104th Congress (1995 - 1996)
January 3, 1996 - October 21, 1996
Senate Committee Meetings by Date
Compiled from the Congressional Record's Daily Digests via Thomas at thomas.loc.gov
You may search all Digest meeting records, from 1985 to the present, using
NCSU's U.S. Congressional Committee Meetings Index.
This database of committee hearings from the "Daily Digest" is not exhaustive, particularly so for field hearings.
1996/01/03
Daily Digest - Wednesday, January 3, 1996; pages D1 - D4
Committee Meetings
No committee meetings were held.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/01/04
Daily Digest - Thursday, January 4, 1996; pages D6 - D8
Committee Meetings
No committee meetings were held.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/01/05
Daily Digest - Friday, January 5, 1996; pages D10 - D14
Committee Meeting
No committee meetings were held.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/01/08
Daily Digest - Monday, January 8, 1996; pages D15 - D16
Committee Meetings
No committee meetings were held.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/01/09
Daily Digest - Tuesday, January 9, 1996; pages D17 - D18
Committee Meetings
No committee meetings were held.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/01/10
Daily Digest - Wednesday, January 10, 1996; pages D19 - D20
Committee Meetings
No committee meetings were held.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/01/22
Daily Digest - Monday, January 22, 1996; pages D22 - D26
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
WHITEWATER
Special Committee to Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and
Related Matters: On Tuesday, January 16, and Thursday, January 18, Committee
resumed hearings to examine issues relative to the Whitewater Development
Corporation, receiving testimony on Tuesday from Bruce Lindsey, Deputy Counsel
to the President; William Kennedy, Rose Law Firm, Little Rock, Arkansas,
former Associate White House Counsel; and Neil Eggleston, Howrey & Simon,
Washington, D.C., former Associate Counsel to the President; and on Thursday
from Carolyn Huber, Special Assistant to the President and Director of
Personal Correspondence; and Ronald Clark, Rose Law Firm, Little Rock,
Arkansas.
Committee will meet again on Tuesday, January 23.
[Page: D23]
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/01/23
Daily Digest - Tuesday, January 23, 1996; pages D28 - D30
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
PROFESSIONAL SPORTS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded hearings to examine challenges
facing the future of the professional sports industry, after receiving
testimony from Paul Tagliabue, National Football League, New York, New York;
Jerry Richardson, The Carolina Panthers, Charlotte, North Carolina; David
Falk, Falk Associates, Washington, D.C.; Peter S. Roisman, Advantage
International, McLean, Virginia; Marc Ganis, Sportscorps Ltd., Chicago,
Illinois; Kenneth Shropshire, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia; and
Andrew Zimbalist, Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts.
WHITEWATER
Special Committee to Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and
Related Matters: Committee resumed hearings to examine issues relative to the
Whitewater Development Corporation, receiving testimony from William Lyon,
Lyon Folder Company, Fordyce, Arkansas.
Committee will meet again on Thursday, January 25.
[Page: D29]
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/01/24
Daily Digest - Wednesday, January 24, 1996; pages D31 - D34
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
AFRICA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on African Affairs met in closed
session to receive a briefing on Ambassador Albright's recent trip to Africa
from Madeleine K. Albright, United States Permanent Representative to the
United Nations.
Subcommittee recessed subject to call.
[Page: D32]
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/01/25
Daily Digest - Thursday, January 25, 1996; pages D35 - D38
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NATIONAL FORESTS MANAGEMENT
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Forests and Public
Land Management concluded oversight hearings on the management of the national
forests, after receiving testimony from Barry T. Hill, Associate Director for
Energy, Resources and Science Issues, Charles S. Cotton, Assistant Director,
and Chester M. Joy, Senior Evaluator, all of the General Accounting Office;
and James Lyons, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, and
Jack Ward Thomas, Chief, Forest Service, both of the Department of
Agriculture.
WHITEWATER
Special Committee to Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and
Related Matters: Committee resumed hearings to examine issues relative to the
Whitewater Development Corporation, receiving testimony from Beverly Bassett
Schaeffer, William Brady, and Charles Handley, all on behalf of the Arkansas
Securities Department, Little Rock.
Committee will meet again on Tuesday, January 30.
