[Senate Report 107-1]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



107th Congress                                                  S. Rpt.
                                  SENATE
 1st Session                                                     107-1
                                                                  _______________________________________________________________________

                                     



          ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                               __________

                                 REPORT

                                 of the

         COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS UNITED STATES SENATE

                                AND ITS

                             SUBCOMMITTEES

                                FOR THE

                       ONE HUNDRED FIFTH CONGRESS




                January 29, 2001.--Ordered to be printed
                               __________

                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE
89-010                     WASHINGTON : 2001



                   COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS

                   FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee, Chairman

JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut     TED STEVENS, Alaska
CARL LEVIN, Michigan                 SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii              GEORGE V. VOINOVICH, Ohio
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois          PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico
ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey     THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi
MAX CLELAND, Georgia                 JUDD GREGG, New Hampshire
THOMAS R. CARPER, Delaware           ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah
JEAN CARNAHAN, Missouri

               Hannah S. Sistare, Staff Director 
                          and Counsel
                 Ellen B. Brown, Senior Counsel
               Joyce A. Rechtschaffen, Democratic 
                   Staff Director and Counsel
                  Darla D. Cassell, Chief Clerk

                             105th CONGRESS

               FRED THOMPSON, Tennessee, Chairman

JOHN GLENN, Ohio                     WILLIAM V. ROTH, Jr., Delaware \1\
CARL LEVIN, Michigan                 TED STEVENS, Alaska \1\
JOSEPH I. LIEBERMAN, Connecticut     SUSAN M. COLLINS, Maine
DANIEL K. AKAKA, Hawaii              SAM BROWNBACK, Kansas
RICHARD J. DURBIN, Illinois          PETE V. DOMENICI, New Mexico
ROBERT G. TORRICELLI, New Jersey     THAD COCHRAN, Mississippi
MAX CLELAND, Georgia                 DON NICKLES, Oklahoma
                                     ARLEN SPECTER, Pennsylvania
                                     BOB SMITH, New Hampshire \2\
                                     ROBERT F. BENNETT, Utah \2\

               Hannah S. Sistare, Staff Director 
                           and Counsel
                 Leonard Weiss, Minority Staff 
                            Director
                   Lynn L. Baker, Chief Clerk

----------
\1\ Did not serve on the Committee during the Special Investigation 
Hearings from May 21, 1997 to March 10, 1998.

\2\ Joined the Committee during the Special Investigation Hearings from 
May 21, 1997 to March 10, 1998.

                                 ------                                

                  SUBCOMMITTEES OF THE 105th CONGRESS
                PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS

                    Ms. COLLINS, of Maine, Chair

Mr. GLENN, of Ohio                   Mr. ROTH, Jr. of Delaware \1\
Mr. LEVIN, of Michigan               Mr. STEVENS, of Alaska \1\
Mr. LIEBERMAN, of Connecticut        Mr. BROWNBACK, of Kansas
Mr. AKAKA, of Hawaii                 Mr. DOMENICI, of New Mexico
Mr. DURBIN, of Illinois              Mr. COCHRAN, of Mississippi
Mr. TORRICELLI, of New Jersey        Mr. NICKLES, of Oklahoma
Mr. CLELAND, of Georgia              Mr. SPECTER, of Pennsylvania
                                     Mr. SMITH, of New Hampshire \2\
                                     Mr. BENNETT, of Utah \2\

 OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT, RESTRUCTURING AND THE DISTRICT OF 
                                COLUMBIA

                  Mr. BROWNBACK, of Kansas, Chairman

Mr. LIEBERMAN, of Connecticut        Mr. ROTH, Jr., of Delaware \1\
Mr. CLELAND, of Georgia              Mr. SPECTER, of Pennsylvania
                                     Mr. BENNETT, of Utah \2\

      INTERNATIONAL SECURITY, PROLIFERATION, AND FEDERAL SERVICES

                      Mr. COCHRAN, of Mississippi 
                                Chairman

Mr. LEVIN, of Michigan               Mr. STEVENS, of Alaska \1\
Mr. AKAKA, of Hawaii                 Ms. COLLINS, of Maine
Mr. DURBIN, of Illinois              Mr. DOMENICI, of New Mexico
Mr. TORRICELLI, of New Jersey        Mr. NICKLES, of Oklahoma
Mr. CLELAND, of Georgia              Mr. SPECTER, of Pennsylvania
                                     Mr. SMITH, of New Hampshire \2\

----------
\1\ Did not serve on the Subcommittee during the Special Investigation 
Hearings from May 21, 1997 to March 10, 1998.

\2\ Joined the Subcommittee during the Special Investigation Hearings 
from May 21, 1997 to March 10, 1998.

                                CONTENTS

                                                                   Page
   I. Highlights of Activities...................................     1

        High Risk Agencies.......................................     2
        Information Security/Vulnerability.......................     2
        Results Act..............................................     2
        Government Procurement Reform............................     2
        Regulatory Issues........................................     3
        Vacancies Act............................................     3
        Financial Mismanagement..................................     3
        Year 2000 Computer Problem...............................     3
        Decennial Census.........................................     4
        Federalism...............................................     4
        Export Controls..........................................     4
        Budget Reforms...........................................     5
        Inspectors General.......................................     5
        District of Columbia.....................................     5
        Federal Personnel Issues.................................     6
        Special Investigation....................................     6

 II. Committee Jurisdiction......................................     8

  III. Bills and Resolutions Referred and Considered.............     8

  IV. Hearings...................................................     8

   V. Reports and GAO Reports....................................    16

  VI. Official Communications....................................    19

 VII. Legislative Action.........................................    20

        Measures Enacted Into Law................................    20

        Measure Favorably Reported by Committee and Passed by the 
  Senate.........................................................    28

        Selected Measures Considered by Committee................    29

 VIII. Presidential Nominations..................................    31

  IX. Activities of the Subcommittees............................    35

      International Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services 
                              Subcommittee

  I. Hearings....................................................    35

 II. Legislation.................................................    39

 III. Report, Committee Print, and GAO Reports...................    42

Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the District of 
                         Columbia Subcommittee

  I. Hearings....................................................    43

 II. GAO Reports.................................................    53

 III. Legislation................................................    54

 IV. Other Activities............................................    56

                Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations

  I. Historical Background--50th Anniversary of the Subcommittee.    58

 II. Subcommittee Hearings During the 105th Congress.............    62

 III. Legislative Activities During the 105th Congress...........    73

 IV. GAO Reports and Committee Print.............................    75

  
107th Congress                                                  S. Rpt.
                                  SENATE
 1st Session                                                     107-1

======================================================================



 
 ACTIVITIES OF THE COMMITTEE ON GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS DURING THE 105TH 
                                CONGRESS

                                _______
                                

                January 29, 2001.--Ordered to be printed

                                _______
                                

Mr. THOMPSON, from the Committee on Governmental Affairs, submitted the 
                               following

                                 REPORT

    This report reviews the legislative and oversight 
activities of the Committee on Governmental Affairs during the 
105th Congress. These activities parallel the broad scope of 
responsibilities vested in the Committee by the Legislative 
Reorganization Act of 1946, as amended, rule XXV(k) of the 
Standing Rules of the Senate, and additional authorizing 
resolutions.

                      I. Highlights of Activities

    In the 105th Congress, the Senate Governmental Affairs 
Committee continued its pursuit of a smaller, more efficient 
and accountable government. The Committee's jurisdiction is 
extensive. This writ covers not only whether taxpayers are 
getting their money's worth on over $1.9 trillion in annual 
Federal expenditures, but also includes the $700 billion in 
annual regulatory expenditures, the $850 billion government 
loan portfolio, Federal insurance programs and the impact of 
Federal mandates on State and local governments. The Committee 
is committed to effective oversight of all of these instruments 
used by the government.
    Over the years, the Committee has consistently worked to 
create a leaner, more efficient government. Legislation 
originating from the Committee established a new framework for 
government accountability. This statutory framework includes 
the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993 (P.L. 103-
62); financial management statutes, such as the Chief Financial 
Officers Act of 1990 (P.L. 103-356), the Federal Managers' 
Financial Integrity Act of 1996 (P.L. 104-208), and the Federal 
Financial Management Improvement Act of 1982 (P.L. 97-255); and 
acquisition and information technology management reforms, such 
as the Federal Acquisition Streamlining Act of 1994 (P.L. 103-
355) and the Clinger-Cohen Act of 1996 (Divisions D and E of 
P.L. 104-106). These statutes will be driving Federal agencies 
to modernize and improve both performance and accountability. 
Chairman Thompson said ``it is for us--the Congress and the 
Administration--now to work together to ensure that these 
management reforms now in place are implemented and accomplish 
their goals to improve government performance and results.'' 
The Committee believes that considerable progress was made, 
particularly in light of the extensive period of time devoted 
to the Committee's special Investigation of Illegal or Improper 
Activities in Connection with 1996 Federal Election Campaigns.

                           HIGH RISK AGENCIES

    The Committee spotlighted the most egregious examples of 
government waste and mismanagement. The Committee held hearings 
on those agencies the General Accounting Office (GAO) 
identified as most susceptible to waste, fraud, abuse and 
mismanagement: The IRS, the Department of Defense (DOD), the 
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the 
Census Bureau. Subsequently, Chairman Thompson and Senators 
Cochran, Brownback, Durbin and Cleland were appointed from the 
Committee to the Conference Committee which finalized the 
historic IRS reform act.

                  INFORMATION SECURITY/ VULNERABILITY

    The Committee uncovered and identified failures of 
information security affecting our international security and 
vulnerability to domestic and international terrorism. Chairman 
Thompson highlighted our Nation's vulnerability to computer 
attacks--from international and domestic terrorists to crime 
rings to everyday hackers. The Committee conducted studies on 
the computer security vulnerabilities of the State Department, 
the FAA, the Social Security Administration, and the Veterans' 
Administration.

                              RESULTS ACT

    Meaningful implementation of the Government Performance and 
Results Act (GPRA) was a major Committee priority. GPRA 
requires agencies to set multiyear strategic goals and 
corresponding annual goals, measure performance toward the 
achievement of those goals, and report on their progress. At a 
first-ever joint hearing of their two committees, Chairman 
Thompson and Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens 
called on Federal agencies to actively work for a leaner, 
results-oriented government by complying with GPRA.
    To spur agency implementation of GPRA, the Committee 
engaged in correspondence with the Office of Management and 
Budget (OMB) and individual agencies regarding their statutory 
obligations under GPRA. In addition, the Committee sponsored 
audit and investigative work at GAO with respect to strategic 
plans, performance planning, performance budgeting, and program 
evaluation.

                     GOVERNMENT PROCUREMENT REFORM

    Given that the Federal Government spends about $200 billion 
annually on buying everything from weapons systems to computer 
systems to everyday commodities, the Committee's role is to 
ensure that, within that system, industry sellers and 
government buyers offer and acquire, respectively, maximum 
value for the taxpayer. Chairman Thompson developed consensus 
legislation, the FAIR Act, to require Federal agencies to 
identify those activities currently performed by Federal 
employees that could be performed by the private sector. The 
Committee added language to other legislation to further 
streamline and simplify the procurement system. The Committee 
also opposed legislation and regulations which would have added 
unnecessary government-unique requirements to Federal contracts 
and increased costs to the taxpayer.

                           REGULATORY ISSUES

    The Chairman initiated a series of GAO investigations of 
the Administration's management of the regulatory process and 
its compliance with ``transparency requirements'' and cost-
benefit analyses. Chairman Thompson and Senator Levin drafted 
and moved the Regulatory Improvement Act through the Committee, 
after working successfully to develop broad bipartisan support 
for this measure. Chairman Thompson also drafted and passed 
regulatory accounting legislation, now law, which requires that 
Federal agencies report on the costs of Federal regulatory 
programs for fiscal year 1999.

                             VACANCIES ACT

    Chairman Thompson, working with Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV), 
Senator Strom Thurmond (R-SC), and Committee Democrats, 
developed and managed to enactment bipartisan legislation to 
preserve our Constitutional system of checks and balances and 
assure that officials serving in key government jobs have been 
nominated and confirmed as required by law. At the time of 
enactment of the Vacancies Act (Public Law 105-277), 20 percent 
of the 340 Executive Branch positions which require Senate 
confirmation were held by acting officials.

                        FINANCIAL MISMANAGEMENT

    As part of its efforts to improve financial management in 
the Federal Government, the Committee highlighted financial 
mismanagement at DOD, where waste, fraud, and abuse totalled 
billions of dollars. Of the GAO audit opinion of the Federal 
Government's first ever consolidated financial statements, 
Chairman Thompson said: ``The government failed miserably. The 
government's deteriorating accounting systems put Congress at a 
severe disadvantage because we lack reliable information to 
assess program performance, control costs and stop widespread 
waste, fraud and abuse.''
    In that audit, Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin 
described the work in the Executive Branch to improve financial 
management. But, he agreed that more needed to be done. 
Secretary Rubin wrote, ``Despite the substantial progress that 
has been made, however, further improvements are clearly 
necessary.''

                       YEAR 2000 COMPUTER PROBLEM

    Through hearings and other actions, the Committee kept 
pressure on the Executive agencies to treat the anticiapted 
year 2000 computer failure with the seriousness it demands.

                            DECENNIAL CENSUS

    The Committee identified, examined and worked toward the 
resolution of the Census Bureau's problems and progress in 
preparing for the 2000 decennial census. The 2000 census was 
the subject of two oversight hearings and a Committee-requested 
GAO investigation. The Committee challenged the new Census 
director, during his confirmation process, to rise to his 
critical management tasks.

                               FEDERALISM

    Rule XXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate vests 
responsibility for intergovernmental relations with the 
Committee. Federalism, the Federal Government's relationship 
with the States, is the constitutional principle that the 
Federal Government has limited powers and that government 
closest to the people--States and localities--plays a critical 
role in our governmental system.
    Shortly after becoming Chairman, Senator Thompson initiated 
a GAO review of agency compliance with Title II of the Unfunded 
Mandates Reform Act. Among other things, Title II requires 
agencies to consider the extent to which regulations impose 
significant unfunded mandates on State, local, and tribal 
governments. It also calls for agencies to consider regulatory 
alternatives and to select the alternative that is the least 
costly, most cost-effective, or least burdensome. GAO found 
that, in many instances, Title II had little effect on agency 
rulemaking. Senator Thompson also worked closely with the 
National Governors' Association, the National Conference of 
State Legislatures, and other State and local government 
organizations to reform the regulatory process and to make 
agencies more sensitive to State and local government concerns.
    Chairman Thompson also sponsored a resolution to stop 
repeal of the Reagan Executive Order on Federalism (E.O. 12612) 
and an attempt to replace it with a new Executive Order that 
was opposed by State and local officials. That resolution 
passed the Senate unanimously as an amendment to the 
appropriations bill for the Departments of Commerce, Justice, 
and State, the Judiciary, and related agencies for Fiscal Year 
1999. Chairman Thompson subsequently introduced legislation 
requiring Federal agencies to respect Federalism when 
formulating policies and implementing the laws passed by 
Congress.

                            EXPORT CONTROLS

    In 1998, the Administration's export control policy became 
a focus of national attention following allegations that 
American companies undermined national security by illegally 
transferring sensitive technology to China. Through its 
Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, and 
Federal Services, chaired by Senator Cochran, the Committee 
exercised consistent oversight on the issue of technology 
transfer and its facilitation of dangerous weapons 
proliferation. Because of this experience and expertise, 
Chairman Thompson and Senator Cochran were included on a 
Special Task Force created by the Majority Leader to examine 
the issue of technology transfers to China.
    The Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, 
and Federal Services and the full Committee held a series of 
hearings examining America's export control process. At these 
hearings, a number of witnesses raised questions about the 
effectiveness and efficiency of the U.S. export control system, 
and about the extent to which they believed lax export control 
policies helped the People's Republic of China improve the 
reliability of its ballistic missile program. The attention 
given this issue and the findings of the Committee contributed 
to legislative action. As part of the National Defense 
Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1999, Congress returned 
communications satellite exports to the U.S. Munitions List run 
by the State Department, removing them from the more loosely-
controlled Commerce Control List administered by the Department 
of Commerce. In addition, recognizing the need to further 
examine our export control policy, Chairman Thompson requested 
the Inspectors General at six agencies--the Departments of 
Commerce, Defense, State, Treasury, Energy, and the Central 
Intelligence Agency--to conduct an interagency investigation of 
the licensing process for dual-use items and munitions.

                             BUDGET REFORMS

    Budgetary reform is another priority of the Committee. 
Senate rules grant joint jurisdiction on budget process reform 
legislation to the Committee and the Committee on the Budget. 
Chairman Thompson teamed up with Budget Committee Chairman 
Domenici to push for budget reform. A bill was reported out of 
the Committee to provide for a biennial budget and 
appropriations process which would reduce the amount of time 
spent on the budget process and provide more time for program 
oversight and reviewing government performance.

                           INSPECTORS GENERAL

    Nineteen hundred and ninety eight marked the 20th 
anniversary of the Inspector General Act. To commemorate the 
occasion, the Committee approved a joint resolution which was 
enacted congratulating the Inspectors General on their efforts 
to fight waste, fraud and abuse in the Federal Government. On 
September 9, 1998, the Committee conducted a hearing to address 
various threats to the effectiveness and independence of the 
Inspectors General. As a result of the hearing, the Committee 
began an investigation into alleged attempts to intimidate the 
Inspector General for the Department of Housing and Urban 
Development. The Committee also considered legislative 
proposals to amend the Inspector General Act.

                          DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

    Because the Committee has jurisdiction over the matters of 
the District of Columbia, the Committee devoted substantial 
time to D.C. reforms. The major piece of reform legislation in 
the 105th Congress was the National Capital Revitalization and 
Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997 which was enacted as 
part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-33). 
The Committee was involved extensively in the development of 
the Act which was designed to address serious financial and 
management problems the District of Columbia was experiencing. 
The law, among other things, temporarily altered the home rule 
status of D.C. by reducing the power of the Mayor and D.C. 
Council and transferring authority over various items to the 
previously-established financial control board and the Federal 
Government. Some of the major responsibilities transferred to 
the Federal Government include financial responsibility for 
D.C. prisons and court system and $4.8 billion for D.C. pension 
liability for police, firefighters, teachers, and judges. The 
Act also increased the Federal contribution to Medicaid from 50 
percent to 70 percent. The financial control board assumed 
authority over nine major agencies. The authority transferred 
to the control board included the ability to appoint and 
dismiss agency heads and direct the implementation of 
management reforms.

                        FEDERAL PERSONNEL ISSUES

    In the 105th Congress, the Committee continued to exercise 
active oversight over a major part of its jurisdiction: Issues 
affecting Federal employees. The Committee reviewed and 
approved legislation which was enacted to improve the Federal 
Employees' Health Benefits Program and the Federal Employees 
Group Life Insurance program.
    The Committee also addressed issues affecting the Federal 
Employees' Compensation Act--the comprehensive workers' 
compensation law for Federal employees. The Committee reported 
legislation which was enacted to ensure that persons who commit 
fraud in the receipt of FECA benefits would lose their 
entitlement to such benefits.
    Finally, the Committee addressed budget issues affecting 
Federal and postal employees and retirees. While achieving 
targeted savings, the Committee approved budget reconciliation 
legislation which ended the delay in cost-of-living adjustments 
for Federal and postal retiree annuities, thereby treating the 
date on which cost-of-living adjustments are paid to Federal 
annuitants in the same manner as Social Security recipients and 
military retirees. These reforms were incorporated into the 
Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-33).

                         SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

    In the wake of numerous revelations in the news media of 
unusual, and possibly illegal, campaign contributions during 
the 1996 presidential campaign, the Senate Majority Leader 
announced in early December 1996 that the Committee on 
Governmental Affairs would conduct an investigation on behalf 
of the Senate into these fundraising practices following the 
convocation of the 105th Congress in January 1997. The Majority 
Leader chose to entrust the Committee, which has the broadest 
oversight jurisdiction and most extensive subpoena authority of 
any committee of the Senate, with this responsibility.
    Subsequently, on March 11, 1997, the Senate voted 
unanimously to authorize the Committee to conduct ``an 
investigation of illegal or improper activities in connection 
with 1996 Federal election campaigns'' (S. Res. 39). 
Significantly, however, a deadline of December 31, 1997, was 
imposed on the investigation. The Committee's work was further 
impeded by the many witnesses who fled the country or asserted 
their Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, and the 
many public and private entities that either delayed their 
responses to Committee subpoenas or inquiries, or simply 
refused to cooperate at all. Despite these obstacles, however, 
in the brief time available to it, the Committee conducted a 
world-wide investigation: It issued 427 subpoenas, received 
over 1.5 million pages of documents, took 200 depositions, 
conducted over 200 witness interviews, and held 32 days of 
hearings at which 72 witnesses testified. In early 1998, the 
Committee published a final report of 9,600 pages--S. Rept. 
105-167 on March 10, 1998--and still returned $850,000 to the 
U.S. Treasury.
    Unfortunately, the Justice Department's efforts to 
investigate the 1996 fundraising scandals lagged behind those 
of the Committee's Special Investigation. An internal FBI 
memorandum sent to Director Louis Freeh in August 1997, for 
example, expressed concerns that the Committee investigators 
were often ahead of the Department's Campaign Financing Task 
Force (CFTF).
    By the end of the 105th Congress, the Task Force 
investigating the campaign finance scandals had achieved eight 
guilty pleas or convictions by individuals or corporations for 
activities related to their campaign fundraising:\1\ Juan Ortiz 
(in connection with donations to the Democratic National 
Committee [DNC]); Johnny Chung (relating to straw donor 
contributions to the DNC); Howard Glicken (relating to 
contributions to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee); 
Future Tech International (relating to straw donor 
contributions to the DNC); Gene Lum, Nora Lum, Trisha Lum, and 
Michael Brown (relating to straw donor contributions to the 
campaign of Senator Edward Kennedy). Numerous additional 
persons also stood accused of crimes in cases that had not yet 
concluded--including DNC fundraisers Maria Hsia, Yah Lin 
(``Charlie'') Trie, and Pauline Kanchanalak--and numerous other 
individuals or organizations were the subjects of ongoing 
investigations.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ See U.S. Department of Justice, ``Future Tech International and 
its CFO Agree to Plead Guilty to Tax and Campaign Finance Charges'' 
(press release of December 17, 1998) (listing Task Force pleas and 
convictions).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    By the end of the 105th Congress, a separate inquiry by the 
U.S. Attorney's office in New York had also produced five 
convictions or guilty pleas in connection with another subject 
examined during the Committee's Special Investigation--the 
unlawful ``swapping'' of campaign contributions between the DNC 
and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. As a result of 
the Committee's inquiry, moreover, an Independent Counsel was 
also appointed to investigate Secretary of the Interior Bruce 
Babbitt, and preliminary inquiries under the Independent 
Counsel Act had been opened concerning the President, the Vice-
President, and three other Administration officials. (In 1999, 
the Independent Counsel declared there to be insufficient 
evidence to warrant an indictment in the Babbitt case. Attorney 
General Janet Reno declined to request an Independent Counsel 
for any of the other preliminary inquiries.)
    All in all, the Committee's Special Investigation 
demonstrated that the U.S. campaign finance system had become 
subject to wide abuse and had essentially lost its ability to 
restrain and regulate the conduct of political fundraising in 
this country. Even before the end of the 105th Congress, the 
Committee's public airing of the 1996 abuses was being widely 
cited by advocates of campaign finance reform--including both 
those who support a more strict regulatory framework and those 
who favor substituting full and complete disclosure rules for 
our current system of regulations.

                       II. Committee Jurisdiction

    In the 95th Congress, the jurisdiction and functions of the 
Committee on Governmental Affairs were substantially enlarged 
with the Senate approval of the Committee System Reorganization 
Amendments of 1977 (S. Res. 4, 95-1, February 4, 1977). S. Res. 
4 also changed the Committee's name from the Committee on 
Government Operations to the Committee on Governmental Affairs.
    Rule XXV(1)(k) of the Standing Rules of the Senate requires 
reference to this Committee of all proposed legislation, and 
other matters, dealing with (1) archives of the United States; 
(2) budget and accounting measures, other than appropriations, 
except as provided in the Congressional Act of 1974; (3) census 
and collection of statistics, including social and economic 
statistics; (4) congressional organization, except for matters 
which amend the rules or orders of the Senate; (5) Federal 
civil service; (6) government information; (7) 
intergovernmental relations; (8) municipal affairs of the 
District of Columbia; (9) organization and management of U.S. 
nuclear export policy; (10) organization and reorganization of 
the Executive Branch of the Government; (11) Postal Service; 
and (12) status of officers and employees of the United States 
including their classification, compensation and benefits.
    The Committee is further authorized and directed to (1) 
receive and examine reports of the Controller General of the 
United States and to submit to the Senate such recommendations 
as the Committee deems advisable; (2) study the efficiency, 
economy and effectiveness of all agencies and departments of 
the government; (3) evaluate the effects of laws enacted to 
reorganize the Legislative and Executive Branches of 
Government; and (4) study the intergovernmental relations 
between the United States and international organizations of 
which the United States is a member.
    In addition, the Committee has primary oversight and 
legislative jurisdiction over the GAO, the Office of Personnel 
Management, OMB, the Postal Service, and the General Services 
Administration, and processes all legislation relating to the 
disposal and the negotiated sales of Federal surplus property.

           III. Bills and Resolutions Referred and Considered

    During the 105th Congress, 146 Senate bills and 43 House 
bills were referred to the Committee for consideration. Also, 
12 Concurrent Senate Resolutions, 7 Senate Resolutions and 2 
House Concurrent Resolutions were referred to the Committee. Of 
the legislation received and considered, 50 bills were reported 
and 25 were enacted into law. In addition, 16 measures were 
enacted as part of other legislation.

                              IV. Hearings

    During the 105th Congress, the Committee and its three 
Subcommittees held a total of 133 hearings during 120 days on 
legislation, a wide variety of oversight issues, and 
nominations. At the full Committee level, a number of important 
topics were examined, including:

                           BIENNIAL BUDGETING

    On April 23, 1997, the Committee held a hearing on S. 261, 
the Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act. The hearing 
focused on the legislative proposal to convert the current 
annual budget and appropriations process to a 2-year, or 
biennial, cycle. The Committee heard from Franklin D. Raines, 
Director, OMB; Hon. Robert F. Bennett, U.S. Senator from the 
State of Utah; Charles J. Whalen, Senior Economist at the 
Institute for Industry Studies at Cornell University; Louis 
Fisher, Senior Specialist in Separation of Powers with the 
Congressional Research Service; and Susan J. Irving, Associate 
Director for Budget Issues, GAO. The bill was reported by the 
Committee to the Senate for consideration, but it was never 
acted upon.

                        CORPORATE SUBSIDY REFORM

    On February 13, 1997, the Committee held a hearing on S. 
207, the Corporate Subsidy Reform Commission Act of 1997. The 
purpose of the hearing was to review S. 207, as introduced by 
Senator John McCain. The bill would create a Commission 
intended to fairly and independently review corporate subsidies 
and make recommendations to the President and the Congress for 
the retention, reform or termination of such subsidies. The 
Committee heard from Hon. John McCain, U.S. Senator from the 
State of Arizona; Hon. John F. Kerry, U.S. Senator from the 
State of Massachusetts; Hon. Russell D. Feingold, U.S. Senator 
from the State of Wisconsin; Thomas Schatz, President, Citizens 
Against Government Waste; Grover Nordquist, President, 
Americans for Tax Reform; Courtney Cuff, Green Scissors 
Campaign Director, Friends of the Earth; and Dean Stencil, 
Fiscal Policy Analyst with the Cato Institute. The bill was 
reported by the Committee to the Senate for consideration, but 
it was never acted upon.

