[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 66 (Wednesday, May 24, 2000)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D524-D526]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
LABOR, HHS, AND EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Ordered reported the Labor, Health and 
Human Services, and Education appropriations for fiscal year 2001.
PREDATORY LENDING PRACTICES
Committee on Banking and Financial Services: Held a hearing on 
Predatory Lending Practices. Testimony was heard from the following 
officials of the Department of the Treasury: Gary Gensler, Under 
Secretary, Domestic Finance; Ellen S. Seidman, Director, Office of 
Thrift Supervision; and John D. Hawke, Jr., Comptroller of the 
Currency; Bill Apgar, Assistant Secretary, Housing-FHA Commissioner, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development; Edward Gramlich, member, 
Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System; Donna Tanoue, Chairman, 
FDIC; David Medine, Associate Director, Division of Financial 
Practices, FTC; Andrew G. Celli, Bureau Chief, Civil Rights, Office of 
the Attorney General, State of New York; and public witnesses.
EDUCATION DEPARTMENT'S FINANCIAL RECORDS
Committee on the Budget: Education Task Force held a hearing on 
``Education Department Fails Accounting 101: The Department of 
Education's Unreliable Financial Records.'' Testimony was heard from 
Gloria L. Jarmon, Director, Civil Audits, GAO; Lorraine Lewis, 
Inspector General, Department of Education; and public witnesses.
NATIONAL PARKS--CONCESSION CONTRACTS
Committee on the Budget: Natural Resources and the Environment Task 
Force held a hearing on ``Management Failures at the National Parks, 
Oversight Weaknesses with Concession Contracts.'' Testimony was heard 
from Barry T. Hill, Associate Director, Energy, Resources and Science 
Issues, GAO; Maureen Finnerty, Associate Director, Operations and 
Education, National Park Service, Department of the Interior; and a 
public witness.
NATIONAL ENERGY POLICY
Committee on Commerce: Subcommittee on Energy and Power held a hearing 
on National Energy Policy: Ensuring Adequate Supply of Natural Gas and 
Crude Oil. Testimony was heard from the following officials of the 
Department of Energy: Jay Hakes, Administrator, Energy Information 
Administration;

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and Melanie Kenderdine, Acting Director, Office of Policy; and public 
witnesses.
DOD CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL DEFENSE PROGRAM
Committee on Government Reform: Subcommittee on National Security, 
Veterans Affairs, and International Relations held a hearing on ``DoD 
Chemical and Biological Defense Program: Management and Oversight.'' 
Testimony was heard from Kwai-Cheung Chan, Director, Special Studies 
and Evaluations, GAO; and Anna Johnson-Winegar, Deputy Assistant to the 
Secretary, Chemical/Biological Defense, Department of Defense.
COMMENDING ISRAEL's REDEPLOYMENT FROM SOUTHERN LEBANON
Committee on International Relations: Favorably considered the 
following resolution and adopted a motion urging the Chairman to 
request that it be considered on the Suspension Calendar: H. Con. Res. 
331, commending Israel's redeployment from southern Lebanon.
U.S. COMMISSION ON INTERNATIONAL RELIGIOUS FREEDOM: FIRST ANNUAL REPORT
Committee on International Relations: Held a hearing on the U.S. 
Commission on International Religious Freedom: First Annual Report. 
Testimony was heard from the following officials of the U.S. Commission 
on International Religious Freedom: Rabbi David Saperstein, Chair; 
Elliot Abrams and Nina Shea, both Commissioners.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on the Judiciary: Ordered reported the following bills: H.R. 
3048, amended, Presidential Threat Protection Act of 1999; H.R. 4108, 
amended, Secure Our Schools Act; H.R. 4391, Mobile Telecommunications 
Sourcing Act; H.R. 3489, amended, Wireless Telecommunications Sourcing 
and Privacy Act; and S. 1515, Radiation Exposure Compensation Act 
Amendments of 1999.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Ordered reported the following bills: S. 1211, 
to amend the Colorado River Basin Salinity Control Act to authorize 
additional measures to carry out the control of salinity upstream of 
Imperial Dam in a cost-effective manner; S. 1629, Oregon Exchange Act 
of 2000; H.R. 1775, amended, Estuary Habitat Restoration Partnership 
Act of 1999; S. 1892, to authorize the acquisition of the Valles 
Caldera, to provide for an effective land and wildlife management 
program for this resource within the Department of Agriculture; H.R. 
