[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 85 (Thursday, June 29, 2000)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D696-D698]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
AGRICULTURAL INPUT PRICES
Committee on Agriculture: Held a hearing to review factors affecting 
domestic and international agricultural input prices. Testimony was 
heard from Robert E. Robertson, Associate Director, Food and 
Agriculture Issues, GAO; and public witnesses.
LATIN AMERICA--TERRORISM AND THREATS TO U.S. INTERESTS
Committee on Armed Services: Special Oversight Panel on Terrorism held 
a hearing on terrorism and threats to U.S. interests in Latin America. 
Testimony was heard from public witnesses.
MEDICAL FINANCIAL PRIVACY
Committee on Banking and Financial Services: Ordered reported, as 
amended, H.R. 4585, Medical Financial Privacy Protection Act.
WELFARE REFORM
Committee on Education and the Workforce: Subcommittee on Postsecondary 
Education, Training, and Life Long Learning: and the Subcommittee on 
Human Resources of the Committee on Ways and Means held a joint hearing 
on Welfare Reform: Assessing the Progress of Work-Related Provisions. 
Testimony was heard from Cynthia A. Fagnoni, Director, Education, 
Workforce, and Income Security Issues; Ray Bramucci, Assistant 
Secretary, Employment and Training, Department of Labor; and public 
witnesses.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES; REPORT
Committee on Government Reform: Ordered reported the following bills: 
H.R. 4049, amended, Privacy Commission Act; H.R. 4744, Truth in 
Regulating Act of 2000''; H.R. 3454, to designate the United States 
Post Office located at 451 College Street in Macon, Georgia, as the 
``Henry McNeal Turner Post Office''; H.R. 3909, to designate the 
facility of the United States Postal Service located at 4601 South 
Cottage Grove Avenue in Chicago, Illinois, as the ``Henry W. McGee Post 
Office Building''; H.R. 3985, amended, to designate the facility of the 
United States Postal Service located at 14900 Southwest 30th Street in 
Miramar City, Florida, as the ``Vicki Coceano Post Office Building''; 
H.R. 4157, to designate the facility of the United States Postal 
Service located at 600 Lincoln Avenue in Pasadena, California, as the 
``Matthew `Mack' Robinson Post Office Building''; H.R. 4430, amended, 
to redesignate the facility of the United States Postal Service located 
at

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11831 Scaggsville Road in Fulton, Maryland, as the ``Alfred Rascon Post 
Office Building''; H.R. 4517, to designate the facility of the United 
States Postal Service located at 24 Tsienneto Road in Derry, New 
Hampshire, as the ``Alan B. Shepard, Jr., Post Office Building''; H.R. 
4484, to designate the facility of the United States Postal Service 
located at 500 North Washington Street in Rockville, Maryland, as the 
``Everett Alvarez, Jr. Post Office Building''; H.R. 4534, amended, to 
designate the facility of the United States Postal Service located at 
114 Ridge Street in Lenoir, North Carolina, as the ``James T. Broyhill 
Post Office Building''; H.R. 4554, to redesignate the facility of the 
United States Postal Service located at 1602 Frankford Avenue in 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, as the ``Joseph F. Smith Post Office 
Building''; H.R. 4615, to redesignate the facility of the United States 
Postal Service located at 3030 Meredith Avenue in Omaha, Nebraska, as 
the ``Reverend J.C. Wade Post Office''; H.R. 4625, to designate the 
facility of the United States Postal Service located at 2108 East 38th 
Street in Erie, Pennsylvania, as the ``Gertrude A. Barber Post Office 
Building''; H.R. 4658, to designate the facility of the United States 
Postal Service located at 301 Green Street in Fayetteville, North 
Carolina, as the ``J.L. Dawkins Post Office Building''; and H.R. 4437, 
amended, Semipostal Authorization Act.
  The Committee also approved the following draft report entitled 
``Making the Federal Government Accountable'' Enforcing the Mandate for 
Effective Financial Management''.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on International Relations: Ordered reported H.R. 3673, 
United States Panama Partnership Act of 2000.
  The Committee also favorably considered the following measures and 
adopted a motion urging the Chairman to request that they be considered 
on the Suspension Calendar: amended, the Defense and Security 
Assistance Act of 2000; H.R. 4697, amended, to amend the Foreign 
Assistance Act of 1961 to ensure that Unites Stated assistance programs 
promote good governance by assisting other countries to combat 
corruption throughout society and to promote transparency and increased 
accountability for all levels of government and throughout the private 
sector; H.R. 4002, amended, Famine Prevention and Freedom from Hunger 
Improvement Act of 2000; H.R. 4528, amended, International Academic 
Opportunity Act of 2000; H. Con. Res. 348, amended, Expressing 
condemnation of the use of children as soldiers and expressing the 
belief that the United States should support and, where possible, lead 
efforts to end this abuse of human rights; H. Con. Res. 232, amended, 
Expressing the sense of Congress concerning the safety and well-being 
of United States citizens injured while traveling in Mexico; H. Con. 
Res. 322, amended, expressing the sense of Congress regarding 
Vietnamese Americans and others who seek to improve social and 
political conditions in Vietnam; H. Res. 531, amended, condemning the 
1994 attack on the AMIA Jewish Community Center in Buenos Aires, 
Argentina, urging the Argentine Government to punish those responsible; 
S. Con. Res. 81, expressing the sense of the Congress that the 
Government of the People's Republic of China should immediately release 
Rabiya Kadeer, her secretary, and her son, and permit them to move to 
the United States if they so desire; H. Con. Res. 297, amended, 
Congratulating the Republic of Hungary on the millennium of its 
foundation as a state; and H. Con. Res. 319, congratulating the 
Republic of Latvia on the 10th anniversary of the restablishment of its 
independence from the rule of the former Soviet Union.