                            HIGH RISK AREAS

    The Committee held several hearings during the 105th 
Congress on high risk areas at IRS, the Department of Defense 
(DOD), the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) 
and the Bureau of the Census.
    On March 5, 1997 the Committee held a hearing on Lasting 
Solutions to High Risk Programs. Witnesses included John 
Koskinen, Deputy Director for Management, OMB; Gene Dodaro, 
Assistant Comptroller, General Accounting and Information 
Management Division, GAO; Dwight Robinson, Deputy Secretary, 
HUD; and Susan Gaffney, Inspector General, HUD.
    On April 10, 1997 the Committee held a hearing on IRS and 
the Taxpayer at Risk. Testifying at the hearing were Lawrence 
Summers, Deputy Secretary of Treasury, Department of Treasury; 
Michael Dolan, Deputy Commissioner, IRS; Dr. Rona Stillman, 
Chief Scientist, Office of Computers and Telecommunications 
Accounting and Information Management Division, GAO; and Donald 
C. Alexander, Akin, Gump, Strauss, Hauer and Feld.
    A third high risk hearing was held on May 1, 1997 on the 
Department of Defense at Risk. Witnesses included Henry Hinton, 
Assistant Comptroller General for National Security and 
International Affairs, GAO; R. Noel Longuemare, Principal 
Deputy Under Secretary for Acquisition and Technology, DOD; 
John F. Phillips, Deputy Under Secretary for Logistics, DOD; 
Emmett Paige, Assistant Secretary for Command, Control, 
Communications, and Intelligence, DOD; and John J. Hamre, Under 
Secretary and Comptroller, DOD.

                 INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE RESTRUCTURING

    On March 12, 1998, the Committee held a hearing to discuss 
the challenges of restructuring the Internal Revenue Service 
(IRS). The hearing focused specifically on the personnel and 
management flexibilities contained in legislation aimed at 
restructuring the IRS. Testifying at this hearing were Charles 
O. Rossotti, Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service; G. 
Edward DeSeve, Deputy Director for Management, OMB; Carol J. 
Okin, Associate Director, Office of Merit Systems Oversight and 
Effectiveness, Office of Personnel Management; and Michael 
Brostek, Associate Director, Federal Workforce and Management 
Issues, GAO.

                 GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE AND RESULTS ACT

    The Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) is the 
foundation of better government management, and oversight of 
the implementation of this law is critical to improving 
government performance. In June 1997, at a historic first-ever 
joint hearing of the two committees, Chairman Fred Thompson and 
Appropriations Committee Chairman Ted Stevens called on Federal 
agencies to actively work for a smaller, leaner government by 
complying with GPRA. Witnesses at this hearing were the Hon. 
Franklin D. Raines, Director, Office of Management and Budget; 
and James Hinchman, Acting Comptroller General of the United 
States, United States General Accounting Office. Oversight 
continued throughout the 105th Congress as the government 
implemented its first budget cycle under GPRA.

                          INFORMATION SECURITY

    On May 19, 1998, the Committee continued to exercise its 
oversight over a major part of its jurisdiction: Information 
management. In particular, the Committee held a hearing on how 
Federal agencies are providing computer security. The hearing, 
``Weak Computer Security in the Government: Is the Public at 
Risk?'' provided many new insights into how the government has 
not kept pace with the advances in technology and its multiple 
applications. In fact, the hearing revealed that, not only has 
technology advanced, it has become less complex for users and 
its availability is not limited but instead is widely 
distributed around the world.
    Specifically, this hearing addressed systemic problems, 
which make government computer and communication systems 
vulnerable to both deliberate and inadvertent attacks. Dr. 
Peter Neumann, Principal Scientist, Computer Science 
Laboratory, SRI International, testified that our Nation's 
underlying information infrastructure (for example, power 
generation, transmission and distribution; air traffic control; 
and telecommunication) remain at risk. Even though the risk is 
widely known, Dr. Neumann stated that until high-visibility 
disasters occur, few people are willing to admit that something 
drastic needs to be done. He said that may take a Chernobyl-
scale event to raise awareness levels adequately. Also, seven 
members of L0pht, a ``hacker'' think tank, provided testimony 
to the Committee. L0pht said that, in a matter of 30 minutes, 
they could unlock the security systems within the Internet and 
make the entire system unusable for a couple of days. While 
they have shared this finding with appropriate authorities, 
they asserted that nothing has been done to remedy the problem.
    On June 24, 1998, another hearing was conducted, ``Cyber 
Attack: Is the Nation at Risk?'' This hearing addressed threats 
and vulnerabilities to the U.S. national security due to weak 
computer security.
    The Director of Central Intelligence, George Tenet, 
testified that information warfare has the potential to deal a 
crippling blow to our national security if strong measures are 
not taken to counter it. Director Tenet noted that the United 
States is highly dependent on information systems and therefore 
is the most likely target for an information attack. Potential 
threats range from national intelligence and military 
organizations, terrorists, criminals, industrial competitors, 
hackers, and disgruntled or disloyal insiders. Director Tenet 
stated that several countries, including Russia and China, have 
government-sponsored information warfare programs with both 
offensive and defensive applications. These countries see 
information warfare as a way of leveling the playing field 
against a stronger military power, such as the United States. 
The more difficult threat to assess is that from non-State 
actors, such as terrorists and criminals. Cyber attacks offer 
these groups greater security and operational flexibility. They 
can launch an assault from almost anywhere in the world without 
directly exposing themselves to physical harm.
    The Director of the National Security Agency (NSA), 
Lieutenant General Ken Minihan, testified on the findings from 
the DOD's exercise ``Eligible Receiver.'' This exercise 
demonstrated that our Nation's information infrastructure is 
riddled with vulnerabilities and that there exist severe 
deficiencies in our ability to respond to a coordinated attack 
on our national infrastructure and information systems. During 
the exercise, a team of hackers from NSA, using easily 
available tools obtained from the Internet, proved that they 
could deny our military the ability to deploy forces and 
conduct operations.
    In the third hearing on computer security in Federal 
Government agencies, the Committee examined whether private 
information held by the Federal Government--information 
relating to one's identification, finances and health--is 
susceptible to unauthorized access and manipulation by computer 
hackers. The hearing on September 23, 1998, ``Information 
Security,'' focused on the results of penetration testing 
performed at two Federal agencies--the Department of Veterans 
Affairs (VA) and the Social Security Administration (SSA) .
    Regarding SSA, the Committee heard testimony from agents of 
the SSA Office of Inspector General, who described a variety of 
computer crimes committed by SSA employees. The agents 
discussed in detail a series of prosecutions known as 
``Operation Pinch,'' in which 14 SSA employees were convicted 
for their part in a widespread credit card fraud ring centered 
in New York. The agents had determined that SSA employees sold 
identity information on 20,000 people whose credit cards were 
fraudulently activated by a West African crime ring, resulting 
in bank losses of at least $70 million. The cases demonstrate 
the danger of the ``inside threat'' to agencies that do not 
adequately monitor and limit computer access of their own 
employees.
    Witnesses from GAO described the results of penetration 
testing at the VA and SSA. GAO was able, during its VA testing, 
to alter, disclose or delete sensitive information, such as 
financial data and personal information on veterans' medical 
records and benefit payments. GAO's penetration went undetected 
because the VA does not have a monitoring system. GAO's 
penetration testing of the SSA exposed vulnerabilities in the 
SSA computer system to both external and internal intrusions. 
These types of weaknesses place at risk private information 
held by SSA, including Social Security numbers, earnings, 
disabilities, and benefits.

                               YEAR 2000

    On April 1, 1998, a hearing was held on the Year 2000 
problem, ``Crashing into the Millennium.'' This hearing 
addressed the Administration's management of the problem to 
ensure that critical government systems are Year 2000 compliant 
and interpret the digits ``00'' as the year 1900 instead of the 
year 2000. The ability of Federal agencies to fix this problem 
was deemed insufficient.
    The Assistant to the President for Year 2000, John 
Koskinen, along with the Deputy Secretaries from the 
Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and 
Transportation discussed their efforts to: Increase public 
awareness; enhance information or data exchange between and 
among Federal, State and local governments, as well as between 
public and private sectors; and ensure contingency plans are in 
place to avoid disruption of critical governmental operations 
and prevent harm to the health and safety of the public.

                            EXPORT CONTROLS

    The Committee held a hearing on June 25, 1998, to examine 
the Defense Technology Security Agency and its role in 
approving critical technology exports.
    Witnesses included Dr. Peter Leitner, Senior Strategic 
Trade Advisor, Defense Technology Security Administration, and 
Franklin Miller, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Strategy and Threat Reduction, DOD. This hearing discussed 
serious allegations about the adequacy and fairness of the 
process by which dual-use export licensing decisions are 
evaluated within the Department of Defense and in the 
interagency dispute-resolution process.

                INSPECTOR GENERAL ACT: 20TH ANNIVERSARY

    Nineteen hundred ninety eight marked the 20th anniversary 
of the Inspector General (IG) Act, and the Committee, as the 
Senate's primary IG oversight authority, held a hearing on 
September 9, 1998, to reflect on the health of the IGs and to 
consider various proposals to amend the IG Act. The Committee 
heard testimony from two prominent IGs--Susan Gaffney of HUD 
and June Gibbs Brown of HHS--and a witness from OMB.
    First, Ms. Brown described her generally positive working 
relationship with HHS Secretary Donna Shalala, noting that an 
inspector general can be a valued internal advisor on issues 
relating to fraud and abuse, without compromising the IG's 
independence. In contrast, Ms. Gaffney discussed her troubled 
relationship with senior management at HUD, including 
difficulties over HUD's handling of an equal employment 
opportunity complaint against the IG, and pressure placed upon 
Ms. Gaffney to forego criticizing a high profile HUD 
reorganization initiative. The witnesses offered 
recommendations on how the IG Act might be amended and how IG/
agency relationships should be structured to ensure IG 
productivity and independence.

                                 CENSUS

    The Committee's first census oversight hearing on March 11, 
1997, gave Members an overview of the Bureau's plans for Census 
2000. The focus of the testimony was two-fold: (1) to hear from 
the Secretary of Commerce and the Director of the Census Bureau 
regarding the Bureau's preparation and plans for Census 2000 
and (2) to discuss how census data is used by States, local 
governments and the private sector. A subsequent hearing April 
16, 1997, focused exclusively on the legal and scientific 
aspects of sampling and adjustment in the decennial census. It 
was clear from the testimony that opinions on the legal and 
statistical propriety of sampling in Census 2000 are as diverse 
as the methods used to conduct the census itself. For instance, 
a GAO report on the 2000 Census, ``Preparations for Dress 
Rehearsal Leave Many Unanswered Questions,'' focused on a 
number of major operational design activities still in the 
development stage including address list development, outreach 
and promotion, staffing, and other major management issues. GAO 
auditors concluded that the longer these key decisions remain 
unresolved, the greater the risk of a failed 2000 census.
    The Committee also held a hearing on September 17, 1998, on 
the nomination of Dr. J. Kenneth Prewitt, to be director of the 
Census Bureau. The Committee focused on Dr. Prewitt's 
qualifications to manage Census 2000 in light of the numerous 
immediate challenges facing the incoming director. The Senate 
confirmed Dr. Prewitt as Director of the Census Bureau on 
October 21, 1998.

                             VACANCIES ACT

    On March 18, 1998, the Committee held a hearing, 
``Oversight of the Implementation of the Vacancies Act,'' then 
in effect. Appearing before the Committee as witnesses were: 
Hon. Robert C. Byrd, U.S. Senator from the State of West 
Virginia; Hon. Strom Thurmond, U.S. Senator from the State of 
South Carolina; Joseph N. Onek, Principal Deputy Associate 
Attorney General, accompanied by Daniel Koffsky, Special 
Counsel, Office of Legal Counsel; Joan M. Hollenbeck, Associate 
General Counsel, GAO; Michael J. Gerhardt, Professor of Law, 
Case Western Reserve University; Morton Rosenberg, Specialist 
in American Public Law, Congressional Research Service; and 
Paul C. Light, Director, Public Policy Program, The Pew 
Charitable Trusts.
    All of the witnesses except those from the Justice 
Department supported legislation that would overturn the 
Justice Department's arguments of exemption from the Vacancies 
Act, and that would create an enforcement mechanism. Senators 
Byrd and Thurmond stressed the need for air-tight legislation 
so that the Justice Department could no longer argue that it is 
exempt from the Act. GAO testified that the Justice 
Department's interpretation of the Vacancies Act was contrary 
to the language and legislative history of both the Act and its 
organic statute and also offered GAO's recommendation that 
legislation be passed to explicitly provide that the Act can be 
superseded only by a statute providing an alternative means for 
filling a particular vacancy. Prof. Michael Gephardt of Case 
Western University testified to the need to change some of the 
terms of art used in the Vacancies Act, and suggested 
lengthening the 120-day time period. Morton Rosenberg of the 
Congressional Research Service, spoke of the problem of 
transferring assistant secretaries from one position to another 
without undergoing Senate confirmation. Paul Light, of the Pew 
Charitable Trusts, testified that one of the problems with 
noncompliance of the Vacancies Act is the unnecessary 
proliferation of political appointees in the government at a 
time when total Federal employment was declining.

      REFORM OF NATIONAL SECURITY INFORMATION CLASSIFICATION AND 
                        DECLASSIFICATION SYSTEM

    On May 7, 1997, the Committee held a hearing to review the 
consensus final report and recommendations of the Commission on 
Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. The Committee heard 
testimony from the four congressional members of the 
Commission--Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan, the Commission's 
Chairman; Senator Jesse Helms; Representative Larry Combest, 
the Commission's Vice Chairman; and Representative Lee 
Hamilton. The Committee also heard testimony from former 
Secretary of State Lawrence Eagleburger; journalist David Wise; 
and Alden V. Munson, Jr., senior vice president of the 
Information Systems Group of Litton Industries, Inc., a 
government contractor involved in classified programs.
    On March 25, 1998, the Committee held a second hearing on 
the national security information system to consider S. 712, 
legislation which reflected the recommendations of the 
Commission on Protecting and Reducing Government Secrecy. The 
Committee heard testimony from Edmund Cohen, Director of 
Information Management, Central Intelligence Agency; William 
Leonard, Director of Security Programs, Department of Defense; 
A. Bryan Seibert, Director of the Office of Declassification, 
Department of Energy; Steven Garfinkel, Director of the 
Information Security Oversight Office, National Archives and 
Records Administration; T. Jeremy Gunn, Executive Director, 
John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Review Board; and Steven 
Aftergood, Director of the Project on Government Secrecy, 
Federation of American Scientists. The Committee received 
specific suggestions from these witnesses on provisions of the 
legislation and proposals for amendments to improve the 
legislation.

                 THE REGULATORY IMPROVEMENT ACT OF 1998

    On September 12, 1997, the Committee held its first hearing 
on S. 981, the Regulatory Improvement Act of 1998. This hearing 
built on the Committee's extensive hearing record and 
legislative history on regulatory reform from the 104th 
Congress. Testifying at this hearing were Sally Katzen, 
Administrator, OMB's Office of Information and Regulatory 
Affairs; L. Nye Stevens, Director, Federal Management and 
Workforce Issues, General Government Division, GAO; Thomas F. 
Walton, Director, Economic Policy, General Motors Corporation, 
on behalf of the Alliance for Understandable, Sensible and 
Accountable Regulation; Sal Risalvato, a small business owner, 
on behalf of the National Federation of Independent Business; 
James L. Martin, Director, Office of State-Federal Affairs, 
National Governors' Association; Ernest Gellhorn, Professor of 
Law, George Mason University School of Law; John D. Graham, 
Director, Harvard Center for Risk Analysis; C. Boyden Gray, 
Partner, Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering, former Counsel to the 
President and former Counsel to the Presidential Task Force on 
Regulatory Relief; David G. Hawkins, Senior Attorney, Natural 
Resources Defense Council; Paul R. Portney, President, 
Resources for the Future; and David Vladek, Director, Public 
Citizen Litigation Group.
    The Committee held its second regulatory reform hearing on 
February 24, 1998. The first two witnesses were Hon. George 
Voinovich, Governor of Ohio and President of the National 
Governors' Association, and Hon. Ben Nelson, Governor of 
Nebraska and Chairman of the Committee on Natural Resources, 
National Governors' Association. Also testifying were Dr. 
Milton Russell, Senior Fellow of the Joint Institute for Energy 
and the Environment and Professor Emeritus at the University of 
Tennessee; Nancy Donley, President, Safe Tables Our Priority; 
Sue Doneth, Member, Safe Tables Our Priority; Dr. Lester 
Crawford, Georgetown Center for Food and Nutrition Policy; 
Michael Resnick, National School Boards Association; Dr. Bruce 
Alberts, President, National Academy of Sciences; Warren 
Belmar, Chair, ABA Administrative Law Committee; Frank Mirer, 
Director of Health and Safety, United Auto Workers; Karen 
Florini, Senior Attorney, Environmental Defense Fund; Robert 
Litan, Director of Economic Studies and Cabot Family 
Chairholder of Economics, Brookings Institution; and Robert 
Hahn, Resident Scholar, American Enterprise Institute.

                      THE MANDATES INFORMATION ACT

    On June 3, 1998, the Committee held a hearing on S. 389, 
the Mandates Information Act. This bill would amend the 
Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to require the Director of the 
Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in preparing estimates of 
the direct costs of all Federal private sector mandates, to 
estimate also the indirect impact of such mandates on 
consumers, workers, and small businesses, including any 
disproportionate impact in particular regions or industries. It 
also would subject to a point of order any legislation for 
which the CBO Director is unable to determine the economic 
impact of a Federal mandate.
    Witnesses at the hearing were Senator Spencer Abraham (R-
MI), the sponsor of S. 389; Representative Rob Portman (R-OH), 
the House sponsor of H.R. 3534, the House companion bill; James 
L. Blum, Deputy Director, Congressional Budget Office; R. Bruce 
Josten, Executive Vice President of Government Affairs, U.S. 
Chamber of Commerce; Mary Ann Cricchio, owner of Da Mimmo 
Italian Restaurant in Baltimore, Maryland on behalf of the 
National Restaurant Association; and, Sharon Buccino, 
Legislative Counsel, Natural Resources Defense Council. The 
bill was reported by the Committee to the Senate for 
consideration, placed on the Senate calendar, but never acted 
upon.

                       V. Reports and GAO Reports

    During the 105th Congress, the Committee and its 
Subcommittees prepared and issued 20 reports, special prints 
and studies on these topics:

    (1) Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations (S. Rept. 105-
72);
    (2) Corporate Subsidy Reform Commission Act of 1997 (S. 
Rept. 105-107);
    (3) Census of Agriculture Act of 1997 (S. Rept. 105-141);
    (4) The National Drought Policy Act of 1997 (S. Rept. 105-
144);
    (5) Lobbying Disclosure Technical Amendments Act of 1997 
(S. Rept. 105-147);
    (6) Federal Reports Elimination Act of 1997 (S. Rept. 105-
187);
    (7) Regulatory Improvement Act of 1998 (S. Rept. 105-188);
    (8) Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act 
of 1998 (S. Rept. 105-194);
    (9) Extension of a Quarterly Financial Report Program 
Administered by the Secretary of Commerce (S. Rept. 105-241);
    (10) Vacancies Act (S. Rept. 105-250);
    (11) To Improve Administration of Sanctions Against Unfit 
Health Care Providers under the Federal Employees Health 
Benefits Program (S. Rept. 105-257);
    (12) To provide for a system to classify information in the 
interests of national security and a system to declassify such 
information (S. Rept. 105-258);
    (13) To provide a process for identifying the functions of 
the Federal Government that are not inherently governmental 
functions, and for other purposes (S. Rept. 105-269);
    (14) To Establish a Commission to Assist in Commemoration 
of the Centennial of Powered Flight and the Achievements of the 
Wright Brothers (S. Rept. 105-294);
    (15) To Require Federal Employees to use Federal Charge 
Cards (S. Rept. 105-295);
    (16) To Correct a Provision Relating to Termination of 
Benefits for Convicted Persons (S. Rept. 105-296);
    (17) To Improve Congressional Deliberation on Proposed 
Federal Private Sector Mandates (S. Rept. 105-299);
    (18) To Amend the Federal Advisory Committee Act (S. Rept. 
105-309);
    (19) To require that the Office of Personnel Management 
Submit Proposed Legislation under which Group Universal Life 
Insurance and Group Variable Universal Life Insurance would be 
Available under Chapter 87 of title 5 (S. Rept. 105-337);
    (20) To Establish a Federal Commission on Statistical 
Policy to Study the Reorganization of the Federal Statistical 
System (S. Rept. 105-367).

                              gao reports

    Also during the 105th Congress, 64 reports were issued by 
the General Accounting Office at the request of the Committee:

    (1) Nuclear Waste: DOE's Estimates of Potential Savings 
From Privatizing Cleanup Projects, RCED-97-49R (January 31, 
1997);
    (2) Land Management Agencies: Information on Selected 
Administrative Policies and Practices, RCED-97-40 (February 11, 
1997);
    (3) High-Risk Areas: Actions Needed to Solve Pressing 
Management Problems, T-AIMD--GGD-97-60 (March 5, 1997);
    (4) Department of Energy: Management and Oversight of 
Cleanup Activities at Fernald, RCED-97-63 (March 14, 1997);
    (5) IRS Systems Security: Tax Processing Operations and 
Data Still at Risk Due to Serious Weaknesses, AIMD-97-49 (April 
8, 1997);
    (6) IRS Systems Security: Tax Processing Operations and 
Data Still at Risk Due to Serious Weaknesses, T-AIMD-97-76 
(April 10, 1997);
    (7) Budget Process: Comments on S. 261--Biennial Budgeting 
and Appropriations Act, T-AIMD-97-84 (April 23, 1997);
    (8) DOD High-Risk Areas: Eliminating Underlying Causes Will 
Avoid Billions of Dollars in Waste, T-NSIAD--AIMD-97-143 (May 
1, 1997);
    (9) Financial Management: The Prompt Payment Act and DOD 
Problem Disbursements, AIMD-97-71 (May 23, 1997);
    (10) Managing for Results: The Statutory Framework for 
Improving Federal Management and Effectiveness, T-GGD--AIMD-97-
144 (June 24, 1997);
    (11) Relocation Travel: Numbers and Costs Reported by 
Federal Organizations for Fiscal Years 1991 Through 1995, GGD-
97-119 (June 30, 1997);
    (12) 2000 Census: Progress Made on Design, but Risks 
Remain, GGD-97-142 (July 14, 1997);
    (13) Combating Terrorism: Status of DOD Efforts to Protect 
Its Force Overseas, NSIAD-97-207 (July 21, 1997);
    (14) Defense Computers: DFAS Faces Challenges in Solving 
the Year 2000 Problem, AIMD-97-117 (August 11, 1997);
    (15) Defense Computers: Issues Confronting DLA in 
Addressing Year 2000 Problems, AIMD-97-106 (August 12, 1997);
    (16) Defense Computers: Improvements to DOD Systems 
Inventory Needed for Year 2000 Effort, AIMD-97-112 (August 13, 
1997);
    (17) Defense Computers: SSG Needs to Sustain Year 2000 
Progress, AIMD-97-120R (August 19, 1997);
    (18) Tax Administration: Assessment of IRS' Report on Its 
Fiscal Year 1995 Compliance Initiatives, GGD-97-158 (August 27, 
1997);
    (19) Regulatory Reform: Comments on S. 981--The Regulatory 
Improvement Act of 1997, T-GGD--RCED-97-250 (September 12, 
1997);
    (20) Inventory Management: Vulnerability of Sensitive 
Defense Material to Theft, NSIAD-97-175 (September 18, 1997);
    (21) Combating Terrorism: Federal Agencies' Efforts to 
Implement National Policy and Strategy, NSIAD-97-254 (September 
26, 1997);
    (22) Defense Computers: LSSC Needs to Confront Significant 
Year 2000 Issues, AIMD-97-149 (September 26, 1997);
    (23) Regulatory Reform: Agencies' Efforts to Eliminate and 
Revise Rules Yield Mixed Results, GGD-98-3 (October 2, 1997);
    (24) Federal Ships: Policy Changes in the Disposal of 
Surplus Ships, NSIAD-98-17R (October 17, 1997);
    (25) Financial Management: Outsourcing of Finance and 
Accounting Functions, AIMD--NSIAD-98-43 (October 17, 1997);
    (26) Defense IRM: Poor Implementation of Management 
Controls Has Put Migration Strategy at Risk, AIMD-98-5 (October 
20, 1997);
    (27) Defense Computers: Technical Support Is Key to Naval 
Supply Year 2000 Success, AIMD-98-7R (October 21, 1997);
    (28) Executive Guide: Information Security Management: 
Learning From Leading Organizations (Exposure Draft), AIMD-98-
21 (November 1, 1997);
    (29) Federal Advisory Committee Act: Overview of Advisory 
Committees Since 1993, T-GGD-98-24 (November 5, 1997);
    (30) Combating Terrorism: Spending on Governmentwide 
Programs Requires Better Management and Coordination, NSIAD-98-
39 (December 1, 1997);
    (31) Financial Management: Profile of Financial Personnel 
in Large Private Sector Corporations and State Governments, 
AIMD-98-34 (January 2, 1998);
    (32) Regulatory Reform: Changes Made to Agencies' Rules Are 
Not Always Clearly Documented, GGD-98-31 (January 8, 1998);
    (33) Defense Computers: Air Force Needs to Strengthen Year 
2000 Oversight, AIMD-98-35 (January 16, 1998);
    (34) Unfunded Mandates: Reform Act Has Had Little Effect on 
Agencies' Rulemaking Actions, GGD-98-30 (February 4, 1998);
    (35) Regulatory Reform: Comments on S. 981--The Regulatory 
Improvement Act of 1998, T-GGD--RCED-98-95 (February 24, 1998);
    (36) IRS Personnel Flexibilities: An Opportunity to Test 
New Approaches, T-GGD-98-78 (March 12, 1998);
    (37) Nuclear Waste: Understanding of Waste Migration at 
Hanford is Inadequate for Key Decisions, RCED-98-80 (March 13, 
1998);
    (38) 2000 Census: Preparations for Dress Rehearsal Leave 
Many Unanswered Questions, GGD-98-74 (March 26, 1998);
    (39) Social Security Financing: Implications of Stock 
Investing for the Trust Fund, the Federal Budget, and the 
Economy, T-AIMD--HEHS-98-152 (April 22, 1998);
    (40) Defense Computers: Year 2000 Computer Problems 
Threaten DOD Operations, AIMD-98-72 (April 30, 1998);
    (41) Year 2000 Computing Crisis: Potential for Widespread 
Disruption Calls for Strong Leadership and Partnerships, AIMD-
98-85 (April 30, 1998);
    (42) Decennial Census: Overview of Historical Census 
Issues, GGD-98-103 (May 1, 1998);
    (43) Executive Guide: Information Security Management--
Learning From Leading Organizations, AIMD-98-68 (May 1, 1998);
    (44) Air Traffic Control: Weak Computer Security Practices 
Jeopardize Flight Safety, AIMD-98-155 (May 18, 1998);
    (45) Computer Security: Pervasive, Serious Weaknesses 
Jeopardize State Department Operations, AIMD-98-145 (May 18, 
1998);
    (46) Information Security: Serious Weaknesses Put State 
Department and FAA Operations at Risk, T-AIMD-98-170 (May 19, 
1998);
    (47) Regulatory Reform: Agencies Could Improve Development, 
Documentation, and Clarity of Regulatory Economic Analyses, 
RCED-98-142 (May 26, 1998);
    (48) Defense Computers: Army Needs to Greatly Strengthen 
Its Year 2000 Program, AIMD-98-53 (May 29, 1998);
    (49) Federal Advisory Committee Act: General Services 
Administration's Oversight of Advisory Committees, GGD-98-124 
(June 15, 1998);
    (50) Grant Programs: Design Features Shape Flexibility, 
Accountability, and Performance Information, GGD-98-137 (June 
22, 1998);
    (51) Defense Computers: Year 2000 Computer Problems Put 
Navy Operations at Risk, AIMD-98-150 (June 30, 1998);
    (52) Federal Advisory Committee Act: Views of Committee 
Members and Agencies on Federal Advisory Committee Issues, GGD-
98-147 (July 9, 1998);
    (53) Results Act: Observations on the Office of Personnel 
Management's Annual Performance Plan, GGD-98-130 (July 28, 
1998);
    (54) Decennial Census: Preliminary Observations on the 
Results to Date of the Dress Rehearsal and the Census Bureau's 
Readiness for 2000, T-GGD-98-178 (July 30, 1998);
    (55) Defense Networks: Management Information Shortfalls 
Hinder Defense Efforts to Meet DISN Goals, AIMD-98-202 (July 
30, 1998);
    (56) Federal Rulemaking: Agencies Often Published Final 
Actions Without Proposed Rules, GGD-98-126 (August 31, 1998);
    (57) The Results Act: Assessment of the Governmentwide 
Performance Plan for Fiscal Year 1999, AIMD--GGD-98-159 
(September 8, 1998);
    (58) Information Security: Strengthened Management Needed 
to Protect Critical Federal Operations and Assets, T-AIMD-98-
312 (September 23, 1998);
    (59) Chemical Weapons: DOD Does Not Have a Strategy to 
Address Low-Level Exposures, NSIAD-98-228 (September 23, 1998);
    (60) Information Security: Serious Weaknesses Place 
Critical Federal Operations and Assets at Risk, AIMD-98-92 
(September 23, 1998);
    (61) Acquisition Reform: Multiple-award Contracting at Six 
Federal Organizations, NSIAD-98-215 (September 30, 1998);
    (62) Federal Surplus Ships: Government Efforts to Address 
the Growing Backlog of Ships Awaiting Disposal, NSIAD-99-18 
(October 22, 1998);
    (63) Decennial Census: Additional Information for Hearing 
Record on the Initial Results of the Census Dress Rehearsal, 
GGD-99-5R (November 20, 1998);
    (64) IRS Systems Security: Although Significant 
Improvements Made, Tax Processing Operations and Data Still at 
Serious Risk, AIMD-99-38 (December 14, 1998).