3023, amended, to authorize the Secretary of the Interior, acting 
through the Bureau of Reclamation, to convey property to the Greater 
Yuma Port Authority of Yuma County, Arizona, for use as an 
international port of entry; 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; H.R. 3291, amended, Shivwits Band of the Paiute Indian Tribe of 
Utah Water Rights Settlement Act; H.R. 3292, amended, to provide for 
the establishment of the Cat Island National Wildlife Refuge in West 
Feliciana Parish, Louisiana; H.R. 3468, Duchesne City Water Rights 
Conveyance Act; H.R. 3535, amended, Shark Finning Prohibition Act; H.R. 
3999, amended, Virgin Islands and Guam Constitutional Self-Government 
Act of 2000; H.R. 4132, to reauthorize grants for water resources 
research and technology institutes established under the Water 
Resources Research Act of 1984; and H.R. 4435, to clarify certain 
boundaries on the map relating to Unit NCO1 of the Coastal Barrier 
Resources System.
AGRICULTURE APPROPRIATIONS 2001
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, an open rule providing one 
hour of general debate on H.R. 4461, Agriculture, Rural Development, 
Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 
2001, equally divided and controlled by the chairman and ranking 
minority member of the Committee on Appropriations. The rule waives all 
points of order against consideration of the bill. The rule provides 
that the amendments printed in the report of the Committee on Rules 
accompanying the resolution shall be considered as adopted. The rule 
waives points of order against provisions in the bill for failure to 
comply with clause 2 of rule XXI (prohibiting unauthorized or 
legislative provisions in a general appropriations bill), except as 
specified in the rule. The rule allows the Chairman of the Committee of 
the Whole to accord priority in recognition to Members who have pre-
printed their amendments in the Congressional Record. The rule allows 
the Chairman of the Committee of the Whole to postpone a request for a 
recorded vote on any amendment and reduce voting time to five minutes 
on a postponed question, provided that the minimum time for electronic 
voting on the first in any series of questions shall be fifteen 
minutes. Finally, the rule provides one motion to recommit with or 
without instructions.
CROP INSURANCE CONFERENCE REPORT
Committee on Rules: Granted, by voice vote, a rule waiving all points 
of order against the conference report on H.R. 2559, Agricultural Risk 
Protection

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Act, and against its consideration. The rule provides that the 
conference report shall be considered as read. Testimony was heard from 
Chairman Combest.
QUALITY HEALTH-CARE COALITION ACT
Committee on Rules: Held a hearing on H.R. 1304, Quality Health-Care 
Coalition Act. Testimony was heard from Chairman Hyde and 
Representatives Thomas, Campbell, Coburn and Conyers.
U.S. BILATERAL SPACE LAUNCH TRADE AGREEMENTS
Committee on Science: Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics held a 
hearing on U.S. Bilateral Space Launch Trade Agreements. Testimony was 
heard from public witnesses.
ONLINE MUSIC
Committee on Small Business: Held a hearing on ``Online Music: Will 
Small Music Labels and Entrepreneurs Prosper in the Internet Age?'' 
Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
OBSOLETE MARITIME ADMINISTRATION VESSELS DISPOSAL
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on Coast 
Guard and Maritime Transportation held a hearing on the Disposal of 
Obsolete Maritime Administration Vessels. Testimony was heard from the 
following officials of the Department of Transportation: Bonnie M. 
Green, Deputy Administrator, Inland Waterways and Great Lakes, Maritime 
Administration; and Thomas J. Howard, Deputy Assistant Inspector 
General, Maritime and Departmental Programs; Rear Adm. Anthony W. 
Lengerich, USN, Director, Industrial Capability, Maintenance Policy and 
Acquisition Logistics Division, Department of the Navy, Department of 
Defense; and public witnesses.