INFECTIOUS DISEASES: A GROWING THREAT TO AMERICA'S HEALTH AND SAFETY
Committee on International Relations: Held a hearing on Infectious 
Diseases: A Growing Threat to America's Health and Security. Testimony 
was heard from David Satcher, M.D., Surgeon General, Department of 
Health and Human Services; David F. Gordon, National Intelligence 
Officer of Economics and Global Issues, National Intelligence Council, 
CIA; and David L. Heymann, M.D., Executive Director, Communicable 
Diseases, World Health Organization.
MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Commercial and 
Administrative Law held a hearing on the following bills: H.R. 4267, 
Internet Tax Reform and Reduction Act of 2000; H.R. 4460, Internet Tax 
Simplification Act of 2000; and H.R. 4462, Fair and Equitable 
Interstate Tax Compact Simplification Act of 2000. Testimony was heard 
from Ray Haynes, member, Senate, State of California; R. Michael 
Southcombe, Tax Commissioner, State of Idaho; Gary Viken, Secretary of 
Revenue, State of South Dakota; and public witnesses.
OVERSIGHT--INTERNET AND FEDERAL COURTS
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Courts and Intellectual 
Property held an oversight hearing on The Internet and Federal Courts: 
Issues and Obstacles. Testimony was heard from Andrew Pincus, General 
Counsel, Department of Commerce; D. Jean

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Veta, Deputy Associate Attorney General, Department of Justice; Jeffery 
P. Kovar, Assistant Legal Advisor, Private International Law, 
Department of State; and public witnesses.
ADOPTED ORPHANS CITIZENSHIP ACT; OVERSIGHT--EVALUATING RELIGIOUS WORKER 
VISA PROGRAMS
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Immigration and Claims 
began markup of H.R. 2883, Adopted Orphans Citizenship Act.
  The Subcommittee also held an oversight hearing on Evaluating the 
Religious Worker Visa Programs. Testimony was heard from the following 
officials of the Department of State: Mildred Patterson, Managing 
Director, Visa Office; and John Brennan, Consular Office; Thomas Cook, 
Acting Assistant Commissioner, Adjudications, Immigration and 
Naturalization Service; Department of Justice; and Jess Ford, Associate 
Director, International Relations and Trade Issues, GAO.
COMMITTEE BUSINESS
Committee on Resources, Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources 
approved for full Committee action a resolution finding that Mr. Keith 
Rutter refused to answer a pertinent question while testifying before 
the Subcommittee on May 4, 2000, and the facts of this refusal shall be 
reported by the Chairman of the Subcommittee to the full Committee on 
Resources for such action as the Committee deems appropriate and that 
the Subcommittee finds that Mr. Henry Banta and Ms. Danielle Brian 
Stockton refused to answer pertinent questions while testifying before 
the Subcommittee on May 18, 2000, and the facts of these refusals shall 
be reported by the Chairman of the Subcommittee to the Committee on 
Resources for such action as the Committee deems appropriate.
GREAT APE CONSERVATION ACT
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, 
Wildlife and Oceans approved for full Committee action, as amended, 
H.R. 4320, Great Ape Conservation Act of 2000.
OVERSIGHT--FOREST SERVICE PERFORMANCE MEASURES
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Forests and Forest Health held 
an oversight hearing on Forest Service Performance Measures. Testimony 
was heard from James E. Wells, Jr., Director, Energy, Resources, and 
Science Issues, Resources, Community, and Economic Development 
Division, GAO; the following officials of the USDA: Vincette L. Goerl, 
Chief Financial Officer, Forest Service; and James R. Ebbitt, Assistant 
Inspector General, Audit; and Ross W. Gorte, Natural Resource Economist 
and Policy Specialist, Congressional Research Service, Library of 
Congress.
OVERSIGHT--CALFED PROGRAM
Committee on Resources: Subcommittee on Water and Power held an 
oversight hearing on the CALFED program. Testimony was heard from David 
Hayes, Deputy Secretary, Department of the Interior: Felicia Marcus, 
Regional Administrator, Region 9, EPA; Steven L. Stockton, Director, 
Programs Management, South Pacific Division, U.S. Corps of Engineers, 
Department of the Army, Department of Defense; Mary Nichols, Secretary 
for Resources, State of California; and public witnesses.
FAA'S WIDE AREA AUGMENTATION SYSTEM
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure: Subcommittee on 
Aviation held a hearing on Cost Overruns and Delays in the FAA's Wide 
Area Augmentation System and Related Radio Spectrum Issues. Testimony 
was heard from Gerald L. Dillingham, Associate Director, Transportation 
Issues, Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division, GAO; 
the following officials of the Department of Transportation: Steven 
Zaidman, Associate Administrator, Research and Acquisitions, FAA; and 
Kenneth M. Mead, Inspector General, and public witnesses.
FEDERAL TAX LAWS--COMPLEXITY IN ADMINISTRATION
Committee on Ways and Means: Subcommittee on Oversight held a hearing 
on Complexity in Administration of Federal Tax Laws. Testimony was 
heard from Charles O. Rossotti, Commissioner, IRS, Department of the 
Treasury.