                      VI. Official Communications

    During the 105th Congress, a total of 2,295 official 
communications were submitted to the Committee. Of these, 1,127 
were from the Comptroller General of the United States and 
1,168 were from the President of the United States and other 
executive departments. The communications included reports to 
advise and inform the Congress, required annual or semi-annual 
agency budget and activity summaries, and requests for 
legislative action. The Committee also received 26 petitions 
and memorials.

                        VII. Legislative Action

    The Committee was highly productive in the 105th Congress. 
Important legislation was reported by the Committee, approved 
by Congress and signed by the President in a variety of areas 
within the Committee's jurisdiction. The following are brief 
legislative histories of measures referred to the Committee or 
within the jurisdiction of the Committee, and in some cases, 
drafted by the Committee, which (1) became public law; (2) were 
favorably reported from the Committee and passed by the Senate; 
and (3) were favorably reported from the Committee but were not 
subject to further action. For information not included in this 
section please refer to the Committee's Legislative Calendar.

                       Measures Enacted Into Law

S. 314--Federal Activities Inventory Reform (FAIR) Act (Public Law 105-
        270)
    This law requires Federal agencies to prepare a list of 
activities that are not inherently governmental functions that 
are being performed by Federal employees, submit that list to 
OMB for review, and make the list publicly available. It also 
establishes an ``appeals'' process within each agency to 
challenge what is on the list or what is not included on the 
list. S. 314 creates a statutory definition--identical to 
current regulation--for what is an ``inherently governmental 
function'' that must be performed by the government and not the 
private sector.
    S. 314 was originally introduced by Senator Craig Thomas in 
February 1997 as the Freedom from Government Competition Act. 
It attempted to put into statute a policy embodied in OMB 
Circular A-76 that the Federal Government will rely on the 
private sector for goods and services that are not inherently 
governmental. The bill was referred to the Subcommittee on the 
Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring and the 
District of Columbia on March 5, 1997. The Subcommittee held 
hearings on June 18, 1997 and March 24, 1998. In order to 
favorably report the legislation, significant revisions were 
necessary. Chairman Thompson worked with the bill's sponsors, 
other Members of the Committee, industry, Federal employee 
unions, and the Administration to craft a compromise which 
represented a consensus of all interested participants.
    The Chairman's substitute amendment emanated from current 
administrative policy. OMB Circular A-76 establishes the policy 
regarding government employees' performance of activities that 
are not inherently governmental functions and sets forth 
procedures for determining whether such activities should be 
performed under contract with private companies or using 
government facilities and personnel. The policy embodied in OMB 
Circular A-76, that the Federal Government will rely on the 
private sector for goods and services that are not inherently 
governmental, is more than 40-years old. However, there 
continue to be activities which are not inherently governmental 
that the government performs for itself. Therefore, the 
Chairman's substitute was intended to establish a process to 
evaluate those activities that continue to be performed by 
government employees. On July 15, 1998, the Committee ordered 
the bill to be favorably reported with Chairman Thompson's 
amendment in the nature of a substitute. The Committee filed a 
report on July 28, 1998 (S. Rept. 105-269). The Chairman's 
substitute amendment was passed by the Senate by unanimous 
consent on July 30, 1998. On October 5, 1998, the House passed 
S. 314 by voice vote under suspension of the rules. The 
President signed the bill on October 8, 1998.
S. 1364--Federal Reports Elimination Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-362)
    S. 1364 eliminates or modifies congressionally mandated 
Federal agency reports that are redundant, obsolete, or 
otherwise unnecessary on the recommendation of the 
Administration.
    The bill was introduced on November 4, 1997 by Senators 
McCain and Levin. In 1995, Congress enacted the Federal Reports 
Elimination and Sunset Act of 1995 (P.L. 104-66), also 
sponsored by Senators McCain and Levin. That act contained 
three major provisions: One provision eliminated or modified 
approximately 200 reporting requirements imposed on Federal 
agencies in law by Congress; the second required the President 
to identify in the next available budget message additional 
congressionally mandated reporting requirements that could and 
should be eliminated; and the third provision terminates all 
annual or routine congressionally mandated reporting 
requirements 4 years after enactment of the 1995 Act, or 
December 21, 1999. As a result of this legislation, the 
President, in the FY 1997 Budget, provided Congress with a list 
of 400 reports recommended for elimination or modification. 
That list of reports was used as the basis for S. 1364.
    S. 1364 eliminates or modifies approximately 187 
congressionally mandated reports. The reports contained in the 
bill were distilled from the list of 400 recommended reports 
included on the Administration's list pursuant to the 
requirements of the 1995 Act. The Committee circulated the 
Administration's list to the chairmen and ranking minority 
members of the relevant authorizing committees for comment. As 
a result of the responses, which were incorporated into the 
bill for introduction, the list of 400 reports was ultimately 
reduced to 187 reports. The Committee also worked closely with 
the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs of the Office 
of Management and Budget to clarify citations and any 
discrepancies between the bill and the recommendations of the 
Administration.
    On March 10, 1998, the Committee ordered the bill favorably 
reported with amendments. A written report was filed on May 11, 
1998 (S. Rept. 105-187). The bill passed the Senate with 
amendments by unanimous consent on June 10, 1998, and passed 
the House with amendment under suspension of the rules on 
October 13, 1998. On October 21, 1998, the Senate concurred in 
the House amendment with an amendment by unanimous consent, and 
the House agreed to the Senate amendment. The President signed 
the bill on November 10, 1998.
S. 1397--Centennial of Flight Commemoration Act (Public Law 105-389)
    This bill establishes a commission to assist in the 
commemoration of the centennial of powered flight and the 
achievement of the Wright brothers.
    S. 1397 was introduced in the Senate by Senator Helms on 
November 7, 1997, for himself and Senators Glenn, Dewine, and 
Faircloth. Rep. Hall introduced a similar bill, H.R. 2305, in 
the House of Representatives on July 30, 1997, and it was 
referred to the House Government Reform and Oversight 
Subcommittee on Civil Service. The provisions of H.R. 2305 also 
were offered as an amendment to H.R. 4057, the Airport 
Improvement Program Reauthorization Act of 1998, which was 
ordered to be reported to the House from the House Committee on 
Transportation and Infrastructure on July 20, 1998. The Senate 
passed its own version of H.R. 4057, but the conferees never 
reached agreement.
    The Committee considered S. 1397 on July 15, 1998. The 
Committee unanimously adopted, by voice vote, Senator Glenn's 
amendment in the nature of a substitute. The Committee voted by 
voice vote to order the bill reported as amended. Chairman 
Thompson and Senators Domenici and Nickles stated that they 
opposed the motion to report S. 1397. Nonetheless, the 
Committee filed its report on August 25, 1998 (S. Rept. 105-
294). On September 22, 1998, the Committee substitute was 
amended on the Senate floor and passed, as amended, by the 
Senate by unanimous consent. The House passed the bill by voice 
vote under suspension of the rules on October 14, 1998, and the 
bill was signed by the President on November 13, 1998.
S. 2161--Regulatory Right-to-Know (Public Law 105-277)
    This bill provides government-wide accounting of regulatory 
costs and benefits by requiring the President to submit to 
Congress an accounting statement that estimates the costs and 
corresponding benefits of Federal regulatory programs and 
program elements.
    On June 11, 1998, Chairman Thompson introduced S. 2161, the 
Regulatory Right-to-Know Act of 1998, with Senator Breaux. On 
July 29, 1998, Chairman Thompson offered on the Senate floor 
many of the provisions of S. 2161 as an amendment to S. 2312, 
the Treasury and General Government Appropriations bill for 
Fiscal Year 1999. On October 19, 1998, the Thompson regulatory 
accounting amendment was adopted in modified form as part of 
H.R. 4328, the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental 
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1999, which was signed into 
law on October 21, 1998.
S. 2176--Federal Vacancies Reform Act of 1998 (Public Law 105-277)
    The purpose of this legislation is to restore the Senate's 
advice and consent prerogative, to make the Vacancies Act 
uniform in its application, and to provide for its effective 
enforcement. The legislation comprehensively addresses the 
eligibility and length of service of acting officials to serve 
in Executive Branch positions for a period of time without 
their appointments having received the advice and consent of 
the Senate and provides an enforcement mechanism to ensure 
compliance with acting officer qualifications and time limits.
    On June 16, 1998, S. 2176, the Federal Vacancies Reform Act 
of 1998, was introduced in the Senate by Chairman Thompson and 
Senators Byrd, Thurmond, Lott, Roth, Cochran, and Hatch. On 
June 17, 1998, the Committee ordered the bill favorably 
reported with amendments, by a vote of 9-1. The Committee filed 
a report on July 15, 1998 (S. Rept. 105-250). With further 
modifications, the legislation was included as part of H.R. 
4328, the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental 
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (Public Law 105-277), 
which was signed into law on October 21, 1998.
International Postal Issues (Public Law 105-277)
    With the support of Chairman Thompson and International 
Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services Subcommittee 
Chairman Cochran, provisions affecting international postal 
services were included in the Omnibus Consolidated and 
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1999 
(Public Law 105-277).
    The first provision transfers representational authority 
for U.S. interests before international postal forums, such as 
the Universal Postal Union, from the U.S. Postal Service to the 
U.S. State Department. International postal services are not 
covered by the current U.S. mail monopoly and many private 
sector carriers compete with the Postal Service in providing 
international mail and parcel services. Private sector carriers 
had charged that the representation at international forums, 
such as the Universal Postal Union, should be accorded a 
neutral U.S. governmental entity, such as the State Department, 
to ensure that private carrier interests, as well as those of 
the U.S. Postal Service, were represented.
    The second provision also addresses international postal 
services. In order to prevent monopoly revenues from cross-
subsidizing competitive international postal services, the 
legislation grants independent postal rate commissions the 
authority to review the costs, revenues and volume for each 
international mail product or service provided by the Postal 
Service in order to ensure that monopoly revenues are not 
cross-subsidizing international mail services.
Federal Procurement Issues
  Small Business Reauthorization Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-135)
      With the support of Chairman Thompson and Senator Glenn 
and Senators Thurmond and Levin of the Committee on Armed 
Services, language was enacted as part of the Small Business 
Reauthorization Act of 1997 to foster the participation of 
small businesses in Federal contracting by facilitating 
competition by and among small businesses and prohibiting the 
unnecessary and unjustified bundling of Federal contracts which 
could preclude small business participation as contractors.
  National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999 
        (Public Law 105-85) and National Defense Authorization Act for 
        Fiscal Year 1999 (Public Law 105-261)
      As part of both these laws, language offered by Chairman 
Thompson and Senator Glenn was enacted to further streamline 
and simplify the government-wide procurement system, including 
provisions relating to permitting electronic purchasing, 
limiting executive compensation, and clarifying spare parts 
pricing.
Government Paperwork Elimination Act (Public Law 105-277)
    The Committee worked with the Committee on Commerce, 
Science and Transportation to develop consensus language 
affecting government information policy which was enacted as 
part of the Omnibus Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental 
Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 1999 (Public Law 105-277). 
The Government Paperwork Elimination Act takes advantage of the 
advances in modern technology to lessen the paperwork burdens 
on those who deal with the Federal Government. This is 
accomplished by requiring OMB, through its existing 
responsibilities under current law, to develop policies to 
promote the use of alternative information technologies so that 
individuals who deal with the Federal Government can reduce 
their cumulative burden of meeting the Federal Government's 
information demands.
Year 2000 Information and Readiness Disclosure Act (Public Law 105-271)
    This law encourages the disclosure and exchange of 
information about computer processing problems, solutions, and 
tests in connection with the transition to the year 2000 and 
provides for the establishment of working groups as a part of 
the President's Year 2000 Council. Chairman Thompson developed 
language which was enacted as part of this law to mitigate 
against false and inaccurate year 2000 solicitations while 
promoting the open sharing of information.
H.R. 930--Travel and Transportation Reform Act (Public Law 105-264)
    This law requires Federal employees to use Federal travel 
charge cards for payments of expenses of official government 
travel, establishes requirements for prepayment audits of 
Federal agency transportation expenses, authorizes 
reimbursement of Federal agency employees for taxes incurred on 
travel transportation reimbursements, and authorizes test 
programs for the payment of Federal employee travel expenses 
and relocation expenses.
    H.R. 930 was introduced in the House of Representatives by 
Rep. Horn on March 5, 1997. It passed the House of 
Representatives on April 16, 1997, by voice vote and was 
received by the Senate and referred to the Committee. The 
Committee considered H.R. 930 on June 17, 1998, and ordered it 
favorably reported, with amendments offered by Chairman 
Thompson, by voice vote. The Committee filed its report on 
August 25, 1998 (S. Rept. 105-295). On September 1, 1998, the 
Senate passed H.R. 930 with amendments by unanimous consent. 
The House agreed to the Senate amendments on October 5, 1998, 
and it was signed by the President on October 18, 1998.
H.R. 1316--To amend chapter 87 of Title 5, United States Code, with 
        respect to the order of precedence to be applied in the payment 
        of life insurance benefits (Public Law 105-205)
    H.R. 1316 amends chapter 87 of title 5, United States Code, 
and directs the Office of Personnel Management to obey certain 
domestic relations orders when paying the proceeds of life 
insurance policies under the Federal Employees Group Life 
Insurance program. It also permits courts to direct the 
assignment of such policies to individuals specified in 
domestic relations orders.
    H.R. 1316 was introduced in the House by Rep. Collins on 
April 14, 1997. The House Committee on Government Reform and 
Oversight approved the legislation, as amended, on June 11, 
1997. It was passed by the House on June 24, 1997, on the 
Corrections Calendar. The legislation was received in the 
Senate on June 25, 1997 and referred to the Committee on 
Governmental Affairs. On July 8, 1997, the legislation was 
referred to the Subcommittee on International Security, 
Proliferation, and Federal Services. No hearings were held. On 
November 5, 1997, the legislation was approved by the Committee 
without amendment. On June 18, 1998, the legislation passed the 
Senate under unanimous consent. On July 22, 1998, the President 
signed the bill into law.
H.R. 1836--The Federal Employees Health Care Protection Act of 1998 
        (Public Law 105-266)
    This legislation amends chapter 89 of title 5, United 
States Code, to improve the administration of the Federal 
Employees Health Benefits Program. Specifically, the bill 
allows the government to impose sanctions on health care 
providers or bars them from selling coverage to any government 
agency; encourages full disclosure in discounted rate 
agreements; and establishes standards for readmitting 
discontinued plans and for crediting of associated contingency 
reserves.
    H.R. 1836 was introduced by Rep. Burton on June 10, 1997. 
The House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight approved 
the legislation on October 31, 1997, and the House passed H.R. 
1836 by voice vote, under suspension of the rules, on November 
4, 1997.
    The legislation was received in the Senate and referred to 
the Committee on November 5, 1997. On November 11, the bill was 
referred to the Subcommittee on International Security, 
Proliferation, and Federal Services. On March 31, 1998, a 
majority (eight members) of the Subcommittee approved reporting 
favorably H.R. 1836 to the full Committee. No hearings were 
held. On April 1, 1998, the Committee favorably considered the 
legislation and ordered it to be reported with an amendment. 
The report (S. Rept. 105-257) was filed in the Senate by 
Chairman Thompson with amendments on July 21, 1998. H.R. 1836, 
as amended, passed the Senate by unanimous consent on September 
30, 1998. On October 5, the House suspended the rules and 
agreed to the Senate amendment by voice vote. The bill was 
signed into law by the President on October 19, 1998.
H.R. 2015--Balanced Budget Act of 1997: Budget Reconciliation (Public 
        Law 105-33)
    On June 17, 1997, the Committee approved a Fiscal Year 1998 
budget reconciliation measure covering spending and saving 
proposals. The FY 1998 Budget Resolution instructed the 
Committee to develop recommendations for deficit reduction in 
the amount of $5.5 billion. These proposals reflected 
assumptions included in the FY 1998 congressional budget 
resolution and included deficit reduction provisions pertaining 
to the Federal civil service retirement and health insurance 
programs.
    Included in this deficit reduction package were provisions 
to: (a) increase postal and nonpostal employee contributions to 
the Federal retirement systems by 0.5 percent of pay, to be 
phased in beginning in 1999 through Fiscal Year 2002; (b) 
increase nonpostal agency payments to the Federal retirement 
trust fund on behalf of workers in the Civil Service Retirement 
System; (c) establish a new formula governing health insurance 
premiums for Federal employees and annuitants under the Federal 
Employees' Health Benefits Program. (The new formula is based 
on the average total premium cost of all insurance plans in 
FEHPB, weighted by the number of participants in each plan, and 
is expected to reduce the government's share of FEHBP costs by 
approximately $28 million over 5 years. This revision shielded 
participants from an expected increase in premiums due to the 
expiration of the previous formula); and (d) shift workers' 
compensation costs of the former Post Office Department from 
the Federal Government to the Postal Service. The provisions 
approved by the Committee were similar to provisions included 
in a House bill concerning the FY 1998 Budget Reconciliation.
    Not included in this agreement was the proposal to continue 
the 3-month cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) delay for Federal 
retirees, as proposed in President Clinton's FY 1998 budget.
    These measures were included in the conference report to 
H.R. 2015 (H. Rept. 105-217) for the Balanced Budget Act of 
1997 which was signed into law by the President on August 5, 
1997.
H.R. 2675--The Federal Employees Life Insurance Improvement Act (Public 
        Law 105-311)
    H.R. 2675 is designed to improve the structure and 
administration of the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance 
Program--the life insurance program the Federal Government 
provides for its civilian employees and retirees under chapter 
87 of title 5, United States Code. Rep. Mica introduced H.R. 
2675 in the House on October 21, 1997. The bill was referred to 
the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, which ordered 
the bill reported on October 31, 1997. H.R. 2675 was approved 
by the full House under suspension of the rules by voice vote 
on November 4, 1997.
    H.R. 2675 was received in the Senate and referred to the 
Committee on Governmental Affairs on November 5, 1997. On June 
17, 1998, the Committee ordered the bill reported favorably 
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute (S. Rept. 105-
337). No hearings were held. On September 21, 1998, Chairman 
Thompson reported the bill to the Senate with an amendment in 
the nature of a substitute. The bill, as amended, was passed by 
the Senate by unanimous consent. The House suspended the rules 
and agreed to the Senate amendments by voice vote on October 8, 
1998. The legislation was signed by the President on October 
30, 1998.
H.R. 3096--A bill to correct a provision relating to termination of 
        benefits for convicted persons (Public Law 105-247)
    H.R. 3096 makes a technical correction in the Federal 
Employees' Compensation Act, the workers' compensation statute 
covering Federal employees. The bill ensures that persons 
convicted of fraud in the application or receipt of workers' 
compensation benefits lose their entitlement to receive such 
benefits.
    The legislation was introduced by Rep. Greenwood on January 
27, 1998. On March 11, 1998, the Committee on Education and the 
Workforce approved H.R. 3096 by voice vote and ordered the bill 
favorably reported. On March 24, 1998, the bill was passed by 
the House by a roll call vote of 408-0.
    On March 25, 1998 the bill was received in the Senate and 
referred to the Committee on Governmental Affairs. On April 20, 
1998, the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on 
International Security, Proliferation, and Federal Services. On 
March 8, 1998, a majority (nine members) of the Subcommittee 
Members approved reporting favorably H.R. 3096 to the full 
Committee. No hearings were held. On June 17, 1998, the 
Committee ordered to be reported H.R. 3096 without amendment, 
and Chairman Thompson favorably reported the bill to the Senate 
on August 25, 1998 (S. Rept. 105-296). H.R. 3096 passed the 
Senate by unanimous consent on September 28, 1998, and was 
signed into law by the President on October 9, 1998.
Postal Naming Bills
    S. 916, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office building in 
Taylorsville, Mississippi as the ``Blaine H. Eaton Post Office 
Building'' (Public Law 105-161).
    S. 985, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in Paterson, 
New Jersey as the ``Larry Doby Post Office'' (Public Law 105-
162).
    H.R. 282, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office building in 
New York, New York, as the ``Oscar Garcia Rivera Post Office 
Building'' (Public Law 105-87).
    H.R. 499, a bill designating the facility of the U.S. Post 
Office in San Antonio, Texas as the ``Frank M. Tejeda Post 
Office Building'' (Public Law 105-4).
    H.R. 681, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office building in 
Glendale, California as the ``Carlos J. Moorhead Post Office 
Building'' (Public Law 105-88).
    H.R. 1057, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office building 
in Indianapolis, Indiana as the ``Andrew Jacobs, Jr. Post 
Office Building'' (Public Law 105-90).
    H.R. 1058, a bill designating the facility of the U.S. 
Postal Service in Terre Haute, Indiana as the ``John T. Myers 
Post Office Building'' (Public Law 105-91).
    H.R. 1254, (see also S. 595) a bill designating a U.S. Post 
Office building in Springfield, Missouri as the ``John N. 
Griesemer Post Office Building'' (Public Law 105-131).
    H.R. 2013, a bill designating the facility of the U.S. 
Postal Service in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, as the ``David 
B. Champagne Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 2129, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in 
Steubenville, Ohio as the ``Douglas Applegate Post Office'' 
(Public Law 105-97).
    H.R. 2564, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in 
Pottsville, Pennsylvania as the ``Peter J. McCloskey Postal 
Facility'' (Public Law 105-99).
The following postal naming bills were enacted as part of the Omnibus 
        Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for 
        Fiscal Year 1999 (Public Law 105-277):
    S. 2310, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in East 
Northport, New York as the ``Jerome Anthony Ambro, Jr. Post 
Office Building.''
    S. 2370, a bill designating the facility of the U.S. Postal 
Service in Thomasville, Georgia as the ``Lieutenant Henry O. 
Flipper Station.''
    S. 2404, a bill establishing designations for five U.S. 
Postal Service buildings in Coconut Grove, Opa Locka, Carol 
City, and Miami, Florida.
    H.R. 2623, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in Kiln, 
Mississippi as the ``Ray J. Favre Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 2766, a bill designating the facility of the U.S. Post 
Office in Painesville, Ohio as the ``Karl Bernal Post Office 
Building.''
    H.R. 2773, a bill designating the facility of the U.S. 
Postal Service in Chicago, Illinois as the ``Daniel J. Doffyn 
Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 2798, a bill redesignating the building of the U.S. 
Postal Service in Chicago, Illinois as the ``Nancy B. Jefferson 
Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 2799, a bill redesignating the building of the U.S. 
Postal Service in Chicago, Illinois as the ``Reverend Milton R. 
Brunson Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 2836, (see also S. 1640) a bill designating the 
building of the U.S. Postal Service in St. Paul, Minnesota as 
the ``Eugene J. McCarthy Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 3120, a bill designating the U.S. Post Office in 
Provo, Utah as the ``Howard C. Nielson Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 3630, a bill redesignating the facility of the U.S. 
Postal Service in Albuquerque, New Mexico as the ``Steven 
Schiff Post Office.''
    H.R. 3808, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in 
Plymouth, Michigan as the ``Carl D. Pursell Post Office.''
    H.R. 3810, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in 
Garwood, New Jersey as the ``James T. Leonard, Sr. Post 
Office.''
    H.R. 3939, a bill designating a U.S. Postal Service 
building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the ``Edgar C. 
Campbell, Sr. Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 3999, a bill designating a U.S. Postal Service 
building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the David P. 
Richardson, Jr., Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 4516, a bill designating a U.S. Postal building in 
Oxon Hill, Maryland as the ``Jacob Joseph Chestnut Post Office 
Building.''

    Measure Favorably Reported by Committee and Passed by the Senate

S. 1642--Federal Financial Assistance Management Improvement Act of 
        1998
    This bill improves the effectiveness and performance of 
Federal financial assistance programs, simplifies Federal 
financial assistance application and reporting requirements, 
and improves the delivery of services to the public.
    On February 12, 1998, S. 1642 was introduced by Senator 
Glenn along with Chairman Thompson and Senators Levin, 
Lieberman, and Akaka. While still in draft form, the 
legislation was endorsed by the National Governors' 
Association, the National Association of Counties, the National 
Conference of State Legislatures, the National League of 
Cities, and the Council of State Governments. Governor George 
Voinovich (R-OH) and Governor Ben Nelson (D-NE), representing 
the National Governors' Association, testified in favor of the 
legislation during the Committee's hearing on regulatory reform 
on February 24, 1998. (S. Hrg. 105-486) The Committee ordered 
S. 1642 reported favorably without amendment on April 1, 1998. 
A written report was filed on May 22, 1998 (S. Rept. 105-194). 
On October 12, 1998, the bill passed the Senate with an 
amendment by unanimous consent.

