastructure held a joint hearing on H.R. 3661, General Aviation 
Access Act. Testimony was heard from Pat Shea, Deputy Assistant 
Secretary, Land and Minerals Management, Bureau of Land Management, 
Department of the Interior; Barton W. Welsh, Aeronautics Administrator, 
Division of Aeronautics, Department of Transportation, State of Idaho; 
and public witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES; OVERSIGHT
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Water and Power held a hearing 
on the following bills: H.R. 1787, Deschutes Resources Conservancy 
Reauthorization Act of 1999; and H.R. 1113, Colusa Basin Watershed 
Integrated Resources Management Act. Testimony was heard from Eluid 
Martinez, Commissioner, Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the 
Interior; and public witnesses.
  The Subcommittee also held an oversight hearing on Bonneville Power 
Administrations' Subscription process. Testimony was heard from Paul 
Norman, Senior Vice President of Power Business Line, Bonneville Power 
Administration, Department of Energy; and public witnesses.
HUMAN GENOME PROJECT
Committee on Science: Subcommittee on Energy and Environment held a 
hearing on the Human Genome Project. Testimony was heard from Neal F. 
Lane, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology, Director, 
Office of Science and Technology Policy; and public witnesses.
PREPAREDNESS AGAINST TERRORIST ATTACKS
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on 
Oversight, Investigations, and Emergency Management held a hearing on 
Preparedness Against Terrorist Attacks Involving Weapons of Mass 
Destruction. Testimony was heard from Norman J. Rabkin, Director, 
National Security and Preparedness Issues, GAO; Brett Burdick, Director 
of Terrorism Preparedness Programs, Department of Emergency Services, 
State of Virginia; and public witnesses.
SOCIAL SECURITY TRUSTEES ANNUAL REPORT
Committee on Ways and Means: Subcommittee on Social Security held a 
hearing on the 2000 Social Security Trustees Annual Report. Testimony 
was heard from the following former public trustees of the Social 
Security Board of Trustees: Stephen G. Kellison; and Marilyn Moon.