[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 93 (Tuesday, July 18, 2000)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D767-D769]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
U.S. AGRICULTURE EXPORT
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Subcommittee on 
Production and Price Competitiveness concluded hearings to examine the 
benefits of current U.S. agricultural export and market development programs 
designed to improve long-term trade opportunities, increase exports, help 
relieve hunger abroad, and help American farmers and ranchers earn an 
adequate income, as well as the future of these programs and ways that they 
can be made more effective, after receiving testimony from Timothy J. 
Galvin, Administrator, Foreign Agricultural Service, and Roger C. Viadero, 
Inspector General, both of Department of Agriculture; Hugh Parmer, Assistant 
Administrator, Bureau for Humanitarian Response,

[[Page D768]]

Agency for International Development; Otis Molz, CoBank, Deerfield, Kansas; 
John J. Cavanaugh, Summit Limited, Omaha, Nebraska; Ellen S. Levinson, 
Cadwalader, Wickersham and Taft, Washington, D.C., on behalf of the 
Coalition for Food Aid; Bruce Hamnes, Stephen, Minnesota, on behalf of the 
Wheat Export Trade Education Committee, U.S. Wheat Associates, and the 
National Association of Wheat Growers; Marc Curtis, American Soybean 
Association, Leland, Mississippi; Roger Pine, Lawrence, Kansas, on behalf of 
the National Corn Growers Association; and Bill Griffith, Boliver County, 
Mississippi, on behalf of the Mississippi Farm Bureau and American Farm 
Bureau.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Appropriations: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following bills:
  H.R. 4733, making appropriations for energy and water development for the 
fiscal year ending September 30, 2001, with amendments; and
  H.R. 4690, making appropriations for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, 
and State, the Judiciary, and related agencies for the fiscal year ending 
September 30, 2001, with amendments.
AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR SENIORS
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on Housing 
and Transportation held hearings on S. 2733, to provide for the preservation 
of assisted housing for low income elderly persons, disabled persons, and 
other families, after receiving testimony from Representatives Lazio and 
LaFalce; William Apgar, Assistant Secretary for Housing/Federal Housing 
Commissioner, Department of Housing and Urban Development; Mary Jane O'Gara, 
Omaha, Nebraska, on behalf of the American Association of Retired Persons; 
Laverne R. Joseph, Retirement Housing Foundation, Long Beach, California, on 
behalf of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging; 
Michelle H. Norris, National Church Residences, Columbus, Ohio, on behalf of 
the National Affordable Housing Management Association; Edward L. Shapoff, 
Goldman, Sachs and Company, New York, New York, on behalf of the Healthcare 
Financing Study Group; Ronell Guy, Northside Coalition for Fair Housing, 
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and David A. Smith, Recapitalization Advisors, 
Inc., Boston, Massachusetts.
  Hearings recessed subject to call.
CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee held hearings 
to examine the National Assessment Report on climate change impacts on the 
United States, and the ocean's role in climate, receiving testimony from 
Thomas R. Karl, Director, National Climatic Data Center, National 
Environmental Satellite, Data, and Information Service, National Oceanic and 
Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce; Anthony C. Janetos, 
World Resources Institute, Washington, D.C.; Raymond W. Schmitt, Woods Hole 
Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, Massachusetts; and S. Fred Singer, 
University of Virginia, Fairfax, former Director, U.S. Weather Satellite 
Service, on behalf of the Science and Environmental Policy Project.
  Hearings recessed subject to call.
RISING OIL PRICES
Committee on Finance: Subcommittee on Taxation and IRS Oversight held 
hearings on the nation's growing reliance on foreign oil and the need to 
find ways in which we can reduce that reliance, and a related proposal to 
allow small, farmer-owned cooperatives to access the full benefits of the 
small ethanol producer tax credit, receiving testimony from Senator Grams; 
Arizona State Representative Jeff Groscost, Phoenix; Richard R. Kolodziej, 
Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition, Michelle Robinson, Union of Concerned 
Scientists, Alexandra Shultz, U.S. Public Interest Research Group, Red 
Cavaney, American Petroleum Institute, and J. Andrew Hoerner, Center for a 
Sustainable Economy, all of Washington, D.C.; William L. Ball, Strategic 
Planning for General Motor's Advanced Technology Vehicles, Detroit, 
Michigan, on behalf of the Electric Vehicle Association of the Americas; 
Beverly Miller, Salt Lake Clean Cities Coalition, Salt Lake City, Utah; A. 
Shawn Noonan, Vastar Resources, Inc., Houston, Texas, on behalf of the 
Domestic Petroleum Council Tax Committee; and John Swords, 
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Dallas, Texas, on behalf of the Independent 
Petroleum Association of America.
  Hearings recessed subject to call.
PERMANENT CHINA TRADE RELATIONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee held hearings to examine national 
security and diplomatic implications of granting Permanent Normal Trade 
Relations status to communist China, receiving testimony from Joseph Bosco, 
Georgetown University School of Foreign Service, Bates Gill, Brookings 
Institution Center for Northeast Asian Policy Studies, and Elliott Abrams, 
Ethics and Public Policy Center, all of Washington, D.C.
  Hearings continue tomorrow.
PRESCRIPTION DRUG COSTS
Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions: Committee concluded 
hearings on the factors driving prescription drug expenditure increases, 
after receiving testimony from Stanley S. Wallack, Brandeis University 
Schneider Institute for Health Policy, Waltham, Massachusetts; Robert W. 
Dubois, Protocare Sciences, Santa Monica, California; Judith H. Bello, 
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, Washington, D.C.; John 
D. Golenski, RxHealth Value, Berkeley, California; Carlos R. Ortiz, CVS 
Pharmacy, Inc., Woonsocket, Rhode Island; Elizabeth Helms, Sacramento, 
California, on behalf of the International Patient Advocacy Association; and 
Betty Dizik, Tamarik, Florida,

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on behalf of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and 
Medicare.
BUSINESS MEETING
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee ordered favorably reported the 
following bills:
  S. 1902, to require disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act 
regarding certain persons and records of the Japanese Imperial Army in a 
manner that does not impair any investigation or prosecution conducted by 
the Department of Justice or certain intelligence matters, with amendments; 
and
  S. 2089, to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to 
modify procedures relating to orders for surveillance and searches for 
foreign intelligence purposes, with amendments.
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