               Selected Measures Considered by Committee

S. 207--Corporate Subsidy Reform Commission Act of 1997
    The purpose of S. 207 is to review, reform, and terminate 
unnecessary and inequitable Federal subsidies. The bill creates 
a commission intended to fairly and independently review 
corporate subsidies and make recommendations to the President 
and the Congress for the retention, reform or termination of 
such subsidies.
    On January 28, 1997, S. 207 was introduced in the Senate by 
Senator McCain for himself, Chairman Thompson, and Senators 
Kerry, Feingold, Kennedy, Coats, Glenn, Lieberman, and 
Brownback. On February 13, 1997, the Committee held a hearing 
on S. 207. (S. Hrg. 105-209) On May 22, 1997, the Committee 
reported the bill favorably with amendments. The bill was then 
reported favorably to the Senate by Chairman Thompson with 
amendments and an amendment to the title (S. Rept. 105-107).
S. 261--Biennial Budgeting and Appropriations Act
    S. 261 provides for a biennial budget and appropriations 
process and to enhance oversight and the performance of the 
Federal Government.
    S. 261 was introduced in the Senate on February 4, 1997, by 
Senator Domenici and 24 other Senators, including Chairman 
Thompson and Senators Ford, Snowe, Thomas, Roth, Moynihan, 
Nickles, McCain, and Collins. On April 23, 1997, the Committee 
held a hearing on the bill. (S. Hrg. 105-138) On May 22, 1997, 
the Committee ordered S. 261 to be reported favorably with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute. On September 4, 1997, 
Chairman Thompson reported to the Senate S. 261 with an 
amendment in the nature of a substitute (S. Rept. 105-72).
S. 389--Mandates Information Act of 1997
    S. 389 amends the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 to 
require the Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), 
in preparing estimates of the direct costs of all Federal 
private sector mandates, to estimate also the indirect impact 
of such mandates on consumers, workers, and small businesses, 
including any disproportionate impact in particular regions or 
industries. It also subjects to a point of order any 
legislation for which the CBO Director is unable to determine 
the economic impact of a Federal mandate.
    Senator Abraham introduced S. 389 on March 3, 1997. The 
Committee held hearings on June 3, 1998 (S. Hrg. 105-664) and, 
on July 15, 1998, ordered the bill to be reported favorably 
with amendments. On September 2, 1998, a written report, with 
minority views, was filed (S. Rept. 105-299).
S. 712--Government Secrecy Act of 1997
    In addition to providing for the first time a statutory 
basis for the national security information classification and 
declassification system, S. 712 requires agencies to balance 
the national security interests of the United States with the 
public interest in disclosure of information prior to 
classifying or declassifying information.
    Senator Moynihan and Senator Helms introduced S. 712 on May 
7, 1997, the same day the Committee held a hearing on the 
recommendations of the Commission on Protecting and Reducing 
Government Secrecy, on which the legislation was based. (S. 
Hrg. 105-84) The Committee held a hearing on S. 712 on March 
25, 1998 (S. Hrg. 105-525). On June 17, 1998, the Committee 
considered the legislation at a business meeting, approving by 
unanimous consent an amendment in the nature of a substitute 
and favorably reporting the bill, as amended, by unanimous 
consent. The Committee's report was filed on July 22, 1998 (S. 
Rept. 105-258). Thereafter, negotiations between the bill's 
sponsors, the Committee, and the Administration continued.
S. 981--Regulatory Improvement Act of 1998
    The bill requires agencies to conduct a regulatory analysis 
before issuing a major rule. The regulatory analysis includes: 
(1) a cost-benefit analysis comparing the costs and benefits of 
regulatory alternatives; (2) a risk assessment, if the rule 
addressed an environmental, health or safety risk; and (3) an 
analysis of any substitution risks resulting from the rule. The 
regulatory analysis is subject to independent peer review. S. 
981 also requires a study using comparative risk analysis to 
compare various environmental, health and safety risks and to 
inform agency planning. Finally, the bill establishes a 
statutory requirement for the Office of Information and 
Regulatory Affairs in OMB to systematically review agencies' 
regulatory proposals and to implement the legislation.
    S. 981 was introduced on June 27, 1997 by Senator Levin for 
himself, Chairman Thompson and Senators Glenn, Abraham, Robb, 
Roth, Rockefeller, and Stevens. The Committee held hearings on 
the bill on September 12, 1997, (S. Hrg. 105-335) and February 
24, 1998 (S. Hrg. 105-486). On March 10, 1998, the Committee 
ordered S. 981 reported favorably with an amendment in the 
nature of a substitute by a vote of 8-4. A written report, 
including Minority views, was filed by the Committee on May 11, 
1998 (S. Rept. 105-188).
S. 2228--Advisory Committee Termination and Streamlining Act of 1998
    S. 2228 enhances the efficient use of government resources 
supporting Federal advisory committees and promotes 
congressional oversight by requiring periodic congressional 
reauthorization of statutorily mandated advisory committees. In 
fiscal year 1997, there were 963 advisory committees assisting 
agencies of the Executive Branch. Of these, 422 were mandated 
by law. In fiscal year 1997, it cost the government over $178 
million to operate the 963 advisory committees.
    The bill was introduced on June 25, 1998, by six Members of 
the Committee, Chairman Thompson, Senators Glenn, Cochran, 
Levin, Brownback, and Lieberman. On July 15, 1998, the 
legislation was ordered reported favorably without amendment. 
On September 8, 1998, a written report was filed by the 
Committee (S. Rept. 105-309).

                     VIII. Presidential Nominations

    During the 105th Congress, the Committee received a total 
of 45 Presidential nominations. The following 29 were favorably 
reported by the Committee and confirmed by the Senate:

        David J. Barram, of California, to be Administrator of 
General Services. (Hearing held February 25, 1997)

        Patricia Broderick, of the District of Columbia, to be 
an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of 
Columbia. (Hearing held September 3, 1998)

        Mary Ann Gooden Terrell, of the District of Columbia, 
to be an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District 
of Columbia. (Hearing held October 3, 1996)

        James H. Atkins, of Arkansas, to be a Member of the 
Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board.

        Janice R. Lachance, of Virginia, to be Deputy Director 
of the Office of Personnel Management. (Hearing held July 28, 
1997)

        George A. Omas, of Mississippi, to be a Commissioner of 
the Postal Rate Commission. (Hearing held July 28, 1997)

        Virginia Dale Cabaniss, of Virginia, to be a Member of 
the Federal Labor Relations Authority. (Hearing held November 
4, 1997)

        John MacLaughlin Campbell, of the District of Columbia, 
to be Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of 
Columbia. (Hearing held October 30, 1997)

        Anita Marie Josey, of the District of Columbia, to be 
Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of 
Columbia. (Hearing held October 30, 1997)

        Ernesta Ballard, of Alaska, to be a Governor of the 
U.S. Postal Service. (Hearing held November 4, 1997)

        Susanne T. Marshall, of Virginia, to be a Member of the 
Merit Systems Protection Board. (Hearing held November 4, 1997)

        Elaine D. Kaplan, of the District of Columbia, to be 
Special Counsel in the Office of Special Counsel. (Hearing held 
March 30, 1998)

        Melvin Randolph Wright, of the District of Columbia, to 
be Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of 
Columbia. (Hearing held April 1, 1998)

        Ruth Y. Goldway, of California, to be a Commissioner of 
the Postal Rate Commission. (Hearing held March 30, 1998)

        Deidre A. Lee, of Oklahoma, to be Administrator of the 
Office of Federal Procurement Policy for the Office of 
Management and Budget. (Hearing held April 22, 1998)

        Neal E. Kravitz, of the District of Columbia, to be an 
Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of 
Columbia. (Hearing held September 3, 1998)

        Natalia Combs Greene, of the District of Columbia, to 
be an Associate Judge of the Superior Court of the District of 
Columbia. (Hearing held September 3, 1998)

        Jacob J. Lew, of New York, to be Director of the Office 
of Management and Budget. (Hearing held June 22, 1998)

        Kenneth Prewitt, of New York, to be Director, Bureau of 
the Census. (Hearing held September 17, 1998)

        Sylvia Mathews, of West Virginia, to be Deputy Director 
of the Office of Management and Budget. (Hearing held October 
6, 1998)

        Robert M. (Mike) Walker, of Tennessee, to be Deputy 
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. (Hearing 
held September 17, 1998)

        Gregory H. Friedman, of Maryland, to be Inspector 
General of the Department of Energy. Hearing held by Energy and 
Natural Resources Committee September 18, 1998.

        David C. Williams, of Maryland, to be Inspector 
General, Department of Treasury. (Hearing held July 30, 1998)

        John U. Sepulveda, of New York, to be Deputy Director 
of the Office of Personnel Management. (Hearing held October 2, 
1998)

        Joseph Swerdzewski, of Colorado, to be General Counsel 
of the Federal Labor Relations Authority. (Hearing held October 
2, 1998)

        Eljay Bowron, of Michigan, to be Inspector General, 
Department of the Interior. Hearing held by Energy and Natural 
Resources Committee October 1, 1998.

        Dana Bruce Covington, Sr., of Mississippi, to be a 
Commissioner of the Postal Rate Commission. (Hearing held 
October 7, 1998)

        Edward Jay Gleiman, of Maryland, to be a Commissioner 
of the Postal Rate Commission. (Hearing held October 7, 1998)

        David M. Walker, of Georgia, to be Comptroller General 
of the United States. (Hearing held October 7, 1998)

    There were two nominations in which the Committee was 
discharged with the concurrence of the Committee and the 
nominations confirmed by the Senate. They are as follows:

        Janice R. Lachance, of Virginia, to be Director of the 
Office of Personnel Management. (Hearing held July 28, 1997)

        Nikki Tinsley, of Maryland, to be Inspector General for 
the Environmental Protection Agency. Hearing held by 
Environment and Public Works Committee July 15, 1998.

    Eight nominations were not acted upon by the Committee 
because the Board for which they were nominated was slated for 
termination. The White House, subsequent to the adjournment of 
the first session of Congress, decided to move forward 
nevertheless on the nominations and made recess appointments. 
They are as follows:


        Leo K. Goto, of Colorado, to be a Member of the Board 
of Directors of the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund.

        Don T. Nakanishi, of California, to be a Member of the 
Board of Directors of the Civil Liberties Public Education 
Fund.

        Peggy A. Nagae, of Oregon, to be a Member of the Board 
of Directors of the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund.

        Dale Minami, of California, to be a Member of the Board 
of Directors of the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund.

        Yeiichi Kuwayama, of the District of Columbia, to be a 
Member of the Board of Directors of the Civil Liberties Public 
Education Fund.

        Elsa H. Kudo, of Hawaii, to be a Member of the Board of 
Directors of the Civil Liberties Public Education Fund.

        Robert F. Drinan, of Massachusetts, to be a Member of 
the Board of Directors of the Civil Liberties Public Education 
Fund.

        Susan Hayase, of California, to be a Member of the 
Board of Directors of the Civil Liberties Public Education 
Fund.

    Another nomination was not acted upon by the Senate and was 
recessed appointed, as follows:

        James B. King, of Massachusetts, to be Director of the 
Office of Personnel Management (Mr. King was nominated for a 
second term as Director of OPM on March 6, 1997, two weeks 
before the Senate's spring recess. His original term of 4 years 
was to expire on April 2, 1997. Senator Cochran scheduled a 
hearing on this nomination for April 7, 1997, the Tuesday 
immediately following the recess. Despite the scheduling of 
this nomination hearing and the Committee's request to the 
White House that it follow the regular confirmation process, 
the President gave Mr. King a recess appointment on April 6, 
1997. At the hearing the next day (April 7, 1997), Senator 
Cochran expressed Chairman Thompson's view that the Committee 
would take no further action on the nomination for the 
foreseeable future).

    One nomination was favorably reported by the Committee, not 
confirmed by the Senate and recess appointed with the 
concurrence of the Committee. It is as follows:

        G. Edward DeSeve, of Pennsylvania, to be Deputy 
Director for Management of the Office of Management and Budget. 
(Hearing held April 22, 1998).

    Three nominations failed confirmation under paragraph 6 of 
rule XXXI of the Standing Rules of the Senate, as follows:

        Denis J. Hauptly, of Minnesota, to be Chairman of the 
Special Panel on Appeals.

        Emilio W. Cividanes, of the District of Columbia, to be 
an Associate Judge of the District of Columbia Court of 
Appeals.

        John F. Walsh, of Connecticut, to be Governor of the 
U.S. Postal Service.

    One nomination was withdrawn by the White House, as 
follows:

        James Hudson Bailey, of Wisconsin, to be Deputy 
Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

                  IX. ACTIVITIES OF THE SUBCOMMITTEES

      INTERNATIONAL SECURITY, PROLIFERATION, AND FEDERAL SERVICES 
                              SUBCOMMITTEE

                         Chairman: Thad Cochran

                  Ranking Minority Member: Carl Levin

                              I. Hearings

    The Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, 
and Federal Services held the following hearings during the 
105th Congress:

The Future of Nuclear Deterrence (February 12, 1997)
    The Subcommittee explored the future role of nuclear 
weapons in America's national security strategy.
    Witnesses: Hon. Walter B. Slocombe, Under Secretary of 
Defense for Policy, DOD; Gen. Andrew J. Goodpaster, USA (Ret.), 
Co-Chair, The Atlantic Council of the United States; and Hon. 
Richard Perle, Resident Fellow, American Enterprise Institute.
National Missile Defense and Prospects for U.S.-Russian ABM Treaty 
        Accommodation (March 13, 1997)
    The Subcommittee reviewed a new study by the National 
Institute for Public Policy regarding the potential for U.S.-
Russian cooperation on missile defense and the ABM treaty.
    Witnesses: Ambassador Max Kampelman, Vice-Chairman, United 
States Institute of Peace; Dr. Keith Payne, President, National 
Institute for Public Policy; and Dr. Andrei Kortunov, 
President, Moscow Public Science Foundation.
Proliferation: Chinese Case Studies (April 10, 1997)
    The Subcommittee examined cases of Chinese weapons 
proliferation, including weapons of mass destruction components 
and technologies, missile delivery systems, advanced 
conventional munitions, and related technologies.
    Witnesses: Robert Einhorn, Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Nonproliferation, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, 
Department of State; Ambassador James Lilley, Director, 
Institute for Global Chinese Affairs of the University of 
Maryland; and Gary Milhollin, Director, Wisconsin Project on 
Nuclear Arms Control.
Proliferation: Chinese Case Studies, Part II (April 17, 1997)
    The Subcommittee held a closed hearing as a follow-up to 
its April 10, 1997 hearing on Chinese proliferation.
    Witness: Dr. Gordon Oehler, Special Assistant to the 
Director of Central Intelligence for Nonproliferation, and 
Director, DCI's Nonproliferation Center.
National Missile Defense and the ABM Treaty (May 1, 1997)
    The Subcommittee examined the relationship between the 
Administration's proposed ``3+3'' National Missile Defense plan 
and the ABM Treaty.
    Witness: John D. Holum, Director, Arms Control and 
Disarmament Agency.
Proliferation: Russian Case Studies (June 5, 1997)
    The Subcommittee explored cases of Russian weapons 
proliferation, focusing on Russia's exports of weapons of mass 
destruction components and technologies and missile delivery 
systems to various countries, including Iran, Iraq, and India.
    Witnesses: Robert Einhorn, Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Nonproliferation, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, 
Department of State; Dr. William C. Potter, Director, Center 
for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute for 
International Studies; and Dr. Richard H. Speier, Independent 
Consultant.
Proliferation and U.S. Export Controls (June 11, 1997)
    The Subcommittee examined the role of the United States in 
assisting such countries as Russia and China to develop weapons 
of mass destruction and their delivery systems through the 
transfer of dual-use items, focusing particularly on the 
administration's policy of loosening export control 
restrictions on supercomputers.
    Witnesses: William Reinsch, Under Secretary for Export 
Administration, Department of Commerce; Dr. Mitchell 
Wallerstein, Deputy Assistant Secretary for 
Counterproliferation, Department of Defense; Dr. Stephen Bryen, 
President, Delta Tech; and Dr. William Schneider, Fellow, 
Hudson Institute.
The Compliance Review Process and Missile Defense (July 21, 1997)
    The Subcommittee examined the process by which the United 
States determines whether its missile defense systems comply 
with the obligations of international treaties.
    Witness: Dr. Kent Stansberry, Deputy Director, Arms Control 
Implementation and Compliance, Office of the Secretary of 
Defense (Acquisition and Technology).
Missile Proliferation in the Information Age (September 22, 1997)
    The Subcommittee examined the widespread availability and 
increasing accessibility of information and materials that 
support the development of ballistic missile systems in foreign 
countries.
    Witnesses: Dr. William R. Graham, former Science Advisor to 
President Reagan and former Deputy Administrator of NASA; and 
Dr. W. Seth Carus, Visiting Fellow, National Defense 
University.
    Written Testimony: General Bernard A. Schriever, U.S. Air 
Force (retired), former Commander of Air Force Systems Command.
North Korean Missile Proliferation (October 21, 1997)
    The Subcommittee examined the role of North Korea as an 
international supplier of ballistic missiles and related 
technologies.
    Witnesses: Colonel Joo-hwal Choi, former official of the 
Ministry of the People's Army, North Korea; and Young-hwan Ko, 
former official of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, North 
Korea. Information provided for the record by Robert Einhorn, 
Deputy Assistant Secretary for Nonproliferation, Bureau of 
Political-Military Affairs, Department of State.
The Safety and Reliability of the U.S. Nuclear Deterrent (October 27, 
        1997)
    The Subcommittee examined how the administration plans to 
maintain the safety and reliability of the nuclear stockpile in 
the absence of nuclear testing.
    Witnesses: Dr. James R. Schlesinger, former Secretary of 
Defense, former Secretary of Energy, and former Director of 
Central Intelligence; Dr. Vic Reis, Assistant Secretary of 
Energy for Defense Programs; and Dr. Robert B. Barker, 
Assistant to the Director, Lawrence Livermore National 
Laboratory.
The Annual Report of the Postmaster General (November 3, 1997)
    The Subcommittee examined the Postal Service's financial 
status, proposed postage rate increases, levels of productivity 
and quality of customer service.
    Witness: Hon. Marvin Runyon, Postmaster General and Chief 
Executive Officer of the U.S. Postal Service.
Merit System Protection Act of 1997 (February 26, 1998)
    The Subcommittee examined S. 1495.
    Witnesses: Lorraine Lewis, General Counsel, OPM; David M. 
Cohen, Director Commercial Litigation Branch, Civil Division, 
Department of Justice; Robert Tobias, National President, 
National Treasury Employees Union; and Mark Roth, General 
Counsel, American Federation of Government Employees, AFL-CIO.
The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and Nuclear Nonproliferation (March 
        18, 1998)
    The Subcommittee explored the relationship between the 
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty and the spread of nuclear 
weapons.
    Witnesses: John Holum, Acting Under Secretary of State and 
Director, Arms Control and Disarmament Agency; Spurgeon Keeny, 
Director, Arms Control Association; and Dr. Kathleen Bailey, 
Senior Fellow, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
Retirement Coverage Error Correction Act of 1998 (May 13, 1998)
    The Subcommittee examined S. 1710.
    Witnesses: William E. Flynn, Associate Director for 
Retirement and Insurance, U.S. Office of Personnel Management; 
Hon. Roger W. Mehle, Executive Director, Federal Retirement 
Thrift Investment Board; Dallas Salisbury, President, Employee 
Benefit Research Institute; and Daniel F. Geisler, President, 
American Foreign Service Association.
The Benefits of Commercial Space Launch for Foreign ICBM and Satellite 
        Programs (May 21, 1998)
    The Subcommittee examined how a foreign country's satellite 
and ICBM programs could benefit from launching U.S. commercial 
satellites, and whether the administration's export control 
policy is adequate to prevent technology transfers that 
endanger America.
    Witnesses: Dr. William R. Graham, President, National 
Security Research, Inc.; John Pike, Federation of American 
Scientists; and Dr. William Schneider, Fellow, Hudson 
Institute.
International Postal Services Act of 1998 (June 2, 1998)
    The Subcommittee examined S. 2082.
    Witnesses: William J. Henderson, Postmaster General, U.S. 
Postal Service; Einar V. Dyhrkopp, Vice Chairman of the Board, 
U.S. Postal Service Board of Governors; Christopher McCormick, 
Senior Vice President of Advertising and Direct Marketing, L.L. 
Bean, Inc.; Fred Smith, Chairman, FDX Corporation; and James P. 
Kelly, Chairman and CEO, United Parcel Service.
The Adequacy of Commerce Department Satellite Export Controls, Part 1 
        (June 18, 1998)
    The Subcommittee held a hearing to determine whether the 
current Commerce Department-administered export control system 
for commercial satellites is sufficient to prevent technology 
transfer harmful to U.S. National Security.
    Witnesses: William Reinsch, Under Secretary for Export 
Administration, Department of Commerce; Jan M. Lodal, Principal 
Deputy Under Secretary for Policy, Department of Defense; and 
John D. Holum, Acting Under Secretary of State for Arms Control 
and International Security Affairs.
The Adequacy of Commerce Department Satellite Export Controls, Part 2 
        (July 8, 1998)
    The Subcommittee continued its previous hearing to 
determine whether the current Commerce Department-administered 
export control system for commercial satellites is sufficient 
to prevent technology transfer harmful to U.S. National 
Security.
    Witnesses: William Reinsch, Under Secretary for Export 
Administration, Department of Commerce; John D. Holum, Acting 
Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International 
Security Affairs; and Frank W. Miller, Principal Deputy 
Assistant Secretary, Department of Defense.
An Industry View of the Satellite Export Licensing Process (July 29, 
        1998)
    The Subcommittee examined the aerospace industry's 
perspective on the Commerce Department-administered export 
control system for commercial satellites.
    Witnesses: C. Michael Armstrong, Chairman and CEO, AT&T and 
Chairman, President's Export Council; and Steven D. Dorfman, 
Vice Chairman, Hughes Electronics Corporation.
Use of Mass Mail to Defraud Consumers (September 1, 1998)
    The Subcommittee examined the use of mass mail to defraud 
consumers, to include sweepstakes and government look-a-like 
mail.
    Witnesses: Hon. Ben Nighthorse Campbell, U.S. Senator; Ken 
Hunter, Chief Inspector, U.S. Postal Inspection Service; Hon. 
Robert A. Butterworth, Attorney General, State of Florida; 
Stanley Pruss, Assistant Attorney General, State of Michigan; 
Richard A. Barton, Senior Vice President, Direct Marketing 
Association Inc.; and William E. Arnold, Ph.D., Director of 
Gerontology, Arizona State University.
GAO Report on High Performance Computers (September 16, 1998)
    The Subcommittee examined a report prepared by the General 
Accounting Office on the administration's rationale for 
liberalizing export controls on high performance computers.
    Witnesses: Harold J. Johnson, Associate Director, 
International Relations and Trade Issues, General Accounting 
Office; and William Reinsch, Under Secretary for Export 
Administration, Department of Commerce.
Annual Report of the Postmaster General (October 1, 1998)
    The Subcommittee held its annual postal oversight hearing 
to give Hon. William J. Henderson, the Postmaster General, the 
opportunity to report publicly on the state of the U.S. Postal 
Service.
    Witness: Hon. William J. Henderson, Postmaster General, 
U.S. Postal Service.

                            II. Legislation

    1. The following is a list of selected measures which were 
considered by the Subcommittee on International Security, 
Proliferation, and Federal Services and became public laws:

    S. 916, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office building in 
Taylorsville, Mississippi as the ``Blaine H. Eaton Post Office 
Building'' (Public Law 105-161).
    S. 985, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in Paterson, 
New Jersey as the ``Larry Doby Post Office'' (Public Law 105-
162).
    H.R. 282, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office building in 
New York, New York, as the ``Oscar Garcia Rivera Post Office 
Building'' (Public Law 105-87).
    H.R. 499, a bill designating the facility of the U.S. Post 
Office in San Antonio, Texas as the ``Frank M. Tejeda Post 
Office Building'' (Public Law 105-4).
    H.R. 681, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office building in 
Glendale, California as the ``Carlos J. Moorhead Post Office 
Building'' (Public Law 105-88).
    H.R. 1057, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office building 
in Indianapolis, Indiana as the ``Andrew Jacobs, Jr. Post 
Office Building'' (Public Law 105-90).
    H.R. 1058, a bill designating the facility of the U.S. 
Postal Service in Terre Haute, Indiana as the ``John T. Myers 
Post Office Building'' (Public Law 105-91).
    H.R. 1254, (see also S. 595) a bill designating a U.S. Post 
Office building in Springfield, Missouri as the ``John N. 
Griesemer Post Office Building'' (Public Law 105-131).
    H.R. 1316, to amend chapter 87 of Title 5, United States 
Code, with respect to the order of precedence to be applied in 
the payment of life insurance benefits (Public Law 105-205).
    H.R. 1836, the Federal Employees Health Care Protection Act 
of 1998, to amend chapter 89 of title 5, United States Code, to 
improve the administration of the Federal Employees Health 
Benefits Program (Public Law 105-266).
    H.R. 2013, a bill designating the facility of the U.S. 
Postal Service in South Kingstown, Rhode Island, as the ``David 
B. Champagne Post Office Building'' (Public Law 105-70).
    H.R. 2129, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in 
Steubenville, Ohio as the ``Douglas Applegate Post Office'' 
(Public Law 105-97).
    H.R. 2564, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in 
Pottsville, Pennsylvania as the ``Peter J. McCloskey Postal 
Facility'' (Public Law 105-99).
    H.R. 2675, the Federal Employees Life Insurance Improvement 
Act, a bill to improve the structure and administration of the 
Federal Employees Group Life Insurance Program (Public Law 105-
311).
    H.R. 3096, a bill to correct a provision relating to 
termination of benefits for convicted persons under the Federal 
Employees' Compensation Act, the workers' compensation statute 
covering Federal employees (Public Law 105-247).

    The following bills were enacted as part of the Omnibus 
Consolidated and Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Act for 
Fiscal Year 1999 (Public Law 105-277):

    S. 2310, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in East 
Northport, New York as the ``Jerome Anthony Ambro, Jr. Post 
Office Building.''
    S. 2370, a bill designating the facility of the U.S. Postal 
Service in Thomasville, Georgia as the ``Lieutenant Henry O. 
Flipper Station.''
    S. 2404, a bill establishing designations for five U.S. 
Postal Service buildings in Coconut Grove, Opa Locka, Carol 
City, and Miami, Florida.
    H.R. 2623, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in Kiln, 
Mississippi as the ``Ray J. Favre Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 2766, a bill designating the facility of the U.S. 
Postal Service in Chicago, Illinois as the ``Karl Bernal Post 
Office Building.''
    H.R. 2773, a bill designating the facility of the U.S. 
Postal Service in Chicago, Illinois as the ``Daniel J. Doffyn 
Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 2798, a bill redesignating a U.S. Postal Service 
building in Chicago, Illinois as the ``Nancy B. Jefferson Post 
Office Building.''
    H.R. 2799, a bill redesignating a U.S. Postal Service 
building as the ``Reverend Milton R. Brunson Post Office 
Building.''
    H.R. 2836, (see also S. 1640) a bill designating a U.S. 
Postal Service building in St. Paul, Minnesota as the ``Eugene 
J. McCarthy Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 3120, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in Provo, 
Utah as the ``Howard C. Nielson Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 3630, a bill redesignating a facility of the U.S. 
Postal Service in Albuquerque, New Mexico as the ``Steven 
Schiff Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 3808, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in 
Plymouth, Michigan as the ``Carl D. Pursell Post Office 
Building.''
    H.R. 3810, a bill designating a U.S. Post Office in 
Garwood, New Jersey as the ``James T. Leonard, Sr. Post Office 
Building.''
    H.R. 3939, a bill designating a U.S. Postal Service 
building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the ``Edgar C. 
Campbell, Sr. Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 3999, a bill designating a U.S. Postal Service 
building in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as the ``David P. 
Richardson, Jr., Post Office Building.''
    H.R. 4516, a bill designating a U.S. Postal Facility in 
Oxon Hill, Maryland as the ``Jacob Joseph Chestnut Post Office 
Building.''