Joint Meetings
POSTAL SERVICE REFORM
Joint Hearing: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs' Subcommittee on Post
Office and Civil Service and House Committee on Government Reform D37and
Oversight's Subcommittee on Postal Service concluded joint hearings on
reforming the future operation of the United States Postal Service, focusing
on the restructuring of certain international postal administrations, after
receiving testimony from Michael E. Motley, Associate Director, and James T.
Campbell, Assistant Director, both for Government Business Operations Issues,
General Government Division, General Accounting Office; Graeme T. John,
Australian Postal Corporation, Canberra; Georges Clermont, Canada Post
Corporation, Ottawa; Elmar Toime, New Zealand Post Limited, Wellington; Ulf
Dahlsten and Tommy Persson, both of the Sweden Post AB (Ltd), Stockholm; and
James A. Waddell and David E. Treworgy, both of Price Waterhouse LLP,
Arlington, Virginia.
1996/01/26
Daily Digest - Friday, January 26, 1996; pages D39 - D44
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
HUD/EPA VETO IMPACT
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies
concluded hearings to examine the impact of the President's veto of the Fiscal
Year 1996 Departments of Veterans Affairs and Housing and Urban Development,
and Independent Agencies Appropriations Act on HUD, after receiving testimony
from Henry G. Cisneros, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development; Richard
Gentry, Richmond, Virginia, on behalf of the National Association of Housing
and Redevelopment Officials; Michael Bodaken, National Housing Trust,
Washington, D.C.; and Patricia J. Payne, Crownsville, Maryland, on behalf of
the National Council of State Housing Agencies.
Also, committee concluded hearings to examine the impact of the President's
veto on the Environmental Protection Agency, after receiving testimony from
Carol M. Browner, Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency; Roberta J.
Savage, Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control
Administrators, Washington, D.C.; William J. Birkhofer, Sverdrup Corp.,
Arlington, Virginia; and Christopher Tulou, Delaware Department of Natural
Resources and Environmental Control, Dover.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported the
nominations of H. Martin Lancaster, of North Carolina, to be an Assistant
Secretary of the Army, Gen. Joseph W. Ralston, USAF, to be Vice Chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Adm. Joseph W. Prueher, USN, for reappointment to
the grade of Admiral in the United States Navy, and 6,469 nominations in the
Army, Navy, and Air Force.
Prior to this action, committee concluded hearings on the nominations of Gen.
Joseph W. Ralston and Adm. Joseph W. Prueher (listed above) after the nominees
testified and answered questions in their own behalf. Mr. Ralston was
introduced by Senator Frist and Mr. Prueher was introduced by Senator Stevens.
SUBCOMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee announced the
following subcommittee assignments:
Subcommittee on Aviation: Senators McCain (Chairman), Pressler, Stevens,
Gorton, Burns, Lott, Hutchison, Ashcroft, Frist, Ford, Hollings, Exon, Inouye,
Bryan, Rockefeller, Breaux, and Dorgan.
Subcommittee on Communications: Senators Pressler (Chairman), Stevens, McCain,
Burns, Gorton, Lott, Ashcroft, Hutchison, Hollings, Inouye, Ford, Exon, Kerry,
Breaux, and Rockefeller.
Subcommittee on Consumer Affairs, Foreign Commerce and Tourism: Senators
Gorton (Chairman), McCain, Snowe, Ashcroft, Frist, Exon, Ford, Bryan, and
Rockefeller.
Subcommittee on Oceans and Fisheries: Senators Stevens (Chairman), Gorton,
Snowe, Pressler, Kerry, Inouye, and Breaux.
Subcommittee on Science, Technology, and Space: Senators Burns (Chairman),
Pressler, Hutchison, Stevens, Lott, Rockefeller, Kerry, Bryan, and Dorgan.
Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine: Senators Lott
(Chairman), Hutchison, Stevens, Burns, Snowe, Frist, Inouye, Exon, Breaux,
Dorgan, and Bryan.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/01/30
Daily Digest - Tuesday, January 30, 1996; pages D46 - D48
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
WHITEWATER
Special Committee To Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and
Related Matters: Committee resumed hearings to examine issues relative to the
Whitewater Development Corporation, receiving testimony from James Clark, Bank
Examiner, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Department of the
Treasury, and Dawn Pulcer, Sterling Bank and Trust, Southfield, Michigan, both
former Examiners, Federal Home Loan Bank Board.
Hearings continue tomorrow.
