[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 106 (Tuesday, September 12, 2000)]
[Daily Digest]
[Pages D891-D893]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
USDA'S PROCESSING OF COMPLAINTS OF DISCRIMINATION
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded 
hearings to examine the Department of Agriculture's processing of civil 
rights complaints, and recommendations to improve the efficiency of the 
process, after receiving testimony from Roger C. Viadero, Inspector 
General, Paul W. Fiddick, Assistant Secretary for Administration, and 
Charles R. Rawls, General Counsel, all of the Department of 
Agriculture; Robert E. Robertson, Associate Director, Food and 
Agriculture Issues, Resources, Community, and Economic Development 
Division, General Accounting Office; John W. Boyd, Jr., National Black 
Farmers Association, Baskerville, Virginia; John Zippert, Epes, 
Alabama, on behalf of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives/Land 
Assistance Fund and the Rural Coalition/Coalicion Rural; Lawrence 
Lucas, USDA Coalition of Minority Employees, and Alexander Pires, 
Conlon, Frantz, Phelan, and Pires, both of Washington, D.C.; Harold 
Conner, Upper Marlboro, Maryland; and Juanita Carranza, Lambert, 
Montana.
RAIL COMPETITION
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Transportation concluded 
oversight hearings on freight rail competition issues, after receiving 
testimony from Linda J. Morgan, Chairman, Surface Transportation Board, 
Department of Transportation; Bobby

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Tom Crowe, Walter Industries, Inc., Birmingham, Alabama, on behalf of 
the American Chemistry Council; Eric Aasmundstad, North Dakota Farm 
Bureau, Fargo, on behalf of the American Farm Bureau Federation; and 
Diane C. Duff, Alliance for Rail Competition, Edward R. Hamberger, 
Association of American Railroads, and Frank K. Turner, American Short 
Line and Regional Railroad Association, all of Washington, D.C.
FHA RESERVES
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on 
Housing and Transportation concluded hearings on S. 2914, to amend the 
National Housing Act to require partial rebates of FHA mortgage 
insurance premiums to certain mortgagors upon payment of their FHA-
insured mortgages, S. 2997, to establish a National Housing Trust Fund 
in the Treasury of the United States to provide for the development of 
decent, safe, and affordable housing for low-income families, and to 
examine issues relating to the current perceived surplus in the Federal 
Housing Administration (FHA) Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and 
establishing a safe and adequate level of FHA reserves, after receiving 
testimony from Stanley J. Czerwinski, Associate Director, Housing and 
Community Development Issues, Resources, Community, and Economic 
Development Division, General Accounting Office; William Apgar, 
Assistant Secretary for Housing/ Federal Housing Commissioner, 
Department of Housing and Urban Development; John C. Weicher, Hudson 
Institute, Jordan Clark, United Homeowners Association, and Thomas A. 
Schatz, Citizens Against Government Waste, all of Washington, D.C.; Joe 
Flatley, Massachusetts Housing Investment Corporation, Boston; and 
Mariana Luz, Anti-Displacement Project, Inc., Springfield, 
Massachusetts.
FIRESTONE TIRE RECALL
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded 
hearings to examine issues surrounding the investigation and recall of 
Firestone ATX, ATX II, and Wilderness AT tires and Ford Explorer 
rollovers, after receiving testimony from Rodney E. Slater, Secretary, 
and Sue Bailey, Administrator, National Highway Traffic Safety 
Administration, both of the Department of Transportation; Masatoshi 
Ono, Tokyo, Japan, and John Lampe and Robert Wyant, both of Nashville, 
Tennessee, all of Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc.; Jacques A. Nasser, Ford 
Motor Company, Dearborn, Michigan; and Joan Claybrook, Public Citizen, 
and Clarence Ditlow, Center for Auto Safety, both of Washington, D.C.