    2. The following bill was reported favorably by polling 
letter from the Subcommittee on International Security, 
Proliferation, and Federal Services but did not pass the 
Senate:

    S. 336, a bill to convert certain excepted service 
positions in the U.S. Fire Administration to competitive 
service positions. On November 5, 1997, the full Committee 
ordered the bill reported favorably without amendment, and on 
November 6, 1997, the bill was reported without written report.

    3. The investigation and oversight hearings of the 
Subcommittee on International Security, Proliferation, and 
Federal Services regarding international security and 
proliferation issues contributed greatly to the development of 
the following legislative initiatives:
Amendment relating to high performance computer export regulations to 
        the Fiscal Years 1998 and 1999 National Defense Authorization 
        Act (Public Law 105-85)
    This amendment was offered on June 19, 1997, by Senator 
Cochran for himself and Senators Durbin, Abraham, Hutchinson, 
Thurmond, Lugar, Smith (Bob), Kyl, Coverdell, Sessions, Inhofe, 
and Collins. It strengthened high performance computer export 
regulations by requiring exporters to notify the Department of 
Commerce of any planned sales of computers with performance 
levels greater than 2,000 MTOPS to tier three countries and 
requiring the Department of Commerce to perform post-shipment 
verification on all high performance computer exports with 
performance levels greater than 2,000 MTOPS to tier three 
countries. The amendment was agreed to by the Senate by voice 
vote and included in the final conference report on the bill.
S. 1873--The American Missile Protection Act of 1998
    This bill, introduced by Senator Cochran and 38 other 
Senators, including Chairman Thompson and Senators Inouye, 
Hollings, Lott, Thurmond, Stevens, Helms, Warner, Nickles, 
Domenici, Craig, Inhofe, Murkowski, Shelby, Bond, Frist, 
Abraham, McCain, and Snowe, on March 27, 1998, would make it 
``the policy of the United States to deploy as soon as 
technologically possible an effective National Missile Defense 
system capable of defending the territory of the United States 
against limited ballistic missile attack (whether accidental, 
unauthorized, or deliberate).'' It was referred to the Senate 
Committee on Armed Services and favorably reported to the 
Senate on April 24, 1998. A motion to proceed to consideration 
of the measure was made on May 11, 1998, and this motion was 
filibustered. On May 13, 1998, by a Yea-Nay Vote of 59-41, 
cloture on the motion to proceed was not invoked in the Senate. 
A second motion to proceed to consideration of the bill was 
made on September 3, 1998, and again, by a Yea-Nay Vote of 59-
41, cloture on the motion to proceed was not invoked in the 
Senate.
Legislation relating to satellite export regulations
    As part of the Fiscal Year 1999 National Defense 
Authorization Act, export licensing for commercial 
communications satellites was moved from the Commerce 
Department to the State Department, thus reversing the Clinton 
Administration's 1996 decision.

             III. Report, Committee Print, and GAO Reports

    1. The Proliferation Primer. In January 1998, the Majority 
Members of the Subcommittee issued a paper which described an 
investigation of the actions of the principal suppliers of 
technology and components for weapons of mass destruction, 
missile delivery systems, and key enabling technologies such as 
supercomputers. The paper also examined the increasing 
availability of ballistic missile technology and expertise in 
the information age, as well as the Clinton Administration's 
response to the proliferation threat. The Primer was based on 
11 hearings held by the Subcommittee in 1997.

    2. Compilation of Hearings on National Security Issues. (S. 
Prt. 105-50)

    3. The following reports were issued by the General 
Accounting Office (GAO) at the request of the Chairman and/or 
Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on International Security, 
Proliferation, and Federal Services:

    Export Controls: Information on the Decision to Revise High 
Performance Computer Controls, GAO--NSIAD-98-196 (September 
1998)
    Export Controls: Changes in Controls Applied to the Export 
of High Performance Computers, GAO--T-NSIAD-98-250 (September 
1998)
    Proposed Legislation: Issues Related to Honesty in 
Sweepstakes Act of 1998 (S. 2141), GAO--T-GGD-98-198 (September 
1998)
    Comparison of Foreign Lobbying Registrations, GAO--GGD-98-
129R (May 1998)
    Comparison of Lobbyists' Registrations, GAO--GGD-98-105R 
(April 1998)
    Information on States' Lobbying Disclosure Requirements, 
GAO--GGD-97-95R (May 1997)

                  OVERSIGHT OF GOVERNMENT MANAGEMENT,

        RESTRUCTURING, AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SUBCOMMITTEE

                        Chairman: Sam Brownback

              Ranking Minority Member: Joseph I. Lieberman

                              I. Hearings

    The Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, 
Restructuring, and the District of Columbia held the following 
hearings during the 105th Congress:

1. Federal Tax Policy for the District of Columbia (March 6, 1997)
    This hearing marked the first of many that the Subcommittee 
held to examine a comprehensive package of incentive-based 
policies such as enterprise zones, tax policy, improved public 
safety, education and welfare reform. This particular hearing 
focused on changing Federal tax policies to provide incentives 
for certain economic activities in the District. The goal of 
the hearing was to highlight different Federal tax policy ideas 
that would empower the District of Columbia Government and 
revive the local economy.
    Witnesses: Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton, U.S. Representative 
from the District of Columbia; Marion Barry, Mayor of the 
District of Columbia; Jack Kemp, Co-Director, Empower America; 
Daniel J. Mitchell, McKenna Senior Fellow in Political Economy, 
The Heritage Foundation; and William A. Niskanen, Chairman, 
Cato Institute.
2. Overview of Management Issues for the Department of Commerce (March 
        10, 1997)
    This hearing was the first in a series regarding management 
issues in the Department of Commerce. The hearing focussed on 
concerns raised by the Inspector General's Office, Congress, 
the General Accounting Office, and the National Performance 
Review with regard to the management of the Department of 
Commerce. Of particular concern were questions raised in regard 
to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) 
corps and the NOAA fleet. Even after the Department of Commerce 
had received directives regarding the fleet from a number of 
different entities, little or no progress had been demonstrated 
in solving the areas of concern.
    Witnesses: Frank DeGeorge, Inspector General, U.S. 
Department of Commerce; and Raymond G. Kammer, Jr., Acting 
Chief Financial Officer and Assistant Secretary for 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
3. Successes in Urban Problem-Solving, Mayoral Perspectives (March 11, 
        1997)
    This was a joint hearing held by the Subcommittee in 
conjunction with the House Subcommittee on the District of 
Columbia of the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, 
the House Subcommittee on the District of Columbia of the 
Committee on Appropriations, and the Senate Subcommittee on the 
District of Columbia of the Committee on Appropriations. The 
purpose of the hearing was to explore how other cities have 
successfully dealt with a variety of problems similar to those 
faced by the District of Columbia. Mayors from around the 
country testified as to how their cities addressed the 
challenges of economic development, educational quality, 
infrastructure improvement, public safety and general 
governmental efficiency.
    Witnesses: Patrick McCrory, Mayor, Charlotte, NC; Susan 
Golding, Mayor, San Diego, CA; Stephen Goldsmith, Mayor, 
Indianapolis, IN; Knox H. White, Mayor, Greenville, SC; and 
Edward G. Rendell, Mayor, Philadelphia, PA.
4. White House Proposal for the District of Columbia (March 13, 1997)
    This was a joint informational hearing held with the House 
Subcommittee on the District of Columbia of the Committee on 
Government Reform and Oversight. The hearing reviewed the 
President's National Capital Revitalization and Self-Government 
Improvement Plan which outlined the terms for the transfer of 
many city functions to the Federal Government. The 
Subcommittees heard the testimony of the Mayor, financial 
control board members, D.C. Council members and city 
administrators as to how the plan would affect the District of 
Columbia. On August 5, 1997, the National Capital 
Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Act of 1997 was 
enacted as part of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (Public Law 
105-33).
    Witnesses: Marion Barry, Jr., Mayor, Washington, D.C.; 
Charlene Drew Jarvis, Chairwoman, Pro Tempore, Washington, D.C. 
City Council; Andrew Brimmer, Chairman, District of Columbia 
Financial Responsibility Management and Assistance Authority; 
and Anthony Williams, Chief Financial Officer, Washington, D.C.
5. The Role of the Department of Commerce in the U.S. Trade Policy, 
        Promotion and Regulation, and Opportunities for Reform and 
        Consolidation (March 20, 1997)
    This hearing was the second in a series on the Department 
of Commerce. The first hearing focused on management issues and 
problems that existed at the Department of Commerce; this 
hearing focused on the role of the Department of Commerce in 
international trade policy and promotion. The hearing was 
comprised of three panels, the first of which discussed a 
proposed plan for consolidating the trade promotion and the 
trade policy making within the Federal Government. The second 
panel addressed the overall trade policy and promotion 
structure within the Federal Government and the third panel 
represented the Department of Commerce with respect to 
international trade.
    Witnesses: Hon. John L. Mica, Representative in Congress 
from the State of Florida; Hon. Rick White, Representative in 
Congress from the State of Washington; Professor William H. 
Lash III, Director of the Law and Economics Center, and 
Associate Dean, George Mason University School of Law; Edward 
L. Hudgins, Director of Regulatory Studies, Cato Institute; 
Edward J. Black, President, Computer and Communications 
Industry Association; and Timothy J. Hauser, Deputy Under 
Secretary, International Trade Administration, Department of 
Commerce.
6. Role of the Department of Commerce in Federal Statistical Gathering, 
        Analysis and Dissemination, and Opportunities for Reform and 
        Consolidation (April 9, 1997)
    This hearing was the third in a series on the Department of 
Commerce. The focus of this hearing was the statistical 
gathering functions of the Federal Government and legislation 
to create a commission to study the consolidation of these 
agencies (S. 1404, ``The Federal Statistical Systems Act of 
1998''). The Subcommittee looked at the lack of efficiency of 
statistical gathering in the United States where 89 different 
government organizations are involved in the collection of 
information at a cost of $3 billion annually. The goal of the 
hearing was to address possibilities for reform and 
consolidation in the Federal Government's gathering, analysis, 
and dissemination of statistical information.
    Witnesses: Hon. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, U.S. Senator from 
the State of New York; Hon. Stephen Horn, Representative in 
Congress from the State of California; Vincent P. Barabba, 
General Motors Corporate Strategy and Knowledge Department; 
Janet Norwood, Senior Fellow, The Urban Institute; Maurine A. 
Haver, Chair, Statistics Committee, National Association of 
Business Economists; Leonard Nakamura, Economic Adviser, 
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia; and L. Nye Stevens, 
Director, Federal Management and Workforce Issues, General 
Government Division, U.S. General Accounting Office.
7. Government and Television: Improving Programming Without Censorship 
        (April 16 and May 8, 1997)
    This hearing addressed the issue of television violence and 
the role of the Federal Government. The Subcommittee examined 
what the Federal Government could do about the negative impact 
that violent television has on children, without engaging in 
censorship or imposing government standards on the broadcast 
industry. The goal of the hearing was to discuss ways that the 
Federal Government could have a positive influence on the 
television debate, for example, by removing perceived barriers, 
either real or artificial, to the creation of voluntary 
programming guidelines by the industry.
    Witnesses: (April 16, 1997) Hon. Mike DeWine, U.S. Senator 
from the State of Ohio; Dale Kunkel, Ph.D., Associate 
Professor, Department of Communications, University of 
California-Santa Barbara; Jeffery I. Cole, Director, UCLA 
Center for Communication Policy; Helen K. Liebowitz, Member, 
National PTA Board of Directors; Witney G. Vanderwerff, Ph.D., 
Executive Director, National Alliance for Non-Violent 
Programming; Michael Brody, M.D., American Academy of Child and 
Adolescent Psychiatry Media Committee; and David Walsh, Ph.D., 
Executive Director, National Institute on Media and the Family.
    Witnesses: (May 8, 1997) L. Brent Bozell, III, Chairman, 
Media Research Center; David Murray, Director of Research, 
Statistical Assessment Service; Jane Brown, Professor, 
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill School of Journalism 
and Mass Communication; Laurie Lee Humphries, M.D., Professor, 
Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Department, University of 
Kentucky College of Medicine; Mary Anne Layden, Director of 
Education, University of Pennsylvania, Center for Cognitive 
Therapy; Sarah S. Brown, Director, National Campaign to Prevent 
Teen Pregnancy; and Elayne Bennett, President and Founder, Best 
Friends Foundation, accompanied by Sue Lei, School Without 
Walls, Whitney Brown, and Nefertina Frances, from Amidon.
8. Improvement Opportunities for the Public Schools in the District of 
        Columbia (April 17, 1997)
    This hearing focussed on public education in the District 
of Columbia--solutions for poor performance, how to increase 
school safety and student well being, stopping material 
shortages in the schools, and alleviating the school district's 
crumbling infrastructure. The hearing also focused on ways to 
help students improve their below-average test scores on the 
Comprehensive Basic Skill Test.
    Witnesses: General Julius W. Becton, Jr., Chief Executive 
Officer, District of Columbia Public Schools; Dr. Bruce 
MacLaury, Chairman, Emergency Transition Education Board of 
Trustees; Hon. Lamar Alexander, Former U.S. Secretary of 
Education; Hon. Ed Koch, Former Mayor of New York City; Dr. Jay 
P. Greene, University of Houston, Author of ``The Effectiveness 
of School Choice in Milwaukee: A Secondary Analysis of Data 
from the Program's Evaluation''; Jeanne Allen, President, The 
Center for Education Reform; Kathleen Sylvester, Vice President 
of Domestic Policy, Progressive Policy Institute; Kevin 
Chavous, D.C. Councilmember, Chairman, Committee on Education, 
Libraries and Recreation; and Mark Roberts, Parent of Students 
in District of Columbia Public Schools.
9. Opportunities for Management Reforms at the National Oceanic and 
        Atmospheric Administration (April 24, 1997)
    This hearing was the fourth in a series on the Department 
of Commerce. The purpose for the hearing was to look at the 
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, NOAA. More 
specifically the hearing addressed issues concerning the 
Federal surveying and mapping, the NOAA fleet, and the National 
Weather Service. The goal of the hearing was to determine 
whether or not NOAA performs functions that could be more 
efficiently handled by the private sector or consolidated 
elsewhere within the government. Other issues that were raised 
pertained to the competition between more than 100 private 
companies and the National Weather Service, as well as issues 
regarding the aging NOAA fleet.
    Witnesses: Diana Josephson, Deputy Under Secretary for 
Oceans and Atmosphere, National Oceanic and Atmospheric 
Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce, accompanied by 
Admiral William Stubblefield, Director, NOAA Corps, and John 
Carey, Associate Deputy Under Secretary for Oceans and 
Atmosphere; Brian Logan, President, Photo Science, Inc., 
accompanied by John Palatiello, Executive Director, Management 
Association for Private Photogrammetric Surveyors; Kenneth S. 
Johnson, Chairman, University-National Oceanographic Laboratory 
System; and Joel Myers, President, AccuWeather, Inc.; Joel 
Willemssen, Director, Information Resources Management, 
Accounting and Information Management Division, U.S. General 
Accounting Office, accompanied by Keith Rhodes, Technical 
Director, Office of Chief Scientist, U.S. General Accounting 
Office.
10. Fighting Crime and Violence in the District of Columbia: Capital 
        Punishment as a Deterrent (April 30, 1997)
    This oversight hearing examined legislation introduced by 
Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison, S. 294, entitled ``Officer Brian 
Gibson District of Columbia Police Protection Act.'' The 
proposed bill would protect District of Columbia police 
officers with the same death penalty laws that apply to Federal 
law enforcement officers. The Subcommittee also looked at other 
new mechanisms to reduce the District's crime rate--
particularly crime towards police officers--including an 
increase in the penalties for committing crime. The bill was 
reported out of Committee favorably and without amendments on 
November 5, 1997.
    Witnesses: Hon. Kay Bailey Hutchison, U.S. Senator from the 
State of Texas; Tracie Gibson, widow of District of Columbia 
Officer Brian Gibson; Stephen D. Harlan, Vice Chairman, 
District of Columbia Financial Responsibility and Management 
Assistance Authority; Gary Mather, Senior Vice President, Booz-
Allen and Hamilton, Inc., accompanied by James Stewart, 
Principal, Booz-Allen and Hamilton, Inc.; Larry Soulsby, Chief 
of Police, District of Columbia Police Department; Hon. Eugene 
N. Hamilton, Chief Judge, Superior Court of the District of 
Columbia; Robert Moffit, Deputy Director for Domestic Policy 
Studies, The Heritage Foundation; C. Stephen Wallis, 
Washington, D.C. Area School Administrator; Carol Schwartz, 
District of Columbia City Council Member; and Rev. H. Beecher 
Hicks, Jr., Senior Minister, Metropolitan Baptist Church.
11. The President's Proposal and Alternative Approaches for the 
        District of Columbia (May 13, 1997)
    The hearing focused on President Clinton's National Capital 
Revitalization and Self-Government Improvement Plan, as well as 
the city's reaction to it. The administration's plan 
recommended reordering the relationship between the District of 
Columbia and the Federal Government with a goal of putting the 
city on firmer financial ground and returning home rule. The 
plan provided for the Federal Government's assumption of over 
$4 billion of the District of Columbia's operating costs over 5 
years, saving the city nearly $700 million over the same 
period. The plan also offered over $1 billion for economic 
development.
    Witnesses: Hon. G. Edward DeSeve, Controller, Office of 
Financial Management, U.S. Office of Management and Budget; 
Marion Barry, Mayor, District of Columbia; and Linda W. Cropp, 
Acting Chair, District of Columbia City Council.
12. Department of Commerce's Technology Grant Programs (June 3, 1997)
    This hearing was the fifth in a series on the Department of 
Commerce, it looked at technology grants administered by the 
Department, primarily the Advanced Technology Program (ATP). 
This program provides hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars 
each year to industrial giants such as GE and IBM. While some 
people viewed these subsidies as critical to American 
competitiveness in the global marketplace, others saw them as 
wasteful corporate subsidies. The cost of the ATP program was 
$10 million in 1990 and had grown to $225 million by 1997.
    Witnesses: Mary Lowe Good, Under Secretary for Technology, 
Technology Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce; Robert 
M. White, University Professor, Carnegie Mellon University; Tim 
Draper, Managing Director, Draper Fisher Associates; T.J. 
Rodgers, President and Chief Executive Officer, Cypress 
Semiconductor Corporation; Stephen Moore, Director of Fiscal 
Policy Studied, Cato Institute; and Dwight D. Carlson, Vice 
Chairman, Perceptron, Incorporated.
13. S. 314--Freedom from Government Competition Act (June 18, 1997)
    This hearing was the first in a series to investigate the 
opportunities for greater competitive contracting within the 
Federal Government as well as other privatization projects at 
the national level. While most prominent privatization 
initiatives have focused on the divestiture of assets and 
commercial-like enterprises, such as the Naval Petroleum 
Reserve and the Uranium Enrichment Corporation, this hearing 
focused on opportunities at the Federal level to involve 
competition contracting in the thousands of routine commercial-
type services that the government provides to itself and the 
public. Senator Craig Thomas and Representative John Duncan 
testified on their bicameral companion legislation that 
addresses the issue of Federal Government competition with the 
private sector for commercial activities.
    Witnesses: Hon. Craig Thomas, U.S. Senator from the State 
of Wyoming; Hon. John J. Duncan, Jr., Representative in 
Congress from the State of Tennessee; John A. Koskinen, Deputy 
Director, Office of Management and Budget; Samuel D. Kleinman, 
Director, Center for Naval Analysis; Captain Burton Streicher, 
CEC, U.S. Navy, Director, Navy Outsourcing Support Office; 
Charles S. Davis III, Chamberlain, Davis, Rutan and Valk, 
formerly the Associate Administrator for Operations, General 
Services Administration; L. Nye Stevens, Director, Federal 
Management and Workforce Issues, General Government Division, 
U.S. General Accounting Office; and John N. Sturdivant, 
National President, American Federation of Government 
Employees, AFL-CIO.
14. National Drought Policy Act of 1997--S. 222 (September 8, 1997) 
        (unofficial)
    In the wake of the past year's devastating floods the 
Subcommittee held this hearing to examine S. 222, ``The 
National Drought Policy Act of 1997,'' which calls for the 
creation of an independent commission to study and make 
recommendations on the Federal Government's response to drought 
emergencies. Introduced by Senator Pete Domenici, S. 222's 
national advisory commission would report to the President, the 
Senate, and the House, and be chaired by the Secretary of 
Agriculture or his designee. S. 222 was reported out of 
Committee on November 7, 1997 and passed the Senate on November 
10, 1997. On November 12, 1997, the bill was introduced in the 
House as H.R. 3035, passed by the House on June 16, 1998, and 
passed by the Senate on June 24, 1998. It was signed into law 
on July 16, 1998 (Public Law 105-199).
    Witnesses: Hon. Richard Rominger, Deputy Secretary, U.S. 
Department of Agriculture; Hon. Edward T. Schafer, Governor, 
North Dakota; Hon. Jennifer Salisbury, Secretary, Department of 
Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources, New Mexico; John Baker, 
Commissioner, Texas Natural Resources Conservation Commission; 
John Van Sweden, President, New Mexico Farm and Livestock 
Bureau, American Farm Bureau Federation; and Robert C. Brown, 
Executive Vice President, Credit Division, Farm Credit Bank of 
Texas.
15. A Progress Report on the Reforms in the D.C. Public Schools 
        (September 8, 1997)
    This hearing was the second which focused on the District 
of Columbia public schools. Held right before the opening of 
the 1997-98 school year, the purpose of the hearing was to 
discuss the progress of educational reform in the school system 
and examine DCPS management. Representative Richard Armey 
testified on H.R. 1797, school choice legislation for the 
District of Columbia. Rep. Armey's bill would provide 
Opportunity Scholarships for approximately 2,000 low-income 
children who attend the District's public schools. The same 
legislation also was introduced in the Senate by Senators 
Coats, Lieberman, and Brownback.
    Witnesses: Hon. Richard K. Armey, Majority Leader, U.S. 
House of Representatives; Jeanne Allen, President, The Center 
for Education Reform; Nina Shokraii, Education Policy Analyst, 
Domestic Policy Studies, The Heritage Foundation; Kent B. Amos, 
President, Urban Family Institute; Bruce K. MacLaury, Chairman, 
Emergency Transition Education Board of Trustees, District of 
Columbia Public Schools; and General Julius W. Becton, Jr., 
(Retired), Chief Executive Officer and Superintendent, District 
of Columbia Public Schools, accompanied by Major General 
Charles Williams, (Retired), Chief Operating Officer.
16. Music Violence: How Does it Affect Our Children? An Examination of 
        the Impact of Violent Music Lyrics on Youth Behavior and Well-
        Being in the District of Columbia and Across the Nation 
        (November 6, 1997)
    This oversight hearing looked at the impact that violent 
music has on the youth of America. Over the last 30 years, 
violent juvenile crime had jumped by more than 500 percent, 
teen suicide had tripled, and unwed teen pregnancy had 
skyrocketed. In the last 4 years alone, casual drug use among 
teens had jumped nearly 50 percent. The same statistics were 
especially alarming among the children in the District of 
Columbia.
    Witnesses: Hon. Kent Conrad, U.S. Senator from the State of 
North Dakota; Raymond Kuntz, Parent, Burlington, North Dakota; 
Dr. Frank Palumbo, on behalf of the American Academy of 
Pediatrics, Washington, D.C.; Hilary Rosen, President and Chief 
Executive Officer, Recording Industry Association of America, 
Washington, D.C.; C. DeLores Tucker, Chair, National Political 
Congress of Black Women, Inc., Silver Spring, Maryland, 
accompanied by Chad Sisk, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and 
Donald F. Roberts, Thomas Moore Stork Professor of 
Communications, Stanford University.
17. Reforming the Adoption and Foster Care System in the District of 
        Columbia (February 12, 1998)
    This hearing focused on the deteriorating condition of the 
District of Columbia adoption and foster care system. In the 
District, two-thirds of the children who come under the 
District's custody grow up and age out of the foster care 
system at 18 years of age rather than growing up in a permanent 
adoptive home. As a result, the D.C. Child and Family Services, 
which handles foster care and adoption, is currently operating 
under a Federal court receivership. The purpose of the hearing 
was to hear about the innovative adoption reforms in Kansas and 
how they may apply to the District. In addition, the hearing 
provided an opportunity for the newly-appointed Federal Court 
receiver to announce her plans for improvement within the D.C. 
Child and Family Services.
    Witnesses: Hon. Mike DeWine, U.S. Senator from the State of 
Ohio; Hon. Charles E. Grassley, U.S. Senator from the State of 
Iowa; Hon. Dave Camp, U.S. Representative in Congress from the 
State of Michigan; Hon. Rochelle Chronister, Secretary, 
Department of Social and Rehabilitative Services, State of 
Kansas; Hon. Larry E. Craig, U.S. Senator from the State of 
Idaho; Debora Caruth, D.C. Foster Care Parent; Gordon Henry 
Gosselink, D.C. Pre-Adopted Child; Ernestine F. Jones, LaShawn 
General Receiver, District of Columbia Child and Family 
Services; Judith Meltzer, Senior Associate, Center for the 
Study of Social Policy; and Thomas Wells, Executive Director, 
Consortium for Child Welfare.
18. Lessons Learned in the D.C. Public Schools (March 9, 1998)
    This hearing served as a progress report on the D.C. public 
school system for the previous academic year. The District 
school system had performed poorly under the leadership of a 
new Superintendent and the D.C. Emergency Education Board of 
Trustees. The city's public schools suffered from low academic 
achievement scores throughout the system and a delayed opening 
due to roof repairs. The hearing addressed a GAO study that 
highlighted flaws in the school system's roof repair process as 
well as safeguards to help avoid more set-backs in following 
school years.
    Witnesses: Gloria L. Jarmon, Director, Health, Education 
and Human Services, Accounting and Financial Management, 
Accounting and Information Management Division, General 
Services Office; David L. Cotton, Managing Partner, Cotton and 
Company, accompanied by Ed Fritts, Senior Manager, Cotton and 
Company, and Marvin Allmond, Managing Partner, Allmond and 
Company; General Julius W. Becton, Jr., Superintendent, 
District of Columbia Public Schools, accompanied by Arlene 
Ackerman, Chief Academic Officer; and Tallib-Din Uqdah, parent 
of D.C. Public School students.
19. A Free Market Approach to Federal Contracting: Fair Competition Act 
        of 1998 and the Competition in Commercial Activities Act of 
        1998 (S. 314) (March 24, 1998)
    This was a joint hearing held in conjunction with the House 
Subcommittee on Government Management, Information, and 
Technology of the House Committee on Government Reform and 
Oversight. The hearing focused on the Senate and House re-draft 
of the original version of S. 314, the Freedom From Government 
Competition Act of 1997. Rather than prohibiting the Federal 
Government from competing with the private sector, the new 
draft establishes a level playing field in which the private 
sector and the Federal agencies compete for commercial 
activities performed by the Federal Government. The purpose of 
the hearing was to gain input from various representatives from 
OMB, the private sector, former government officials, and 
Federal employee unions.
    Witnesses: Hon. Craig Thomas, U.S. Senator from the State 
of Wyoming; G. Edward DeSeve, Acting Deputy Director for 
Management, U.S. Office of Management and Budget; Skip Stitt, 
former Deputy Mayor, City of Indianapolis, testifying on behalf 
of Hon. Steven Goldsmith, Mayor of Indianapolis; Steve Kelman, 
Ph.D., Weatherhead Professor of Public Management, Harvard 
University; Bryan Logan, Chief Executive Officer, Earth Data 
International; Larry Trammell, Corporate Vice President and 
General Manager, Science Applications International Corp; 
Douglas K. Stevens, Jr., Partner of Information Technology 
Services Group, under Grant Thornton, LLP, representing the 
U.S. Chamber of Commerce; Robert M. Tobias, National President, 
The National Treasury Employees Union; Bobby L. Harnage, 
President, American Federation of Government Employees; and 
Michael B. Styles, National President, Federal Managers 
Association.
20. Giving Children a Chance to Learn: The D.C. Student Opportunity 
        Scholarship Act (May 5, 1998)
    This hearing solicited the views of the parents and 
children who were going to be directly impacted by President 
Clinton's decision to veto the ``District of Columbia Student 
Opportunities Scholarship Act of 1997.'' The Act, which was to 
provide approximately $7 million to be apportioned into 1,800 
scholarships for low income families, was vetoed 15 days after 
the hearing on May 20, 1998. Two District of Columbia residents 
testified as to how the proposed legislation would positively 
impact their lives and the lives of their children. They 
discussed the condition of the District's public schools and 
how the system was failing to educate their children.
    Witnesses: Virginia Walden, District of Columbia resident; 
and Wesley Walker-Bey, District of Columbia resident.
21. The Role of Faith-Based Charities in the District of Columbia (May 
        18, 1998)
    The purpose of this hearing was to examine how faith-based 
nonprofit organizations serve a positive role in helping 
residents of the District of Columbia. The Subcommittee was 
interested in uncovering government barriers hindering the work 
of these charities and finding ways to help them overcome these 
barriers. The executive directors from several local charities 
testified, as well as former ``clients'' of several charities. 
One former drug addict is now gainfully employed on Capitol 
Hill; a disruptive high school student is now focused on 
education and is finishing her undergraduate degree at George 
Washington University. The charities represented had 
encountered excessive government paperwork and zoning 
impediments in the District of Columbia. Senator Coats and 
other policy analysts testified to the positive impact of 
Members of Congress through their personal involvement in 
charitable work.
    Witnesses: Hon. Dan Coats, U.S. Senator from the State of 
Indiana; Dr. Edward J. Eyring, President and Executive 
Director, Gospel Rescue Ministries; Hannah M. Hawkins, Founder 
and Director, Children of Mine Center; Jim Till, Executive 
Director, Strategies to Elevate People; Amy Hunt Johnson, 
Director, Neighborhood Learning Center; April Lassiter, 
President, The Initiative for Children Foundation; and Joe 
Loconte, Deputy Editor, Policy Review Magazine, The Heritage 
Foundation.
22. Competition for Commercial Activities in the Federal Government 
        (June 4, 1998)
    In an effort to keep commercial functions in-house, many 
Federal agencies ignore OMB's policy, known as OMB Circular A-
76, for identifying and competing non-inherently governmental 
activities. This hearing focused on why agencies ignore OMB A-
76 and how legislation, like the Fair Competition Act (S. 314) 
could solve this problem. Senator Craig Thomas, sponsor of the 
original version of S. 314, gave a statement and discussed why 
the Federal Government should use the tools available to them 
to bring the benefits of competition to the government.
    Witnesses: Hon. Craig Thomas, U.S. Senator from the State 
of Wyoming; J. Christopher Mihm, Acting Associate Director, 
Federal Management Workforce Issues, U.S. General Accounting 
Office, accompanied by Bill Reinsberg and Marilyn Wasleski; G. 
Edward DeSeve, Acting Deputy Director, U.S. Office of 
Management and Budget; John Berry, Assistant Secretary for 
Policy, Management and Budget, U.S. Department of the Interior; 
and W. Scott Gould, Chief Financial Officer and Assistant 
Secretary for Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce.
23. ``Keeping the Nation's Capital Safe'' (July 27, 1998)
    The crime situation in the Nation's capital city has been 
improving statistically but remains far too violent. This 
hearing examined a D.C. Inspector General's report documenting 
the problems with the city's emergency 911 system and discussed 
grass roots efforts being implemented to fight crime at the 
neighborhood level in the District of Columbia. Chief of 
Police, Charles Ramsey, testified on behalf of the Metropolitan 
Police Department. Two local residents testified about their 
local anti-crime efforts and the positive impact they have had 
on their communities. Chairman Brownback also honored Capitol 
Hill Police officers Jacob Chestnut and John Gibson who gave 
their lives in the line of duty just 3 days prior to the 
hearing.
    Witnesses: Charles H. Ramsey, Chief of Police, Metropolitan 
Police Department, District of Columbia, accompanied by 
Terrence Gainer, Executive Assistant Chief of Police, and Mike 
Fitzgerald, Assistant Chief, Technical Services; James F. 
Foreman, Coordinator, Metro Orange Coalition; and Kirsten 
Oldenburg, Editor, Crimemail, D.C. Police Service Area 109.
24. Agency Management of Implementation of the Coal Act (October 6, 
        1998)
    In June of 1998, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Eastern 
Enterprises v. Apfel that the 1992 Coal Act created an 
unconstitutional ``taking.'' Senator Sam Brownback focused this 
oversight hearing on the impact of the Supreme Court's decision 
for other reachback companies and the decision's long-term 
financial implications for the solvency of the Combined Fund.
    Witnesses: Hon. John D. Rockefeller, IV, U.S. Senator from 
the State of West Virginia; Hon. Kent Conrad, U.S. Senator from 
the State of North Dakota; Hon. Kathy Karpan, Director, Office 
of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement, Department of 
the Interior; Bill Fant, Special Assistant, Office of Tax 
Policy, Department of the Treasury; and Marilyn O'Connell, 
Associate Commissioner, Office of Program Benefits Policy, 
Social Security Administration.
25. Are Military Adultery Standards Changing: What Are the 
        Implications? (October 7, 1998)
    On August 14, 1998, the Federal Register contained proposed 
changes to the Department of Defense Manual for Courts Martial 
relating to adultery. This oversight hearing focused on the 
process of developing these new proposed guidelines and whether 
these changes would ``clarify'' the standards or make it easier 
for a commander to overlook unacceptable behavior because the 
effects of the offense were not ``immediate, obvious, and 
measurably divisive.'' Elaine Donnelly, President of the Center 
for Military Readiness, testified that she had discovered 
through a FOIA request that DOD had solicited outside advice on 
the proposed change in the adultery standard from the ACLU and 
the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. Furthermore, she 
stated that DOD did not consult with any of the major veterans' 
organizations or military professional societies such as the 
American Legion, the Veterans of Foreign Wars, and the Naval 
Institute. She believes that the proposed changes may serve to 
muddy the waters on prosecuting adultery and give the 
perception that adultery is not taken seriously by the 
military. Others testifying stated that the changes would serve 
to ``civilianize'' the military culture, interfering with the 
focus of troops and damaging combat readiness, morale, and unit 
cohesion.
    Witnesses: Elaine Donnelly, President, Center for Military 
Readiness; Dr. Daniel R. Heimbach, Former Deputy Assistant 
Secretary of the Navy for Manpower; and Lieutenant Colonel 
Robert L. Maginnis, USA Ret., Director, Military Readiness 
Project, Family Research Council.