[Page: D47]
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/10/30
Daily Digest - Wednesday, January 31, 1996; pages D49 - D52
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
TAX REFORM
Committee on Finance: Committee held hearings to examine the status of the
current national tax code and certain recommendations to overhaul the national
tax system, receiving testimony from Jack Kemp, Empower America, Washington,
D.C., former Delaware Governor Pete du Pont, Wilmington, and California State
Treasurer Matt Fong, Sacramento, all on behalf of the National Commission on
Economic Growth and Tax Reform.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
WHITEWATER
Special Committee to Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and
Related Matters: Committee resumed hearings to examine issues relative to the
Whitewater Development Corporation, receiving testimony from Bobby J. Nash,
Assistant to the President and Director of Presidential Personnel; and Davis
Fitzhugh, on behalf of Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, Darrell D. Dover,
Dover & Dixon, and Richard T. Donovan and Thomas P. Thrash, both of the Rose
Law Firm, all of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Hearings continue tomorrow.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/01/31
Daily Digest - Wednesday, January 31, 1996; pages D49 - D52
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
TAX REFORM
Committee on Finance: Committee held hearings to examine the status of the
current national tax code and certain recommendations to overhaul the national
tax system, receiving testimony from Jack Kemp, Empower America, Washington,
D.C., former Delaware Governor Pete du Pont, Wilmington, and California State
Treasurer Matt Fong, Sacramento, all on behalf of the National Commission on
Economic Growth and Tax Reform.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
WHITEWATER
Special Committee to Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and
Related Matters: Committee resumed hearings to examine issues relative to the
Whitewater Development Corporation, receiving testimony from Bobby J. Nash,
Assistant to the President and Director of Presidential Personnel; and Davis
Fitzhugh, on behalf of Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan, Darrell D. Dover,
Dover & Dixon, and Richard T. Donovan and Thomas P. Thrash, both of the Rose
Law Firm, all of Little Rock, Arkansas.
Hearings continue tomorrow.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/02/01
Daily Digest - Thursday, February 1, 1996; pages D54 - DD60
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported the
nominations of Lt. Gen. Henry H. Shelton, USA, for appointment to the grade of
general and to be Commander-in-Chief, United States Special Operations
Command, and Lt. Gen. Eugene E. Habiger, USAF, for appointment to the grade of
general and to be Commander-in-Chief, United States Strategic Command, and 12
routine military nominations in the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
Prior to this action, the committee concluded hearings on the nominations of
Lt. Gen. Shelton and Lt. Gen. Habiger (listed above), after the nominees
testified and answered questions in their own behalf.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee held hearings on S. 46, to
revise the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for a voluntary
system of spending limits and partial public financing of Senate primary and
general election campaigns, and to limit contributions by multicandidate
political committees, S. 1219 and S. 1389, bills to reform the financing of
Federal elections, and S. 1528, to reform the financing of Senate campaigns,
receiving testimony from Senators McCain, Feingold, Thompson, Wellstone,
Feinstein, and Bradley; Joel M. Gora, Brooklyn Law School, Brooklyn, New York,
on behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union; Robert M. O'Neil, Thomas
Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression, Charlottesville,
Virginia; Archibald Cox, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Bradley
A. Smith, Capital University Law School, Columbus, Ohio, on behalf of the CATO
Institute; and David M. Mason, Heritage Foundation, Ann McBride, Common Cause,
and Joan B. Claybrook, Public Citizen, all of Washington, D.C.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the intelligence
community.
Committee recessed subject to call.
[Page: D56]
WHITEWATER
Special Committee to Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and
Related Matters: Committee resumed hearings to examine issues relative to the
Whitewater Development Corporation, receiving testimony from Susan Strayhorn,
on behalf of the Madison Guaranty Savings and Loan.
Committee will meet again on Tuesday, February 6.
Joint Meetings
TELECOMMUNICATIONS COMPETITION AND DEREGULATION ACT
Conferees on Wednesday, January 31, agreed to file a conference report on S.
652, to provide for a procompetitive, deregulatory national policy framework
designed to accelerate rapidly private sector deployment of advanced
telecommunications and information technologies and services to all Americans
by opening all telecommunications markets to competition.
1996/02/05
Daily Digest - Monday, February 5, 1996; pages D61 - D62
Committee Meetings
No Committee meetings were held.