COLUMBIA RIVER HYDROPOWER
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Water and 
Power concluded oversight hearings on the status of the biological 
opinions of the National Marine Fisheries Service and the U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service on the operations of the Federal hydropower system of 
the Columbia River, after receiving testimony from Derek B Stewart, 
Associate Director, Energy, Resources, and Science Issues, Resources, 
Community, and Economic Development Division, General Accounting 
Office; George T. Frampton, Jr., Chairman, Council on Environmental 
Quality; William Stelle, Jr., Northwest Regional Administrator, 
National Marine Fisheries Service, Department of Commerce; Judith A. 
Johansen, Administrator/ Chief Executive Officer, Bonneville Power 
Administration, Department of Energy; Col. Eric T. Mogren, Deputy 
Division Engineer, Northwestern Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; 
and David Cottingham, Special Assistant to the Director, U.S. Fish and 
Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior.
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION'S PROPOSED RULE ON ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded hearings 
to examine Department of Transportation proposed regulations for 
metropolitan and statewide transportation planning rules, 
implementation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and 
related procedures for transportation decisionmaking, protection of 
public parks, wildlife and waterfowl, refugees, and historic sites, 
focusing on the proposed NEPA regulations and how they relate to the 
environmental streamlining provisions of the Transportation Equity Act 
for the 21st Century (TEA-21), P.L. 105-178, after receiving testimony 
from George T. Frampton, Jr., Chairman, Council on Environmental 
Quality; Kenneth R. Wykle, Administrator, Federal Highway 
Administration, Department of Transportation; Lois J. Schiffer, 
Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, 
Department of Justice; Carol A. Murray, New Hampshire Department of 
Transportation, Concord; Jim Currie, Montana Department of 
Transportation, Helena, on behalf of the Montana, Wyoming, Nevada, 
Idaho, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arizona, and Michigan Transportation 
Departments; Gordon D. Proctor, Ohio Department of Transportation, 
Columbus; and Thomas R. Warne, Utah Department of Transportation, Salt 
Lake City, on behalf of the American Association of State Highway and 
Transportation Officials.

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TREATIES
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded hearings on the 
Treaty with Nigeria on mutual legal assistance in criminal matters 
(Treaty Doc. 102-26), Inter-American Convention on Mutual Legal 
Assistance in Criminal Matters with related optional protocol (Treaty 
Doc. 105-25), Treaty with Ukraine on Mutual Legal Assistance in 
Criminal Matters (Treaty Doc. 106-16), Treaty with France on Mutual 
Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Treaty Doc. 106-17), Treaty with 
Greece on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Treaty Doc. 106-
18), Treaty With Egypt on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters 
(Treaty Doc. 106-19), Treaty with Romania on Mutual Legal Assistance in 
Criminal Matters (Treaty Doc. 106-20), Treaty with Russia on Mutual 
Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Treaty Doc. 106-22), Treaty with 
Cyprus on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (Treaty Doc. 106-
35), Treaty with South Africa on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal 
Matters (Treaty Doc. 106-36), Extradition Treaty with Paraguay (Treaty 
Doc. 106-4), Extradition Treaty With South Africa (Treaty Doc. 106-24), 
Extradition Treaty with Sri Lanka (Treaty Doc. 106-34), Extradition 
Treaty with Belize (Treaty Doc. 106-38), Treaty with Belize for Return 
of Stolen Vehicles (Treaty Doc. 105-54), Treaty with Guatemala for 
Return of Stolen, Robbed, Embezzled or Appropriated Vehicles and 
Aircraft (Treaty Doc. 105-58), Treaty with Dominican Republic for 
Return of Stolen or Embezzled Vehicles (Treaty Doc. 106-7), Treaty with 
Costa Rica on Return of Vehicles and Aircraft (Treaty Doc. 106-40), 
Treaty with Panama on Return of Vehicles and Aircraft (Treaty Doc. 106-
44), Inter-American Convention of Serving Criminal Sentences Abroad 
(Treaty Doc. 104-35), and Protocol Amending the 1950 Consular 
Convention with Ireland (Treaty Doc. 106-43), after receiving testimony 
from Bruce C. Swartz, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal 
Division, Department of Justice; and Samuel M. Witten, Assistant Legal 
Adviser for Law Enforcement and Intelligence, Department of State.