                            II. GAO Reports

    During the 105th Congress, the Subcommittee worked in 
conjunction with the General Accounting Office on 13 reports 
and studies:

        Transportation Infrastructure: Managing the Costs of 
Large-Dollar Highway Projects, RCED-97-47 (February 28, 1997)

        Weather Service Modernization: Risks Remain that Full 
System Potential Will Not Be Achieved, T-AIMD-97-85 (April 24, 
1997)

        Courthouse Construction: Better Courtroom Use Data 
Could Enhance Facility Planning and Decisionmaking, GGD-97-39 
(May 19, 1997)

        Privatization and Competition: Comments on S. 314, the 
Freedom From Government Competition Act, T-GGD-97-134 (June 18, 
1997)

        District of Columbia: Revenue Compared With Those of 
Selected Cities, GGD-97-135R (June 26, 1997)

        Best Practices: Elements Critical to Successfully 
Reducing Unneeded RDT&E Infrastructure, NSIAD--RCED-98-23 
(January 8, 1998)

        Convention Centers' Economic Benefits, GGD--AIMD--OCE-
98-71R (February 27, 1998)

        Federal Research: Challenges to Implementing the 
Advanced Technology Program, RCED--OCE-98-83R (March 2, 1998)

        District of Columbia Public Schools: Availability of 
Funds and the Cost of FY 1997 Roof Projects, T-AIMD-98-95 
(March 9, 1998)

        OMB Circular A-76: Oversight and Implementation Issues, 
T-GGD-98-146 (June 4, 1998)

        Regulatory Management: Implementation of Selected OMB 
Responsibilities Under the Paperwork Reduction Act, GGD-98-120 
(July 9, 1998)

        Employee Benefits: Status of UMWA Combined Benefit 
Fund, HEHS-99-7R (October 2, 1998)

        Paperwork Reduction Act: Implementation at IRS, GGD-99-
4 (November 16, 1998)

                            III. Legislation

    The following bills were considered by the Subcommittee on 
Oversight of Government Management, Restructuring, and the 
District of Columbia during the 105th Congress:
S. 199--Federal Research Financing Improvement Act of 1997
    The bill prohibits the construction of new Federal research 
facilities to carry out a covered research activity unless the 
head of the Federal agency with jurisdiction over the new 
facility enters into a cooperative agreement for such 
construction and the conduct of such research with appropriate 
representatives of each beneficiary industry to be served by 
the activity. It requires the beneficiary industry to pay at 
least half the cost of construction and requires the agreement 
to provide for both: (1) sharing among beneficiary industries 
of intellectual property obtained from covered research 
activities; and (2) protection of certain intellectual property 
used by the Federal Government in carrying out the activities.
S. 222--National Drought Policy Act of 1997 (Public Law 105-199)
    This bill establishes the National Drought Policy 
Commission to conduct a thorough study and submit a specified 
report on national drought policy to the President and the 
Committee on Government Affairs of the Senate and the Committee 
on Government Reform and Oversight of the House together with 
its recommendations for such legislation and administrative 
actions as it considers appropriate. The bill terminates the 
Commission 90 days after the submission of report.
    On November 5, 1997, the Committee ordered the bill 
reported favorably with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute. A written report was filed on November 7, 1997 (S. 
Rept. 105-144). It passed the Senate on November 10, 1997 with 
an amendment by unanimous consent. On November 12, 1997, the 
bill was introduced in the House as H.R. 3035, passed by the 
House on June 16, 1998, and passed by the Senate on June 24, 
1998. It was signed into law on July 16, 1998 (Public Law 105-
199).
S. 294--Officer Brian Gibson District of Columbia Police Protection Act
    This bill amends the Federal criminal code to establish 
penalties, including the death penalty, for the killing or 
attempted killing of a law enforcement officer of the District 
of Columbia.
    The Committee ordered the bill reported favorably without 
amendment on November 5, 1997.
S. 314--Freedom From Government Competition Act of 1997 (Public Law 
        105-270) (Title amended to ``Federal Activities Inventory 
        Reform Act of 1998.'')
    This bill directs the head of each executive agency to 
submit to the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, 
not later than the end of the third quarter of each fiscal 
year, a list of activities performed by Federal Government 
sources for the agency that, in the judgment of the head of the 
executive agency, are not inherently governmental functions.
    On July 15, 1998, the Committee ordered the bill to be 
favorably reported with Chairman Thompson's amendment in the 
nature of a substitute. The Committee filed a report on July 
28, 1998 (S. Rept. 105-269). The Chairman's substitute 
amendment was passed by the Senate by unanimous consent on July 
30, 1998. On October 5, 1998, the House passed S. 314 by voice 
vote under suspension of the rules. The President signed the 
bill on October 8, 1998. (Public Law 105-270)
S. 847--District of Columbia Student Opportunity Scholarship Act of 
        1997
    The bill authorizes the establishment of a private, 
nonprofit corporation the District of Columbia Scholarship 
Corporation to administer, publicize, and evaluate the District 
of Columbia scholarship program and to determine student and 
school eligibility for program participation. It establishes 
the District of Columbia Scholarship Fund, to be administered 
by the Secretary of the Treasury, through which annual funds 
shall be provided to the District and used by the Corporation 
for the program. It also authorizes appropriations to the fund 
for FY 1998 through 2002.
    This bill was introduced on June 5, 1997, by Senators 
Coats, Lieberman, Brownback, Ashcroft, Coverdell, and Gregg. It 
was reintroduced as S. 1502 on September 9, 1997, and passed by 
the Senate without amendment by unanimous consent. S. 1502 
passed the House on April 30, 1998, and was vetoed by the 
President on May 20, 1998.
S. 1404--Federal Statistical System Act of 1998
    This bill expresses the sense of the Congress that: (1) a 
more centralized statistical system is integral to efficiency; 
(2) the Chief Statistician must have the authority, personnel, 
and other resources necessary to carry out the duties of that 
office effectively, including duties relating to statistical 
forms clearance; and (3) statistical forms clearance at the 
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) should be better 
distinguished from regulatory forms clearance.
    The bill was introduced on November 7, 1997 by Senator 
Brownback for himself, Chairman Thompson, and Senators Moynihan 
and Kerrey. On September 25, 1998, the Committee ordered the 
bill reported favorably with an amendment in the nature of a 
substitute. The Committee filed a written report on October 6, 
1998 (S. Rept. 105-367).
H.R. 497--A bill to repeal the Federal charter of Group Hospitalization 
        and Medical Services, Inc., and for other purposes (Public Law 
        105-149)
    This bill amends the Federal charter of Group 
Hospitalization and Medical Services, Inc., to: (1) permit the 
corporation to have one class of members consisting of at least 
one member and not more than 30; and (2) prohibit dissolution 
of the corporation without congressional approval.
    H.R. 497 was passed by the House on February 26, 1997. On 
November 5, 1997, the Committee ordered the bill reported 
favorably with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. On 
November 6, 1997, the Committee reported the bill without a 
written report. The bill passed the Senate with an amendment by 
unanimous consent on November 8, 1997. On November 12, 1997, 
the Senate-passed bill was introduced as H.R. 3025 which was 
passed by the House under suspension of the rules by voice 
vote. The Senate passed H.R. 3025 by unanimous consent on 
November 13, 1997, and it was signed into law on December 16, 
1997. (Public Law 105-149)
H.R. 513--District of Columbia Council Contract Review Reform Act of 
        1997
    The bill amends the District Self-Government and 
Governmental Reorganization Act to exempt from review and 
approval by the District of Columbia Council: (1) contracts 
entered into by the Washington Convention Center Authority for 
preconstruction activities, project management, design, or 
construction; (2) contracts entered into by the District of 
Columbia Water and Sewer Authority other than contracts for the 
sale or lease of the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Plant; 
and (3) at its option, contracts for Federal-aid highway 
improvement projects.

                          IV. Other Activities

    The Subcommittee worked extensively with the District of 
Columbia to create a better and more livable city for its 
residents. On June 24, 1998 the Subcommittee held an Adoption 
Fair for District children who were under the custody of the 
city's foster care system and were in need of permanent homes 
and families. The effort to match foster care children with 
permanent families was a success with a total of eight children 
being joined with eight loving families.
    On June 25, 1997 the Subcommittee announced the inclusion 
of its D.C. tax proposal in the Senate Finance Committee's 
reconciliation package. The Finance Committee included a zero 
capital gains tax and a first-time home buyer tax credit for 
the people of the District of Columbia which were intended to 
jump start the District's economy and empower its citizens. 
Joining the Subcommittee for the announcement were Senators 
Mack and Lieberman and Delegate Norton, whose work on behalf of 
the legislation dated back to the previous Congress. The 
Subcommittee also was joined by economists from the Heritage 
Foundation and Wharton Forecasting Associates, who presented 
their findings from a detailed analysis of the tax plan and its 
effects on the city.
    In conjunction with the LaShawn General Receiver, the D.C. 
Inspector General and the Chief Management Officer of the 
District of Columbia, the Subcommittee was involved with the 
rectification of abuse problems relating to the District 
Government's telecommunications policies. The problem has since 
been remedied.
    The Subcommittee also worked with the Executive Branch to 
ensure that all agencies were run with fiscal prudence and 
sound management practices. Among these efforts the 
Subcommittee, in conjunction with the General Accounting 
Office, closely monitored the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 
and more specifically, its implementation by the Office of 
Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA). The Subcommittee 
worked in association with the House of Representatives and the 
Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Treasury, Postal Service 
and General Government to withhold a portion of OIRA's proposed 
budget until the agency was able to adhere to the mandates 
placed upon it by the aforementioned Paperwork Reduction Act.
    Lastly, the Subcommittee monitored the process under which 
the Department of Defense attempted to change the long standing 
military adultery standards. As noted above, the Subcommittee 
held a hearing regarding this issue and subsequently tracked 
the progress, including a submission for public comment, on the 
Notice of Proposed Amendments to the Manual for Courts Martial 
published in the Federal Register on August 14, 1998. The 
Subcommittee also monitored what DOD actually took into 
consideration during the public comment period and what 
pertinent information may have been omitted.

                PERMANENT SUBCOMMITTEE ON INVESTIGATIONS

                       Chairman: Susan M. Collins

                  Ranking Minority Member: John Glenn

    The following is the annual Activities Report of the 
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations during the 105th 
Congress:

     I. Historical Background--50th Anniversary of the Subcommittee

                      A. Expansion of Jurisdiction

    Although its records and jurisdiction actually predate its 
authorization, the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations 
(Subcommittee) was originally authorized by Senate Resolution 
189 on January 28, 1948. At its creation in 1948, the 
Subcommittee was part of the Committee on Expenditures in the 
Executive Departments. The Subcommittee's records and broad 
investigative jurisdiction over government operations and 
national security issues, however, actually antedate its 
creation, since it was given custody of the jurisdiction of the 
former Special Committee to Investigate the National Defense 
Program (the so-called ``War Investigating Committee'' or 
``Truman Committee''), chaired by Senator Harry S. Truman 
during the Second World War. Today, the Subcommittee is part of 
the Committee on Governmental Affairs.\1\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \1\ In 1952, the parent committee's name was changed to the 
Committee on Government Operations. It was changed again in early 1977, 
to the Committee on Governmental Affairs, its present title.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Subcommittee has had eight chairmen: Senators Homer 
Ferguson of Michigan (1948), Clyde R. Hoey of North Carolina 
(1949-1952), Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin (1953-1954), John 
L. McClellan of Arkansas (1955-1972), Henry M. Jackson of 
Washington (1973-1978), Sam Nunn of Georgia (1979-1980 and 
1987-1994), William V. Roth of Delaware (1981-1986 and 1995-
1996), and Susan M. Collins of Maine (1997 to present). With 
Senator Collins' chairmanship, the Subcommittee in some sense 
came full circle: Its predecessor body, the Truman Committee, 
had also been chaired by a Republican Senator from Maine, Ralph 
Owen Brewster.
    Until 1957, the Subcommittee's jurisdiction focused 
principally on waste, inefficiency, impropriety, and alleged 
illegality in government operations. Its jurisdiction has been 
expanded considerably since then, however, today encompassing 
investigations within the broad ambit of the Committee on 
Governmental Affairs' responsibility for matters relating to 
the efficiency and economy of operations of all branches of the 
Government.
    The Subcommittee's responsibilities increased in several 
successive stages. In 1957--based on information developed by 
the Subcommittee--the Senate passed a resolution establishing a 
Select Committee on Improper Activities in the Labor or 
Management Field. Chaired by Senator McClellan, who also 
chaired the Subcommittee at that time, the Select Committee was 
composed of eight Senators--four of whom were drawn from the 
Subcommittee on Investigations and four from the Committee on 
Labor and Public Welfare. The Select Committee existed for 3 
years sharing office space, personnel, and other facilities 
with the Permanent Subcommittee. Upon its expiration in early 
1960, the Select Committee's jurisdiction and files were 
transferred to the Subcommittee on Investigations, greatly 
enlarging the latter body's investigative authority in the 
labor-management area.
    The Subcommittee's investigatory jurisdiction expanded 
further throughout the 1960's. In 1961, for example, it 
received authority to make inquiries into matters pertaining to 
syndicated or organized crime.\2\ In the wake of the riots and 
other civil disturbances that marked the summer of 1967, the 
Senate approved a resolution directing the Subcommittee to 
investigate the causes of this disorder and to recommend 
corrective action. The Subcommittee acquired its national 
security mandate in January 1973, when it merged with the 
National Security Subcommittee. With this merger, the 
Subcommittee's jurisdiction was broadened to include inquiries 
concerning the adequacy of national security staffing and 
procedures, relations with international organizations, 
technology transfer issues, and related matters. Finally, in 
1974--in reaction to the global oil shock and energy shortage 
precipitated by the Arab-Israeli War of October 1973--the 
Subcommittee also acquired jurisdiction to investigate 
government operations involving the control and management of 
energy resources and supplies.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \2\ It exercised this jurisdiction in 1963, for example, in 
organizing the famous Valachi hearings described below, in which the 
Subcommittee examined the inner workings of the Italian Mafia.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------

                         B. Past Investigations

    Armed with this broad investigatory mandate, the 
Subcommittee has in recent years conducted investigations into 
a wide variety of topics of public concern, ranging from child 
pornography to espionage, including reviews of organized crime 
activities such as labor racketeering, fraudulent insurance 
plans, and newly emerging criminal groups. The Subcommittee has 
also conducted investigations into numerous aspects of the 
narcotics trade, including money laundering, issues in Federal 
drug enforcement, and drug abuse. The Subcommittee has also 
devoted itself particularly to investigating allegations of 
waste, fraud, and abuse in government programs. Most recently, 
under Senator Collins' chairmanship, the Subcommittee has 
focused particularly upon consumer protection issues, 
addressing problems ranging from the safety of imported foods 
to issues of Medicare fraud.
    The second session of the 105th Congress was a significant 
one for the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, since 
January 28, 1998 marked the 50th anniversary of the Truman 
Committee's conversion into a permanent subcommittee of the 
U.S. Senate.\3\ In the half-century of its existence, the 
Subcommittee's many successes have made clear to the Senate the 
importance of retaining a standing investigatory organ devoted 
to keeping government not only efficient and effective, but 
also honest and accountable.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \3\ This anniversary also marks the first date upon which internal 
Subcommittee records generally began to become available to the public. 
Unlike most standing committees of the Senate whose previously 
unpublished records open after a period of 20 years has elapsed, the 
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, as an investigatory body, may 
close its records for 50 years to protect personal privacy and the 
integrity of the investigatory process. With this 50th anniversary, the 
Subcommittee's earliest records, housed in the Center for Legislative 
Archives at the National Archives and Records Administration, began to 
open seriatim. The records of the predecessor committee--the Truman 
Committee--were opened by Senator Nunn in 1980.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    The Subcommittee's investigatory record as a permanent 
Senate body began under the chairmanship of Republican Senator 
Homer Ferguson and his Chief Counsel (and future Secretary of 
State) William P. Rogers, as the Subcommittee inherited the 
Truman Committee's role in investigating fraud and waste in 
U.S. Government operations. This investigative work became 
particularly colorful under the chairmanship of Senator Clyde 
Hoey--a North Carolina Democrat who took the chair from Senator 
Ferguson after the 1948 elections. The last U.S. Senator to 
wear a long frock coat and wing-tipped collar, Mr. Hoey was a 
distinguished southern gentleman of the old school. Under his 
leadership, the Subcommittee won national attention for its 
investigation of the so-called ``five percenters,'' notorious 
Washington lobbyists who charged their clients five percent of 
the profits from any Federal contracts they obtained on the 
client's behalf. Given the Subcommittee's jurisdictional 
inheritance from the Truman Committee, it is perhaps ironic 
that the ``five percenters'' investigation raised allegations 
of bribery and influence-peddling that reached right into the 
White House and implicated members of President Harry Truman's 
staff. In any event, the fledgling Subcommittee was off to a 
rapid start.
    What began as colorful soon became contentious. When 
Republicans returned to the majority in the Senate in 1953, 
Wisconsin's junior Senator, Joseph R. McCarthy, became the 
Subcommittee's chairman. Two years earlier, as Ranking Minority 
Member, McCarthy had arranged for another Republican Senator, 
Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, to be removed from the 
Subcommittee. Senator Smith's offense, in McCarthy's eyes, was 
her issuance of a ``Declaration of Conscience'' repudiating 
those who made unfounded charges and used character 
assassination against their political opponents. Although 
Senator Smith had carefully declined to name any specific 
offender, her remarks were universally recognized as criticism 
of McCarthy's accusations that communists had infiltrated the 
State Department and other government agencies. McCarthy 
retaliated by engineering Senator Smith's removal from the 
Subcommittee, replacing her with the newly-elected Senator from 
California, Richard M. Nixon.
    Upon becoming Subcommittee Chairman, McCarthy staged a 
series of highly publicized anti-communist investigations, 
culminating in an inquiry into communism within the U.S. Army, 
which became known as the Army-McCarthy hearings. During the 
latter portion of these hearings, in which the parent Committee 
examined the Wisconsin Senator's attacks on the army, Senator 
McCarthy recused himself, leaving South Dakota Senator Karl 
Mundt to serve as Acting Chairman of the Subcommittee. Gavel-
to-gavel television coverage of the hearings helped turn the 
tide against McCarthy by raising public concern about his 
treatment of witnesses and cavalier use of evidence. In 
December 1954, in fact, the Senate censured Senator McCarthy 
for unbecoming conduct; in the following year, the Subcommittee 
adopted new rules of procedure that better protected the rights 
of witnesses. It had taken some years, but these developments 
finally vindicated the courageous stand of Senator Margaret 
Chase Smith.
    In 1955, Senator John McClellan of Arkansas began 18 years 
of service as Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on 
Investigations. Senator McClellan appointed the young Robert F. 
Kennedy as the Subcommittee's Chief Counsel. That same year, 
Members of the Subcommittee were joined by members of the 
Senate Labor and Public Welfare Committee on a special 
committee to investigate labor racketeering. Chaired by Senator 
McClellan and staffed by Kennedy and other Subcommittee staff 
members, this special committee directed much of its attention 
to criminal influence over the Teamsters Union, most famously 
calling Teamsters' leaders Dave Beck and Jimmy Hoffa to 
testify. The televised hearings of the special committee also 
introduced Senators Barry Goldwater and John F. Kennedy to the 
Nation, as well as leading to passage of the Landrum-Griffin 
Labor Act. After each day's hearings, moreover, Robert Kennedy 
and other staff members, including Pierre Salinger and Kenneth 
O'Donnell, would meet in the Committee's back room to plan 
strategies for Senator John Kennedy's upcoming 1960 
presidential campaign. As Ruth Watt, the Subcommittee's Chief 
Clerk, observed: ``They were running for President in our 
office after 5 o'clock in the evening.'' Several of the 
Subcommittee's staff members would subsequently join the 
Kennedy Administration.
    After the special committee completed its work, the 
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations continued to 
investigate organized crime. In 1962, the Subcommittee held 
hearings during which Joseph Valachi outlined the activities of 
La Cosa Nostra, or the Mafia. Former Subcommittee staffer 
Robert Kennedy--who had by now become Attorney General in his 
brother's administration--used this information to prosecute 
prominent mob leaders and their accomplices. The Subcommittee's 
investigations also led to passage of major legislation against 
organized crime, most notably the Racketeer Influenced and 
Corrupt Organizations (RICO) provision of the Crime Control Act 
of 1970. Under Chairman McClellan, the Subcommittee also 
investigated fraud in the purchase of military uniforms, 
corruption in the Department of Agriculture's grain storage 
program, securities fraud, and civil disorders and acts of 
terrorism. From 1962 to 1970, the Permanent Subcommittee on 
Investigations conducted an extensive probe of political 
interference in the awarding of government contracts for the 
Pentagon's ill-fated TFX (``tactical fighter, experimental''). 
In 1968, the Subcommittee also examined charges of corruption 
in U.S. servicemen's clubs in Vietnam and elsewhere around the 
world.
    In 1973, Senator Henry ``Scoop'' Jackson, a Democrat from 
Washington, replaced McClellan as the Subcommittee's chairman. 
During these years, recalled Chief Clerk Ruth Young Watt--who 
served in this position from the Subcommittee's founding until 
her retirement in 1979--Ranking Minority Member Charles Percy, 
an Illinois Republican, initiated and led many Subcommittee 
activities, often working closely in this regard with Georgia 
Democrat Sam Nunn, who subsequently succeeded Senator Jackson 
as chairman in 1979. As Chairman, Nunn continued the 
Subcommittee's investigations into the role of organized crime 
in labor-management relations and also investigated pension 
frauds.
    The regular reversals of political fortunes in the Senate 
of the 1980's and 1990's saw Senator Nunn trade chairmanship 
three times with Delaware Republican Senator William Roth. Nunn 
served from 1979 to 1980 and again from 1987 to 1995, while 
Senator Roth served from 1981 to 1986, and again from 1995 to 
1996. For his part, Senator Roth led a wide range of 
investigations into commodity investment fraud, off-shore 
banking schemes, money laundering, and child pornography. 
Senator Nunn inquired into Federal drug policy, the global 
spread of chemical and biological weapons, abuses in Federal 
student aid programs, computer security, airline safety, and 
health care fraud. Senator Nunn also appointed the 
Subcommittee's first female counsel, Eleanore Hill, who served 
as Chief Counsel to the Minority from 1982 to 1986 and then as 
Chief Counsel from 1987 to 1995. Ms. Hill subsequently served 
as Inspector General at the Department of Defense under Defense 
Secretary--and former Republican Senator from Maine--William 
Cohen.
    In January 1997, Cohen's successor, Republican Senator 
Susan Collins of Maine, became the first woman to chair the 
Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Senator John Glenn of 
Ohio became Ranking Minority Member. Senator Collins pledged to 
continue the Subcommittee's mission of vigilantly exposing 
government malfeasance, social and economic wrongdoing, and 
serious violations of the public trust. Her aim was to focus 
upon problems that affected the American people in their daily 
lives so that the Subcommittee's work would help and protect 
the people of Maine and Americans across the Nation. The 
following pages describe the Subcommittee's work in this regard 
during the 105th Congress.