Joint Meetings
BARRIERS TO STATE AND LOCAL
PRIVATIZATION/EMPLOYMENT-UNEMPLOYMENT
Joint Economic Committee: Committee held hearings to examine Federal barriers
to State and local privatization efforts, receiving testimony from New York
Governor George Pataki, Ronald Lauder, New York Commission on Privatization,
both of Albany, New York; Robert Poole, Reason Foundation, Los Angeles,
California; Mike Bell, British Airports Authority-USA, Sterling, Virginia;
John Dowd, Wheelabrator, Inc., Hampton, New Hampshire; Al Bilik, AFL/CIO, and
Albert Shanker, American Federation of Teachers, both of Washington, D.C.; and
Bob Cranmer, Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.
On Friday, February 2, Committee held hearings on the employment-unemployment
situation for January, receiving testimony from Katharine G. Abraham,
Commissioner, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of Labor.
Committee recessed subject to call.
1996/02/06
Daily Digest - Tuesday, February 6, 1996; pages D63 - D66
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services,
and Education and Related Agencies concluded hearings to examine the effects
of fiscal year 1996 funding on the National Labor Relations Board, after
receiving testimony from William B. Gould IV, Chairman, Fred Feinstein,
General Counsel, Harding Darden, Jr., Budget Officer, and Charles Cohen, Board
Member, all of the National Labor Relations Board; and Richard Trumka,
AFL-CIO, and Lawrence Hunter, Business Leadership Council, both of Washington,
D.C.
FEDERAL LAND OWNERSHIP
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Oversight and
Investigations concluded hearings to review trends in Federal land ownership
by the Department of the Interior and the United States Forest Service, after
receiving testimony from Bruce Babbitt, Secretary of the Interior; Barry T.
Hill, Associate Director, Natural Resources Issues, General Accounting Office;
Jack Ward Thomas, Chief, Forest Service, Department of Agriculture; and
Wyoming Governor Jim Geringer, Cheyenne.
IMMIGRATION AND WELFARE REFORM
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Immigration held hearings to
examine issues relating to the receipt of Supplemental Security Income (SSI)
benefits and other welfare programs by noncitizens, receiving testimony from
Carolyn Colvin, Deputy Commissioner for Programs, Policy, Evaluation and
Communications, Social Security Administration, and Lavinia Limon, Director,
Office of Refugee Resettlement, Office of Family Assistance, Administration
for Children and Families, both of the Department of Health and Human
Services; Jane L. Ross, Director, Income Security Issues, Health, Education,
and Human Services Division, General Accounting Office; Susan Martin,
Executive Director, U.S. Commission on Immigration Reform; Angelo Doti, Orange
County Social Services Agency, Orange County, California; George J. Borjas,
Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; Victor DoCouto, Massachusetts
Alliance of Portuguese Speakers, Boston; Norman Matloff, University of
California, Davis; and Michael Fix, Urban Institute, and Robert Rector,
Heritage Foundation, both of Washington, D.C.
Subcommittee recessed subject to call.
WHITEWATER
Special Committee to Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and
Related Matters: Committee resumed hearings to examine issues relative to the
Whitewater Development Corporation, receiving testimony from Patricia Black,
Associate Inspector General for Inspections and Legal Support, and Steven
Switzer, Deputy Inspector General for Audit, both of the Federal Deposit
Insurance Corporation.
Hearings continue tomorrow.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/02/07
Daily Digest - Wednesday, February 7, 1996; pages D68 - D72
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
TAIWAN SECURITY
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on East Asian and Pacific Affairs
held hearings to examine the current security situation in the Taiwan Strait
area, focusing on recent reports of threats by the government of the People's
Republic of China toward Taiwan and United States policy with regard to
China-Taiwan relations, receiving testimony from Winston Lord, Assistant
Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs; Kurt M. Campbell,
Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs; and James
Lilley, American Enterprise Institute, Gerrit W. Gong, Center for Strategic
and International Studies, and Carl W. Ford, Jr., Ford & Associates, all of
Washington, D.C.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
FEDERAL EMPLOYMENT REFORM
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee held hearings on proposals to
repeal the prohibitions against political recommendations relating to Federal
employment and to reenact certain provisions relating to recommendations by
Members of Congress, receiving testimony from Senators Lott and Simon; and
James B. King, Director, Office of Personnel Management.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
WHITEWATER
Special Committee to Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and
Related Matters: Committee resumed hearings to examine issues relative to the
Whitewater Development Corporation, receiving testimony from Webster L.