          II. Subcommittee Hearings During the 105th Congress

1. Medicare at Risk: Emerging Fraud in Medicare Programs (June 26, 
        1997)
    In keeping with Senator Collins' emphasis upon protecting 
ordinary citizens from fraud, the Subcommittee began the 105th 
Congress with a hearing in June 1997 pertaining to emerging 
fraud in the Medicare program. This hearing focused upon the 
problems of preventing fraud in the enormous--and hugely 
important--health care industry.
    It is, of course, no overstatement to say that America's 
vital health care industry is an economic behemoth; by some 
estimates, combined private and public expenditures on health 
care constitute 13.6 percent of America's gross domestic 
product in 1995 dollars, and this figure is growing. These 
spiraling costs are unlikely to abate because the average age 
in this country continues to rise. The Nation's largest health 
care payor is a public entity, the Medicare program. 
Unfortunately, however, the Medicare program has borne the 
dubious distinction of appearing on the U.S. General Accounting 
Office (GAO) list of government programs ``highly vulnerable to 
waste, fraud, abuse and mismanagement'' every year since 1992.
    As a result of these program vulnerabilities--and the great 
sums of money spent under the Medicare program--the 
Subcommittee commenced an investigation into Medicare waste, 
fraud, and abuse in May 1997. The aim of this inquiry was both 
to help protect the taxpayer from those unscrupulous 
individuals who steal billions of dollars from Medicare and to 
protect the elderly and disabled Americans who rely on this 
important program for their health care needs.
    On June 26, the Subcommittee conducted its first public 
hearing on this topic. Among the witnesses testifying were 
Leslie Aronvitz, Associate Director of Health Financing and 
Systems Issues at the GAO, a recognized expert in health care 
fraud issues; Bruce C. Vladeck, HCFA's Administrator; Professor 
Pamela H. Bucy, Bainbridge Professor of Law at the University 
of Alabama Law School, a well-known expert in the area and a 
former Assistant U.S. Attorney; Michael F. Mangano, Principal 
Deputy Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human 
Services; and Charles L. Owens, Chief of the FBI's Financial 
Crimes Section. These witnesses testified that waste, fraud, 
and abuse occur throughout the health care industry, including 
the areas of home health care, medical equipment and supplies, 
nursing homes, laboratory services, hospitals, and managed 
care. The Subcommittee also heard testimony from Senators 
Charles E. Grassley and Tom Harkin of Iowa.
    The Subcommittee also heard testimony about some of the 
fraudulent schemes that have been used to take advantage of the 
Medicare program. Perpetrators of such schemes included the 
owner of a Florida home health care agency who billed Medicare 
$84,000 for gourmet popcorn, $140,000 for an airplane, $14,000 
in company-logo emery boards, and $5,000 to lease a BMW for the 
owner's son. Another example involved the chief financial 
officer of ABC Home Health Services, Inc.--one of the country's 
largest home health care chains--who was convicted of billing 
Medicare for more than $14 million in false expenses, including 
jewelry and a luxury beach house.
2. Fraud in Micro-Capital Markets Including Penny Stock Fraud 
        (September 22, 1997)
    The Subcommittee's investigations continued in 1997 by 
building upon the Subcommittee's long tradition of 
investigating securities frauds directed at small investors. 
After published reports suggested that investors may lose as 
much as $6 billion each year due to fraud in so-called ``penny 
stocks,'' the Subcommittee launched an investigation of 
securities fraud into the micro-capital (``micro-cap'') 
markets. This new investigation focused upon small companies 
with relatively low market values, including (but not limited 
to) penny stocks.
    The Subcommittee staff found that the explosion in the U.S. 
stock market that occurred during the mid-1990's brought with 
it a sharp increase in securities sales fraud and stock price 
manipulation schemes. Rogue brokers, they found, played upon 
investors' impressions about the successes of legitimate market 
offerings in misrepresenting the potential of their wares in 
high-pressured ``cold-call'' presentations built around false 
or exaggerated information. In addition to coercive cold-
calling and spreading false information, rogue broker ``boiler 
rooms'' also used numerous other tactics to manipulate stock 
prices. These tactics included making unauthorized purchases in 
consumers' accounts, refusing to execute sell orders in order 
to maintain a stock's upward momentum, using unlicensed cold-
callers who were paid ``under the table'' for making sales, and 
actually bribing brokers to recommend particular stocks to 
unsuspecting consumers.
    In its hearing on this subject on September 22, 1997, the 
Subcommittee heard from a panel of three victims--Helen 
Sprecher, Louis Poggi, and Emile Murnan--who had been coerced 
into disastrous purchases by high-pressure ``boiler room'' 
cold-callers. After aggressively pursuing and convincing the 
victims to purchase stocks from them, these rogue brokers 
swindled the victims out of thousands of dollars by lying to 
them and performing unauthorized trades in their accounts.
    Several witnesses from the industry's regulatory agencies 
also provided testimony for the Subcommittee. These included 
Arthur Levitt, Jr., Chairman of the U.S. Securities and 
Exchange Commission; Joseph P. Borg, Director of the Alabama 
Securities Commission; and Barry R. Goldsmith, Executive Vice 
President of NASD Regulation, Inc. These witnesses described 
the extent of micro-cap stock fraud problems currently 
affecting the industry, and suggested how such schemes might be 
brought under control. In their view, prevention strategies, 
tougher civil and criminal enforcement efforts, and a series of 
new regulatory initiatives should be examined to control the 
micro-cap stock fraud problem. The aim of such a regulatory 
program would be to strike the necessary balance--controlling 
fraud without damaging the legitimate securities market that 
sustains many small businesses in this country.
3. Oversight Review of the Treasury Department's Inspector General 
        (October 31 and November 3, 1997)
    In May 1997, the Subcommittee began an investigation of 
published allegations against the Department of the Treasury's 
Office of Inspector General (OIG). These allegations concerned 
the OIG's contracting practices with respect to two consulting 
contracts. The GAO's Office of Special Investigations (OSI) 
assisted the Subcommittee in conducting its review of the 
Treasury OIG's contracting practices. The Subcommittee's 
inquiry also examined events surrounding the OIG's 
investigation of testimony provided by two career Secret 
Service special agents at a July 1996 hearing before the House 
Government Reform and Oversight Committee regarding the FBI 
``Filegate'' matter.
    After a 5-month investigation, the Subcommittee held 
hearings on October 31 and November 3, 1997. At the first 
hearing, the Subcommittee heard testimony from three GAO 
representatives--Robert P. Murphy, General Counsel; Donald J. 
Wheeler, OSI's Deputy Director; and Theodore Barreaux, 
Associate Director of the Accounting and Information Management 
Division--as well as from Valerie Lau, the Treasury 
Department's Inspector General. At the second hearing, the 
Subcommittee heard testimony from Richard J. Gallo, President 
of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association, and from 
three representatives from the Treasury's OIG: James M. Cottos, 
Senior Technical Advisor to the Inspector General; Emily P. 
Coleman, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Eastern Region; and 
Inspector General Lau.
    The Subcommittee was gravely concerned about the problems 
it found at the Treasury OIG. As Senator Collins put it, the 
Subcommittee's findings of misconduct were ``troubling, not 
only because they involve the waste of government resources and 
mismanagement of a Federal office, but also because they 
involve an Inspector General, the very person charged with 
protecting the public from waste, fraud and abuse.''
    Inspector General Lau announced her resignation on January 
16, 1998.
4. Medicare Fraud Prevention: Improving the Medicare Enrollment Process 
        (January 29, 1998)
    The Subcommittee's investigation into Medicare fraud 
continued in the wake of its June 26, 1997 hearing, focusing 
upon several weaknesses this inquiry revealed in the procedures 
and processes used to enroll Medicare providers. These 
weaknesses have allowed numerous individuals or entities, with 
little or no experience as health care providers, to enter the 
Medicare program and thereby to steal millions of dollars from 
the Nation's taxpayers. The Subcommittee's hearing on this 
subject, on January 29, 1998, revealed that there existed 
essentially no screening process for those applying to become 
Medicare providers. Indeed, despite the high financial and 
public health stakes involved, it was much easier to obtain a 
Medicare provider number than to obtain a liquor license.
    Witnesses at the Subcommittee's January 1998 hearing 
included one such Medicare criminal, who wished to have his 
identity concealed. Mr. Smith--a pseudonym--had stolen 
approximately $32 million from the Medicare program until being 
caught and convicted.\4\ He testified that it had been very 
easy for him to obtain his Medicare provider number: He simply 
filled out an application, mailed it to the appropriate office, 
and was thereafter simply given a provider number over the 
telephone. No one ever scrutinized his application or performed 
a site visit to verify that his business actually existed. 
After receiving the provider number, Smith paid recruiters to 
acquire Medicare beneficiary numbers, with which he billed 
Medicare month after month, ostensibly for supplying 
nutritional supplements to the elderly--supplements which he 
never actually provided. Through such fraud, he received 
between $180,000 to $200,000 in Medicare payments every month. 
Smith told the Subcommittee that he and his criminal colleagues 
considered Medicare to be a gold mine, adding that the 
government had made it easy for him to rob the taxpayer by not 
bothering to require that he produce any documents in support 
of the false bills he submitted to Medicare.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \4\ Concealing his identity by testifying from behind a screen, 
this convicted felon told the Subcommittee that ``this is a dangerous 
world and I sincerely fear for my safety.''
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    In addition to Smith, the Subcommittee also heard from 
several expert investigators with experience in Medicare fraud 
issues. These included John M. Frazzini, a former Subcommittee 
investigator; John E. Hartwig, Deputy Inspector General for 
Investigations at HHS's Office of Investigations (OI); Cathy E. 
Colton, Supervisory Special Agent of OI's Miami Sub-Office; H. 
Donna Dymon, Ph.D., former California Team Leader of HCFA's 
anti-fraud initiative, Operation Restore Trust (ORT); Dewey 
Price, ORT's South Florida Team Leader; and Susan A. Frisco, a 
Special Agent from the New York Field Office of the HHS Office 
of Inspector General.
5. Fraud on the Internet: Scams Affecting Consumers (February 10, 1998)
    With a large and growing number of American households with 
access to the Internet through personal computers, the use of 
the Internet for consumer purchases, banking, and other 
electronic commerce is increasing rapidly. With this growth in 
commerce, however, comes the risk of new kinds of fraud. Credit 
card fraud has already been identified by law enforcement 
agencies as a major problem in Internet commerce, and new types 
of Internet-related crime have been proliferating. Financial 
institutions and other businesses with on-line financial 
services, for example, have been affected by unauthorized 
criminal intrusions into their systems. According to published 
reports, ``electronic bank robberies'' net on average 
approximately $250,000, and only 2 percent of those 
``cybercrimes'' are ever detected and investigated, let alone 
solved. Such statistics compare alarmingly to conventional bank 
robberies, which net on average approximately $7,500--and with 
80 percent of the robbers eventually being apprehended.
    Concerned about Americans' vulnerability to Internet-
related fraud, the Subcommittee began an investigation into the 
extent to which such criminal activities affect commerce on the 
Internet. The Subcommittee's first hearing on this subject 
occurred on February 10, 1998, and focused upon traditional 
types of fraud perpetrated over the Internet. At this hearing, 
the Subcommittee heard testimony from Susan Grant, Director of 
the National Fraud Information Center and Vice President for 
Public Policy at the National Consumers' League; Tatiana Gau, 
Vice President for Integrity Assurance at America Online, the 
world's largest Internet provider; Barry Wise, C.P.A., a victim 
of Internet fraud; and Hon. Robert Pitofsky, Chairman of the 
Federal Trade Commission.
    The outcome of the hearing determined that more consumer 
education was required so that consumers could distinguish more 
easily between fraudulent and genuine offers on the Internet 
without stifling legitimate commerce. The hearing also 
determined that consumer complaints regarding Internet fraud 
need to be vigorously pursued by the appropriate authorities 
and that these agencies have the resources that are required to 
do the job.
6. Unauthorized Long Distance Switching ``Slamming'' (February 18, 
        1998--Field Hearing in Portland, Maine)
    In 1996, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) 
received over 16,000 complaints from consumers about telephone 
``slamming''--the unauthorized switching, by a long distance 
carrier, of a consumer's long distance service--making this the 
number one consumer complaint to the FCC. The FCC, which is 
responsible for investigating complaints of telephone slamming, 
has adopted regulations against slamming and taken numerous 
actions against companies that engage in this practice. 
Nevertheless, despite current regulations prohibiting slamming, 
it continues to be used by long distance carriers against 
unwitting consumers. Concerned at the scope of this continuing 
problem, the Subcommittee began an investigation into the 
prevalence of telephone slamming, the adequacy of current 
regulations, and FCC enforcement to prevent this insidious 
practice.
    The Subcommittee held a field hearing concerning telephone 
slamming on February 18, 1998 in Portland, Maine. During this 
hearing, Maine consumers victimized by slamming practices 
explained how some long distance companies used fraudulent or 
deceptive practices to change their telephone service without 
their knowledge or approval. Witnesses at this hearing included 
the Hon. Susan Ness, FCC Commissioner; Daniel Breton, Director 
of Governmental Affairs for Bell Atlantic; Susan Grant, Vice 
President for Public Policy of the National Consumers' League; 
and three victims of telephone slamming practices--Susan 
Deblois of Wintrhop, Maine; Pamela Corrigan of West Farmington, 
Maine; and Steve Klein of Portland, Maine.
    This hearing showed how some long distance companies used 
fraudulent practices to change their telephone service. 
Witnesses used words such as ``stealing,'' ``criminal,'' and 
``break-in'' to describe practices employed by unscrupulous 
telephone companies to pick up customers and boost profits.
    Pamela Corrigan testified that she was sent an unsolicited 
``welcome package'' in the mail, which looked like the stacks 
of junk mail that consumers receive every day. However, this 
``junk mail'' was not what it appeared to be. This ``welcome 
package'' automatically signed her up for a new long distance 
service unless she returned a card rejecting the change. She 
was amazed and appalled that it was possible for a company to 
change her long distance service simply because she did not 
respond that she did not want their service. Susan Deblois 
testified that, when she was slammed, her children were unable 
to use the 800 number she had for them to call home in case of 
an emergency.
    The hearing also illustrated how slamming not only affects 
families but also small businesses and communities. For 
example, Steve Klein, the owner of Mermaid Transportation 
Company in Portland, Maine, testified that his business phone 
lines, which are critical to his livelihood, were tied up for 4 
days when he was slammed by a long-distance telephone reseller 
which falsely represented itself as AT&T. Similarly, Ms. 
Corrigan, who is the town manager of Farmington, Maine, 
reported that the town's phone lines were also slammed. It 
became clear from the hearing that no one is immune from this 
illegal activity.
    Also, at this hearing, FCC Commissioner Susan Ness 
testified about the FCC's efforts to control slamming. The 
Commissioner acknowledged that the FCC really does not know how 
many of the 50 million carrier selection changes each year 
result in slamming, since many slammed consumers resolve the 
problem without bringing it to the FCC. However, the 
Commissioner did offer the conservative estimate that, if just 
one percent of the carrier changes made each year are the 
result of unauthorized changes in service, over 500,000 
households are slammed each year.
    The hearing also made it clear that the FCC must step up 
its enforcement efforts against slammers. Senator Collins 
pointed out to the FCC that the States are much more aggressive 
than the FCC in taking enforcement actions against slammers. 
The FCC Commissioner agreed that the relatively small fines 
imposed on slammers by the FCC might be considered by the 
company as just the cost of doing business, rather than a real 
deterrent to slamming. In addition, the Commissioner agreed 
that the FCC could increase its enforcement against slammers 
and that establishing criminal penalties for slamming would 
help to reduce the problem.
7. The Exploding Problem of Telephone Slamming in America (April 23, 
        1998)
    Building upon the record established in its Portland field 
hearing in February, the Subcommittee held a second hearing on 
telephone slamming on April 23, 1998. At this hearing, GAO 
investigators presented the results of a case study they had 
undertaken at the Subcommittee's request, and Members discussed 
its findings with the head of the FCC. The GAO study focused 
upon one particular long distance telephone company and 
revealed that this company apparently slammed over 500,000 
consumers at one time, billed consumers over $20 million, and 
left unpaid bills to long distance carriers of nearly $4 
million--all while successfully eluding Federal officials. The 
Subcommittee heard testimony at this hearing from the Hon. 
William E. Kennard, Chairman of the FCC, and from Eljay B. 
Bowron, Assistant Comptroller General for Special 
Investigations at GAO.
    Mr. Bowron testified that long distance companies engage in 
slamming because there is a financial incentive to do so and 
that it is easy for fraudulent individuals to enter the long 
distance market because there are no controls in place at the 
FCC to screen potential providers. As part of its 
investigation, GAO investigators filed fictitious information 
with the FCC without any difficulty that gave the investigators 
authority to ``resell'' long distance services. This authority 
gives the applicant the ability to enter the long distance 
market and slam consumers with little chance of being caught. 
In addition, to illustrate how an entity engages in slamming, 
Mr. Bowron presented a case study of Daniel Fletcher, an 
individual who operated as a long distance reseller under at 
least eight different company names, slamming thousands of 
consumers. According to the findings in the GAO report, Mr. 
Fletcher slammed or attempted to slam over 500,000 consumers, 
billed consumers for at least $20 million in long distance 
charges, and left at least $3.8 million in unpaid bills to 
telecommunications industry firms. Furthermore, Mr. Bowron 
testified that the FCC took over 2 years to take final action 
against the Fletcher companies and has been unable to locate 
Mr. Fletcher.
    Chairman Kennard testified that current FCC rules do not do 
enough to protect consumers against slamming and that tougher 
rules are needed take the profit out of slamming. The Chairman 
explained that the FCC has proposed new rules to improve its 
ability to protect consumers from this fraudulent practice. 
However, the new rules had not yet been adopted by the FCC. The 
Chairman also testified that the FCC took the unprecedented 
action of revoking the operating authority of the Fletcher 
companies on April 21, 1998, and fined these companies $5.7 
million.
    The Subcommittee learned that billing practices in the 
telecommunications industry allow long distance companies to 
use misleading company names that are difficult for consumers 
to identify on their phone bills, and that the States have been 
much more aggressive than the FCC in taking enforcement action 
against companies that repeatedly slam consumers.
8. The Safety of Food Imports--An Overview (Part I) (May 14, 1998)
    In June 1997, the Subcommittee began an in-depth 
investigation into the safety of food imported into the United 
States. According to the GAO, there are an estimated 81 million 
cases of food borne illnesses and as many as 9,100 related 
deaths each year. The two Federal agencies that are primarily 
responsible for monitoring food imports are the Agriculture 
Department's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) and the 
HHS's Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FSIS inspects 
domestic and imported meat, poultry, and eggs to ensure safety, 
wholesomeness, and accurate labeling while the FDA inspects all 
other domestic and imported food products. Food imports to the 
United States have increased dramatically in recent years, and 
the FSIS and FDA have not kept up. Today, they inspect a 
smaller proportion of food products than ever.
    Concerned at the possibility that this dynamic might be 
putting American consumers increasingly at risk, the 
Subcommittee's inquiry aimed to determine: (i) the extent to 
which some imported food poses health risks to U.S. consumers; 
(ii) whether Federal agencies effectively and efficiently use 
their existing resources; and (iii) whether the Nation's food 
safety system is adequate to prevent unsafe food from entering 
the United States. Chairman Collins requested that GAO assist 
the Subcommittee in its investigation by conducting a review of 
the adequacy of the procedures used to ensure the safety of 
food imports, specifically focusing on the processes used by 
Federal agencies to monitor fruit and vegetable imports--the 
fastest growing sector of imported food products.
    The Subcommittee held the first of its four public hearings 
on the safety of food imports on May 14, 1998. The Subcommittee 
heard testimony from Dr. Mary Ellen Camire, Department of Food 
Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Maine; Robert 
E. Robertson, Associate Director for Food and Agricultural 
Issues at the GAO; and Reggie Jang, a former Consumer Safety 
Inspector for the Food and Drug Administration. Dr. Camire 
testified that preventative measures at the (foreign) farm 
level are very important because border inspection procedures 
involve testing relatively few shipments of imported food and 
extensive microbiological and chemical testing of all imports 
is not feasible. Mr. Robertson, Associate Director, Food and 
Agriculture Issues for the GAO discussed the key findings of 
the year-long GAO review requested by Chairman Collins: (1) 
limitations in FDA's authority make it unnecessarily difficult 
to ensure food safety; (2) FDA's and FSIS' procedures for 
selecting shipments to review result in the ineffective 
targeting of inspection resources; and (3) weaknesses in FDA 
and Customs controls allow unscrupulous importers to market 
unsafe products. Finally, Mr. Jang described techniques used by 
unscrupulous importers to circumvent current import procedures.
9. The Safety of Food Imports: From Farm to the Table--A Case Study of 
        Tainted Imported Fruit (Part II) (July 9, 1998)
    The Subcommittee held its second hearing on the safety of 
food imports in July 1998. During this hearing, the witnesses 
laid out a case study of tainted imported fresh fruit ``from 
the farm to the table,'' focusing on contamination problems 
with such imports and how the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) 
and other public health agencies investigate outbreaks of 
foodborne illness. The first witness was Dr. Stephanie A. 
Smith, a food scientist and Subcommittee investigator who 
traveled to Guatemala to observe first-hand the production and 
export of fresh raspberries. The Subcommittee also heard from 
Dr. Jeffery Foran, an environmental scientist and a consumer 
who contracted a Cyclospora infection after eating contaminated 
raspberries. The final witness, Dr. Stephen Ostroff, the 
Associate Director for Epidemiologic Science of the CDC's 
National Center for Infectious Diseases, provided an overview 
of CDC's foodborne disease surveillance systems and described 
the process of outbreak investigation and ``traceback'' to the 
source of contamination.
10. ``Cramming''--An Emerging Telephone Billing Fraud (July 23, 1998)
    Like telephone ``slamming,'' another emerging consumer 
fraud examined by the Subcommittee during the 105th Congress is 
the practice of telephone ``cramming''--the billing of 
unauthorized charges on a consumer's telephone bill. At the 
Subcommittee's cramming hearing on July 23, 1998, Members heard 
testimony from: Susan Grant, Vice President for Public Policy 
at the National Consumers' League; Lawrence E. Strickling, 
Deputy Chief of the FCC's Common Carrier Bureau; Eileen 
Harrington, Assistant Director for Marketing Practices at the 
Federal Trade Commission's Bureau of Consumer Protection; and 
Roy M. Neel, President and Chief Executive Officer of the U.S. 
Telephone Association.
    This hearing was designed to raise consumer awareness and 
determine what was being done to control the emerging problem 
of telephone ``cramming''. The hearing highlighted the scope 
and nature of cramming, educated consumers about cramming, 
determined what was being done to control the practice, and 
explored further regulatory and legislative remedies that could 
be implemented to stop cramming.
    Susan Grant, from the National Consumer's League, discussed 
consumer complaints about cramming, what consumers can do to 
protect themselves from unauthorized charges, and what changes 
need to be made in telephone billing practices to control 
cramming. Roy Neel, from USTA, discussed the telephone billing 
industry's efforts to control cramming, focusing on the anti-
cramming guidelines that were developed by key representatives 
of the industry. Larry Strickling, Deputy Chief of the FCC's 
Common Carrier Bureau (the Bureau responsible for telephone 
regulations and enforcement), discussed FCC's anti-cramming 
efforts, including consumer awareness programs, pending 
enforcement actions, and efforts to encourage industry 
guidelines to prevent cramming. Eileen Harrington, Associate 
Director for Marketing Practices, discussed FTC's efforts to 
stop cramming, including consumer awareness and enforcement 
actions. She also discussed additional legislative changes that 
may be required to enable FTC to take enforcement actions 
against all companies, including telecommunications carriers.
11. The Safety of Food Imports--Fraud and Deception in the Food Import 
        Process (Part III) (September 10, 1998) (Combined with Part IV, 
        September 24 and 25, 1998)
    In September 1998, the Subcommittee held its third hearing 
on the safety of imported food. This hearing examined the 
specific ways in which unscrupulous importers exploit 
weaknesses in the U.S. food safety system. The witnesses at 
this hearing were Lawrence J. Dyckman, Director for Food and 
Agriculture Issues at the GAO; Keith Oleson, GAO's Assistant 
Director for Food and Agriculture Issues; Dennis Richards, a 
GAO investigator; Richard J. Hoglund, Deputy Assistant 
Commissioner for the U.S. Customs Service's Office of 
Investigations; Philip Metzger, Director of the Customs 
Service's Trade Compliance Team; and ``Mr. Broker'' (a 
pseudonym), a former customer broker now serving as a 
confidential informant.
    The GAO witnesses testified that importers' ability to 
retain custody over food products even during the inspection 
process made it much easier for unscrupulous operators to bring 
unsafe goods into the United States, that shipments rejected by 
inspectors are not marked to show such rejection (thereby 
making it easier to bring them in through another port of 
entry), that Customs and FDA seldom coordinated their efforts 
to prevent unsafe imports, and that current penalties were not 
effective deterrents. The GAO officials also detailed seven 
recent Customs Service investigations into the devices used by 
unscrupulous importers to bring tainted food products into the 
country, after which ``Mr. Broker'' described his experiences 
with such schemes.
12. National Cancer Institute's Management of Radiation Studies 
        (September 16, 1998)
    The Subcommittee's next hearing focused upon the handling 
of an important study of radiation risks by the National Cancer 
Institute (NCI). In 1983, Congress required HHS to conduct a 
study to determine exposures and doses resulting from the 
release of radioactive iodine (I-131) from U.S. atmospheric 
nuclear weapons testing at the Nevada Test site between the 
mid-1940's and the early 1960's, and assess the risk of thyroid 
cancer associated with doses of I-131. NCI did not issue this 
study until fully 14 years later, on October 1, 1997--even 
though the report had essentially been completed as early as 
1992. Furthermore, even when it was finally issued, the report 
did not fully comply with the requirements set forth by 
Congress in that it neglected to discuss any increased public 
risk of thyroid cancer from I-131.
    Led by investigators from the Minority Staff, the 
Subcommittee conducted an inquiry into NCI's management of this 
study. Witnesses at the NCI hearing included: Senator Tom 
Harkin of Iowa; Dr. Owen Hoffman, President of Senes Oak Ridge, 
Inc.; Dr. Barry L. Johnson, Assistant Administrator of the 
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry at HHS; Dr. 
Bruce Wachholz, Chief of the Radiation Effects Branch of NCI; 
Dr. William F. Raub, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Science 
Policy at HHS; and Dr. Richard Klausner, NCI's director.
    The Subcommittee's hearing focused on accusations of 
mismanagement in NCI's handling of this important study, and 
the resulting delay in informing the American public about how 
it may have been affected by nuclear fallout. NCI witnesses 
acknowledged that the I-131 report should indeed have been 
released earlier, attributing some of NCI's inattention to the 
mistaken belief that the public did not have a strong interest 
in the results of the study. In light of these problems, the 
hearing also addressed alleged NCI mismanagement of two similar 
ongoing studies, including one addressing the health effects of 
the nuclear accident at Chernobyl in the former Soviet Union in 
1986. Of particular concern was HHS' lack of department-wide 
policies or guidelines to govern the conduct of radiation 
health effects research, even though its agencies perform many 
of those studies for the government. Witness testimony also 
explored the differing approaches to health effects research 
taken by various agencies within HHS. HHS officials, in turn, 
pledged to review the practices and procedures for such dose 
reconstruction studies at NCI and CDC and to arrange an 
independent review of ongoing projects.\5\
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \5\ After the Subcommittee hearing, Congress gave CDC an additional 
$1.85 million to conduct a broader study of the health consequences of 
nuclear weapons tests. See H.R. 4328 (Omnibus Consolidated and 
Emergency Supplemental Appropriations Bill for Fiscal Year 1999). This 
bill also required HHS to conduct a review of NCI's Chernobyl study and 
to inform Congress of its plans and recommendations for the development 
and implementation of guidelines and policies to govern radiation 
health studies in the future.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
13. Improving the Safety of Food Imports (Part IV) (September 24-25, 
        1998) (Combined with Part III, September 10 1998)
    The Subcommittee held 2 more days of hearings on the safety 
of imported food in September 1998. These hearings focused upon 
possible legislative, administrative, and regulatory remedies 
for the weaknesses in the U.S. food safety system identified 
during the course of the Subcommittee's investigation. 
Witnesses at the hearing were: Senators Paul Coverdell of 
Georgia, Edward Kennedy of Massachusetts, Barbara Mikulski of 
Maryland, and Tom Harkin of Iowa; William Schultz, Deputy 
Commissioner for Policy at the FDA; Thomas J. Billy, 
Administrator of the Department of Agriculture's Food Safety 
and Inspection Service (FSIS); Raymond W. Kelly, Commissioner 
of the U.S. Customs Service; and Dr. Sanford A. Miller of the 
National Academy of Sciences' Committee to Ensure Safe Food. 
The Subcommittee also heard from Timothy M. Hammonds, President 
and Chief Executive Officer of the Food Marketing Institute; 
Dr. Stacey A. Zawel, Director for Scientific and Regulatory 
Affairs at the Grocery Manufacturers of America; Dane T. 
Bernard, Vice President for Food Safety Programs at the 
National Food Processors Association; Dr. Nancy Nagle, Senior 
Advisor for Food Safety at the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable 
Association; Dr. Richard Levinson, Associate Executive Director 
for Programs and Policy at the American Public Health 
Association; Carol Tucker Foreman, Coordinator of the Safe Food 
Coalition; Dr. Ruth Kava, Director of Nutrition at the American 
Council on Science and Health; and Robert Hahn, Director for 
Legal Affairs and Research at Public Voice for Food and Health 
Policy.
    While there was no overriding consensus among the 16 
witnesses, some of the recommendations provided were shared 
across witness categories. For example, both the industry and 
consumer organizations want increased funding for research and 
consumer education. Both the industry groups and the agencies 
recognize the need for enhanced coordination between the FDA 
and the U.S. Customs Service. Both the consumer groups and the 
FDA want Congress to grant FDA equivalency authority. Two 
additional statements of interest were provided. First, both 
the United Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Association and the 
Grocery Manufacturers Association want the United States to 
more aggressively participate in international standard-setting 
activities, specifically Codex Alimentarius. Second, the Food 
Marketing Institute suggested creation of a revenue-neutral 
cross-utilization plan to permit FSIS and FDA to share both 
financial and human resources.
14. Medicare Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Efforts (December 9, 
        1998--Field Hearing in Chicago, Illinois)
    Building upon its previous investigation and hearings into 
Medicare fraud, the Subcommittee held a field hearing on this 
subject in Chicago, Illinois in December 1998. This hearing 
examined some recent successful Medicare fraud prevention and 
enforcement efforts, particularly Operation Restore Trust (ORT) 
and a local senior citizen outreach and education program in 
Illinois. ORT was a major 2-year effort launched by HHS' Office 
of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) in May 1995, which focused on 
five States--California, Florida, New York, Texas, and 
Illinois--that contain 40 percent of Medicare beneficiaries. 
The project targeted three areas the HHS-OIG had identified 
with systemic health care fraud: Home health agencies, nursing 
homes, and durable medical equipment suppliers. The hearing 
also examined the congressionally-authorized Health Care Anti-
Fraud, Waste and Abuse Community Volunteer Demonstration 
Program, which recruited and trained retired professionals to 
serve as local, volunteer resources, and educators--also 
enlisting them in identifying and reporting health care fraud 
and abuse.
    At this Chicago field hearing, the Subcommittee heard 
testimony from: Dorothy Collins, Regional Administrator of 
HCFA; James A. Kopf, Director of HHS-OIG's Criminal 
Investigations Division Office; Barbara Coyle, a volunteer with 
the Suburban Area Agency on Aging in Oak Park, Illinois; and 
Jonathan Lavin, Executive Director of the Suburban Area Agency 
on Aging. Testimony revealed that Federal taxpayers were often 
billed for home health services that were either overused, not 
medically necessary, or not actually covered by Medicare. The 
Subcommittee found that ORT, however, had great success in 
combating such fraud, and that the retired volunteers recruited 
by the demonstration program were proving to be an important 
bulwark in the fight to identify and stop such schemes and to 
educate health care consumers about such issues.

         III. Legislative Activities During the 105th Congress

    The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations does not have 
legislative authority, but because its investigations play an 
important role in bringing issues to the attention of Congress 
and the public, the Subcommittee's work frequently contributes 
to the development of significant legislative initiatives. The 
Subcommittee's activities during the 105th Congress were no 
exception, with Subcommittee hearings and Members playing 
prominent roles in the development of a number of legislative 
initiatives.
S. 1740--Slamming Protection Act of 1998
    Sparked by the findings of the Subcommittee's investigation 
into American consumers' growing problems with telephone 
``slamming''--the unauthorized switching of telephone service 
subscribers from one telecommunications carrier to another--
Senators Collins and Durbin introduced a bill to amend the 
Communications Act of 1934 to improve Federal safeguards 
against such practices. Portions of this legislation were 
included in legislation introduced by Senator McCain, chairman 
of the Commerce Committee, which passed the Senate by a vote of 
99 to 0 on May 12, 1998. This bill did not become law by the 
close of the 105th Congress, however, because agreement could 
not be reached in conference after the House passed a less 
encompassing slamming bill.
    The Collins/Durbin provisions would have established new 
criminal penalties for intentional slamming, the same as those 
for any other Federal crime: A maximum of $100,000 and 1 year 
imprisonment for a misdemeanor, and $250,000 and 5 years 
imprisonment for a felony. In addition, anyone convicted of 
intentional slamming would be disqualified from being a 
telecommunications service provider. This would provide an 
additional enforcement tool against those individuals that 
engage in the most egregious of slamming violations, and would 
not prevent the Federal Government from using any other civil 
or criminal remedy to stop those who intentionally defraud 
consumers by slamming.
    Second, the provisions would increase consumer protection 
and give control back to consumers by taking the financial 
incentive away from companies that engage in slamming. Rather 
than paying the slamming company, consumers could pay their 
original carrier at their previous rate. This is a more 
reasonable approach to removing the financial incentive for 
slamming than absolving subscribers of any liability for 
telephone charges when they are slammed, as was proposed by the 
FCC Chairman, William Kennard.
    Finally, the Collins/Durbin provisions encouraged better 
FCC enforcement against slamming by requiring all 
telecommunications carriers to report slamming violations, on a 
quarterly basis, to the FCC in a summary report. Currently, 
there is no central repository for slamming complaints, and the 
FCC must rely on consumers to write or call the FCC to report a 
slamming incident. A universal reporting requirement would 
increase the FCC's ability to learn which carriers are engaging 
in widespread slamming and take immediate enforcement action 
against them.
S. 2167--Inspector General Act Amendments of 1998
    As an outgrowth of the Subcommittee's hearings on problems 
in the office of the Treasury Department's Inspector General, 
Senators Collins and Grassley introduced a bill to improve the 
accountability and efficiency of Offices of Inspector General 
(OIGs) throughout the Federal system. This bill proposed 
amendments to the Inspector General Act that would: (i) 
establish a 9-year renewable term of office for presidentially-
appointed Inspectors General; (ii) require that all OIGs 
undergo an external review, not less than every 3 years, to 
evaluate their management and controls of contracts, 
appropriated funds, and personnel actions; (iii) require OIGs 
to submit annual (rather than semiannual) reports to Congress; 
(iv) increase an Inspectors General's annual salary from 
$118,400 (Executive Level 4) to $125,900 (Executive Level 3); 
and (v) consolidate selected smaller OIGs into larger, more 
efficient, department-wide offices. The bill did not become law 
by the close of the 105th Congress, but Chairman Collins 
intended to reintroduce a second version of the bill in the 
106th Congress.
S. Amdt. 934--Oversight of Treasury Department Inspector General
    In legislative action also growing out of the 
Subcommittee's investigation into abuses by the Treasury OIG, 
Senators Collins, Shelby and Grassley introduced an amendment 
to prohibit the Treasury Department's Inspector General from 
spending any funds on consulting contracts and to make a 
corresponding reduction in the Inspector General's budget by $1 
million. This amendment was necessary because the 
Subcommittee's investigation revealed clear and credible 
evidence that the Inspector General had abused her contracting 
authority by spending taxpayer dollars on management studies of 
doubtful value and excessive cost. The amendment was later 
adopted as part of the Treasury, Postal Service, and General 
Government Appropriations Act (Public Law 105-61).

                  IV. GAO Reports and Committee Print

    In connection with its investigations into the above 
topics, the Subcommittee made extensive use of the resources 
and expertise of the General Accounting Office, the various 
U.S. Government Inspectors General, and other entities. In the 
process, the Subcommittee requested a number of reports and 
studies on issues of great importance to Congress and to U.S. 
consumers. Among these reports were the following:
Inspectors General: Contracting Actions By Treasury Office of Inspector 
        General (General Accounting Office, October 1997)
    In May 1997, after allegations had been raised of 
misconduct against the Treasury Department's Inspector General, 
Chairman Collins requested that GAO's Office of Special 
Investigations assist the Subcommittee in determining the facts 
and circumstances surrounding the events at issue. 
Specifically, Chairman Collins requested that GAO examine the 
Department of Treasury's award, without full and open 
competition, (a) of a sole-source contract to Sato and 
Associates for a management study of the Treasury Department's 
OIG and (b) of a consulting services contract to Kathie M. 
Libby.
    GAO reported that, shortly after Inspector General Valerie 
Lau's confirmation, she notified the Treasury's Procurement 
Services Division that she wanted Frank Sato--an old personal 
friend--to perform a management review. The Procurement 
Division subsequently awarded a sole-source management study to 
Sato and Associates on the basis of ``unusual and compelling 
urgency.'' Although Inspector General Lau stated that the need 
to limit competition was urgent because of the need to make 
reassignments in the senior executive ranks and to marshal the 
resources needed to conduct audits, GAO found that there was 
insufficient urgency to justify limiting competition in this 
fashion. GAO also reported that the price of the Sato and 
Associates contract for the Treasury OIG effort appeared to be 
artificially high, especially in light of the fact that the 
same firm had performed a similar review of the Department of 
Interior OIG for approximately $62,000 less.
    In September 1995, the Procurement Division also awarded a 
time-and-materials consulting services contract to Kathie M. 
Libby--doing business as KLS--to review and analyze an Office 
of Personnel Management (OPM) report on morale and diversity 
problems in the OIG office and assist OIG managers and staff 
concerning goals identified in the OPM study. The contract was 
also awarded with only very limited competition on the basis of 
``unusual and compelling urgency.'' GAO reported that the 
justification for limiting competition was unreasonable in this 
case as well, since delay would not have prevented Inspector 
General Lau from addressing the problems in question. In 
addition, GAO identified a pattern of careless management in 
the procurement process and in oversight of performance under 
the KLS contract; this careless management resulted in a four-
fold increase in the contract's total price and required a 1-
year extension to the contract's performance period. Finally, 
GAO found that KLS received payments for work that had not been 
authorized.
Oversight Review of the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of 
        The Treasury (S. Prt. 105-42, January 30, 1998)
    After a 5-month investigation and 2 days of hearings 
examining management problems at the Treasury OIG, the 
Subcommittee concluded that substantial evidence suggested that 
the office had violated Federal laws in the sole-source 
procurement of its consulting contracts with Sato and 
Associates and KLS. Specifically, the Subcommittee concluded 
that there was insufficient urgency for the OIG to award the 
Sato and Associates contract on a sole-source basis, making 
this award a violation of applicable procurement statutes and 
regulations. The OIG, the Subcommittee found, also violated 
applicable statutes and regulations by failing to request 
offers from as many potential sources as practicable under the 
circumstances. Inspector General Lau was aware, for example, of 
at least three other contractors who could have done the work 
she gave to her friend Frank Sato.
    Regarding the KLS contract, the Subcommittee also concluded 
that Inspector General Lau's justification for limiting 
competition was also unreasonable, and that two modifications 
to that contract clearly fell outside its scope. The 
Subcommittee's investigation, in fact, identified a pattern of 
careless management in the procurement process and in the OIG's 
oversight of performance under the KLS contract. The OIG 
engaged in poor procurement planning which resulted in five 
contract modifications, a four-fold increase in the contract's 
total price, and a 1 year's extension to the period of 
performance. In addition, the OIG paid for work that was not 
authorized by the contract or modifications, and payments were 
made to KLS without verification that work had been 
accomplished and without receipts for travel costs incurred by 
the contractor.
    The Subcommittee found additional problems with the 
Treasury OIG's handling of issues relating to the controversy 
popularly known as ``Filegate''--which began when the sensitive 
FBI background files of former Bush Administration officials 
and other prominent Republicans were acquired by Clinton 
Administration officials at the White House. Testimony given by 
White House officials to the House Committee on Government 
Reform and Oversight apparently conflicted with that given by 
two career Secret Service agents about the procedures used by 
the Secret Service to generate lists of White House 
passholders. This conflict led the Treasury OIG to begin an 
investigation into the Secret Service agents for perjury and/or 
false statements.
    In looking into the OIG's handling of this investigation, 
the Subcommittee found the OIG's work to have been marked by 
inconsistencies and confusion from the start. The Subcommittee 
received conflicting reports about (a) who directed the opening 
of the investigation, (b) the nature and scope of the case, (c) 
who authorized or knew of changes in its scope, and (d) why 
accurate and complete information about the existence and 
nature of the investigation was concealed from Congress despite 
repeated inquiries by the Senate and the House. Indeed, the 
Subcommittee found that the Treasury OIG had badly mishandled 
the inquiry--destroying documents, unfairly and inappropriately 
harassing and humiliating the two Secret Service agents, and 
misleading Congress about the nature of this investigation.
Telecommunications: Telephone Slamming and Its Harmful Effects (General 
        Accounting Office, April 1998)
    The General Accounting Office's Office of Special 
Investigations conducted a 4-month investigation of the types 
of entities that engage in slamming and the process by which 
such entities are able to defraud consumers.
    This report provided evidence that shows telephone 
resellers are responsible for a disproportionate number of 
slamming complaints. While all telecommunications carriers have 
had slamming complaints against them, resellers are more often 
involved in many of the more fraudulent slamming practices.
    The report showed that, because the FCC operates in a 
deregulation mode, there are no mechanisms in place to screen 
out fraudulent telecommunications providers and prevent them 
from entering the market. Even the minimum requirements that 
the FCC has in place to issue licenses are not enforced by the 
FCC until complaints are lodged against a particular carrier. 
To determine how easy it is to get an FCC license and get into 
the telecommunications business, GAO investigators filed a 
tariff with the FCC for a fictitious telecommunications company 
named ``PSI Communications.'' Even though the GAO investigators 
did not provide all of the information required, within a day 
or so, PSI Communications received an FCC license and was 
officially authorized to be a telecommunications provider. 
Armed with the FCC license, GAO investigators contacted various 
facilities-based carriers, such as Sprint, MCI and AT&T, to see 
what requirements they would have to meet to become resellers 
for those carriers. Although the GAO investigators did not 
pursue this any further, they learned that as long as they 
signed an agreement to deliver a certain level of business, 
they could operate as resellers without meeting any additional 
requirements.
    The GAO report also provided information on the enforcement 
actions against slamming taken by the States as compared to 
those actions taken by the FCC. The evidence shows that the 
States have been much more aggressive in their pursuit of 
slammers than the FCC has been.
    As a case study of slamming, GAO presented the case of 
Daniel Fletcher, an individual who operated as a 
telecommunications reseller under at least eight different 
company names, repeatedly slamming thousands of consumers. By 
working with larger telephone resellers and billing agents, Mr. 
Fletcher was able to receive at least several million dollars 
in advance of billing his so-called customers, most of whom 
turned out to have been slammed by the Fletcher companies. When 
those resellers or billing agents became aware of the slamming 
complaints against one particular Fletcher company, Mr. 
Fletcher disappeared and continued to do business using another 
of his many fictitious companies.
    Only after the FCC received numerous slamming complaints 
against the Fletcher companies did the Commission realize that 
Mr. Fletcher did not provide the information required by FCC 
regulations. Mr. Fletcher filed tariffs, required as a 
condition of obtaining an FCC license, for only two of his 
companies. The FCC's efforts to locate him were futile, since 
his business addresses were all mail box drops and the contact 
phone numbers provided in the FCC applications all led to 
answering services. As a result, the FCC has not been able to 
collect the $80,000 fine it assessed against one of the 
Fletcher companies. In June 1997, the FCC issued a proposed 
order to revoke the operating authority of the Fletcher 
companies, but has yet to finalize that order. Technically, 
under the law, Mr. Fletcher is still allowed to offer 
telecommunications services.
Food Safety: Federal Efforts to Ensure the Safety of Imported Foods Are 
        Inconsistent and Unreliable (General Accounting Office, April 
        1998)
    In May 1998, Chairman Collins released a report prepared by 
GAO in response to her request that it evaluate the Federal 
Government's efforts to ensure the safety of imported foods. 
This report contained recommendations--to Congress and to the 
Secretaries of Agriculture and of Health and Human Services--
designed to enhance the Federal Government's authority to 
review the safety of food imports, improve the effectiveness 
and efficiency of systems and staff to screen imports, and 
strengthen internal controls.
    The GAO report reached three principal conclusions. First, 
it concluded that weaknesses in import controls allow entry of 
unsafe food products. Without sufficient controls, unscrupulous 
importers can falsify laboratory test results on suspect foods 
in order to obtain an FDA release, sell potentially unsafe 
imported food before FDA can inspect it, and/or still sell 
imported foods that FDA has actually barred from entry. Second, 
the report found that Federal agencies could more effectively 
target resources on unsafe foods. Accordingly, GAO recommended 
that both FDA and FSIS modify their import information systems; 
among other things, such modifications should allow inspectors 
to access laboratory test results. Third, the report found that 
the lack of ``equivalency authority'--the authority of U.S. 
regulators'' to require countries to demonstrate that they have 
safety inspection systems equivalent to those of the United 
States before granting them authority to export to the U.S.-
diminishes FDA's ability to protect American consumers from 
unsafe imported foods.
Year-End Spending: Reforms Underway But Better Reporting and Oversight 
        Needed (General Accounting Office, July 1998)
    During 1979 and 1980, the Governmental Affairs Committee's 
Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management conducted an 
investigation and held hearings on the subject of ``hurry-up 
spending''--unplanned, binge spending upon low-priority 
projects and items at the end of a fiscal year in order to use 
up available budgets. The Subcommittee concluded that 
inadequate management practices responsible for hurry-up 
spending cost the taxpayer, at a minimum, $2 billion each 
fiscal year. In June 1997, Chairman Collins requested GAO to 
assist the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in 
determining if these management weaknesses had in fact been 
corrected.
    GAO reported that changes in the budget environment and 
procurement reforms have made hurry-up spending a much less 
severe problem than in 1980. Agencies spend far less today in 
the direct provision of goods and services, while payments to 
individual beneficiaries and grants to State and local 
governments have increased. This trend, combined with limits on 
discretionary spending, has significantly changed the budget 
environment for most agencies. At the same time, Congress has 
made funds available for longer periods for many agencies, 
which reduces the pressure to spend funds at the end of each 
year. In addition, systemic procurement reforms have addressed 
most of the issues raised in the Subcommittee on Oversight of 
Government Management's report--although problems persist in 
certain agencies and with some procurements.
    Despite these changes, GAO reported that it is difficult to 
assess the patterns of spending during the year because 
reported quarterly budget execution data is not reliable. 
According to GAO, without complete and timely information for 
oversight, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) and other 
decisionmakers do not have an accurate assessment of the 
financial status of Federal programs during the year. Even at 
year-end, there are significant differences in three comparable 
sets of data that agencies report to OMB and the Department of 
the Treasury. Although OMB officials stated that a new system 
they have developed--in conjunction with the Treasury 
Department--to collect year-end data starting in fiscal year 
1999 should resolve or greatly alleviate the differences in 
year-end budget data, more work is needed to assure compliance 
with the requirement for quarterly data.
``Slamming''--The Unauthorized Switching of Long-Distance Telephone 
        Service (S. Rept. 105-259, July 23, 1998)
    Based on the findings and conclusions of the slamming 
investigation, the Subcommittee made the following 
recommendations:
    1. Congress should enact legislation to remove the 
financial incentive to slam. Currently, companies engaging in 
slamming reap financial benefits from the theft of telephone 
service from unsuspecting consumers. Congress should make sure 
that crime does not pay.
    2. Congress should enact legislation to eliminate deceptive 
methods of changing a consumer's long distance service 
provider, such as the so-called ``welcome package.'' A welcome 
package is material received by a consumer in the mail that 
requires the consumer to affirmatively reject the change in 
carrier; otherwise, the change goes into effect after 2 weeks. 
The problem is that these welcome packages look like junk mail, 
and many consumers simply discard them without reading the 
material.
    3. Congress should enact legislation to establish tougher 
fines to deter slamming. Civil penalties must be tough enough 
so that they are not considered just the cost of doing 
business.
    4. Congress should enact legislation that establishes 
criminal penalties for intentional and deliberate slamming. In 
addition to civil penalties, criminal penalties are needed to 
deter intentional slamming. Slamming is essentially stealing 
someone's long distance service, and it should be treated as 
such.
    5. The FCC must be more consistent and aggressive in its 
enforcement efforts against companies that engage in slamming. 
The FCC currently has the authority to impose fines on those 
who engage in repeated and intentional slamming and to revoke 
the operating authority of carriers in the most severe cases. 
However, the use of this authority has been inconsistent, slow, 
and inadequate. The FCC must be as aggressive as many of the 
States have been in the enforcement of anti-slamming laws and 
regulations.
    6. Congress should enact legislation that requires all 
carriers to report slamming complaints. The FCC must have 
accurate and up-to-date information to effectively investigate 
slamming complaints.
    7. The FCC should review its licensing system for long 
distance providers, particularly with respect to switchless 
resellers, to determine how to screen out fraudulent providers. 
While the FCC is following Congress' direction to eliminate 
unnecessary requirements that would limit competition in the 
long distance market, the FCC must be able to enforce its 
orders and prevent fraudulent telephone service providers from 
remaining in the telecommunication business.
Medicare HMO Institutional Payments: Improved HCFA Oversight, More 
        Recent Cost Data Could Reduce Overpayments (General Accounting 
        Office, September 1998)
    Medicare spending for home health agencies as a proportion 
of total Medicare outlays has been increasing steadily in 
recent years. By 1996, in fact, this ratio had risen to $1 in 
every $11 from only $1 in every $40 in 1989. To control this 
rapid cost growth, Congress in 1997 required HCFA to implement 
a prospective payment system that sets fixed, predetermined 
payments for home health services. Since its implementation on 
October 1, 1997, however, concerns have been raised about 
Medicare's home health interim payment system. Specifically, 
industry representatives have claimed that the system's new 
cost limits have caused some health agencies to close or made 
it difficult for some beneficiaries--particularly those with 
high-cost needs--to obtain care. In response to those concerns, 
Chairman Collins asked GAO to (1) identify the potential impact 
of the interim payment system on home health agencies; (2) 
determine the number, distribution, and effect of recent home 
health agency closures; and (3) assess whether the interim 
payment system could be affecting beneficiaries' access to 
services, particularly for beneficiaries who are expensive to 
serve.
    The GAO report concluded that, during the time period 
studied, the new system had no significant affect either upon 
the Medicare beneficiaries' receipt of services or upon the 
home health industry's ability to provide services--although 
beneficiaries requiring more health care visits may find it 
more difficult to obtain care over an extended period of time. 
GAO noted, however, that the new system's affect upon any 
particular agency depends on several factors, including that 
agency's base-year costs, changes in the provision of services 
since the base year, how recently it entered the market, and 
its regional location.
SEC Enforcement: Responses to GAO and SEC Recommendations Related to 
        Microcap Fraud (General Accounting Office, September 1998)
    In December 1997 and February 1998, Chairman Collins and 
Ranking Minority Member John Glenn joined Representative John 
D. Dingell, Ranking Minority Member of the House Committee on 
Commerce, in requesting that GAO conduct an inquiry into 
reported increases in microcap stock fraud. GAO's subsequent 
report detailed a number of actions taken by the Securities 
Exchange Commission (SEC) and the various State regulatory 
organizations (SROs) to enhance regulatory oversight of 
microcap stock firms and help provide investors with additional 
protection against abusive practices by such firms. GAO also 
detailed a number of steps that had not yet been taken in this 
regard, including: (a) steps to prevent the migration of 
unscrupulous brokers from the securities industry to other 
financial services industries; (b) modernization of the central 
registration database to improve oversight of problem brokers 
and public access to broker disciplinary histories; (c) 
improving the SEC's ability to identify trends in securities 
violations revealed during its broker-dealer examinations; and 
(d) provision of information on broker disciplinary histories 
before activity occurs in an account. GAO concluded that these 
reforms would further enhance regulatory oversight and investor 
protection.

                                  
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