Hubbell, former Associate Attorney General, Department of Justice.
Hearings continue tomorrow.
[Page: D71]
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/02/09
Daily Digest - Friday, February 9, 1996; pages D73 - D75
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
EMPLOYEE INVOLVEMENT PROGRAMS
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: On Thursday, February 8, committee
concluded hearings on S. 295, to allow labor management to establish, assist,
maintain, or participate in an organization or entity in which employees
participate to address matters of mutual interest, after receiving testimony
from Molly Dalman, Michael Klein, Anne Nagy, Bonny Topp, and David Khorey, all
of the Donnelly Corporation, Holland, Michigan; Christopher Fuldner, EFCO
Corporation, Monett, Missouri; Richard D74Wellins, Development Dimensions
International, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and Jon Hiatt, AFL-CIO, and Alan
Reuther, United Auto Workers, both of Washington, D.C.
[Page: D74]
WHITEWATER
Special Committee To Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and
Related Matters: On Thursday, February 8, committee resumed hearings to
examine issues relative to the Whitewater Development Corporation, receiving
testimony from Jane Sherburne, Special Counsel to the President; Capricia
Marshall, Special Assistant to the First Lady; Gary Walters, Head Usher, and
Dennis Freemyer, Assistant Head Usher, both of the White House; and David
Kendall, Williams and Connolly, Washington, D.C.
Hearings continue on Tuesday, February 13.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/02/13
Daily Digest - Tuesday, February 13, 1996; pages D77 - D78
Committee Meetings
No committee meetings were held.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/02/16
Daily Digest - Friday, February 16, 1996; pages D80 - D82
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATION
Committee on Finance: On Wednesday, February 14, committee concluded hearings
on the nomination of Stuart E. Eizenstat, of Maryland, to be Under Secretary
of Commerce for International Trade, after the nominee, who was introduced by
Senator Rockefeller, testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
MEDICARE
Committee on Governmental Affairs: On Wednesday, February 14, Permanent
Subcommittee on Investigations held hearings to examine the Medicare billing
process by certain hospitals for investigational medical devices and
procedures, receiving testimony from Jack Hartwig, Deputy Inspector General,
and Tom Ault, Director, Bureau of Policy Development, and Gary Kavanagh,
Deputy Director, Bureau of Program Operations, both of the Health Care
Financing Administration, all of the Department of Health and Human Services;
Dennis Stillman, University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle; Anthony M.
Sanzo, Allegheny General Hospital, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Patrick Fry,
Sutter Community Hospitals, and Mark W. Rieger, Sutter Memorial Hospital, both
of Sacramento, California; and Farrell Maier, Sparks, Oklahoma.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/02/20
Daily Digest - Tuesday, February 20, 1996; pages D84 - D86
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
EDUCATION FOR THE DISADVANTAGED
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Subcommittee on Education, Arts and
Humanities concluded hearings to evaluate the effectiveness of Title I
Education for the Disadvantaged programs, after receiving testimony from Alan
L. Ginsburg, Director, D85Planning and Evaluation Service, Department of
Education; Mitzi Beach, Seattle, Washington, on behalf of the National
Association of State Coordinators of Compensatory Education; and Edward D.
Roeber, Council of Chief State School Officers, and Christopher Cross,
Independent Review Panel for National Assessment of Title I, both of
Washington, D.C.
[Page: D85]
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/02/23
Daily Digest - Friday, February 23, 1996; pages D87 - D92
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
MONETARY POLICY
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: On Wednesday, February 21,
committee concluded hearings to examine monetary policy issues, after
receiving testimony from Alan Greenspan, Chairman, Board of Governors of the
Federal Reserve System.
GOVERNORS PROPOSAL ON WELFARE AND MEDICAID
Committee on Finance: On Thursday, February 22, committee held hearings on the
bipartisan National Governors' Association proposals to reform the Federal
Medicaid and welfare programs, receiving testimony from Wisconsin Governor
Tommy G. Thompson, Madison; Nevada Governor Bob Miller, Carson City; Delaware
Governor Tom Carper, Dover; Florida Governor Lawton Chiles, Tallahassee;
Michigan Governor John Engler, Lansing; and Colorado Governor Roy Romer,
Denver.
Hearings continue on Wednesday, February 28.
INTERSTATE COMPACT FOR PAROLE AND PROBATION
Committee on the Judiciary: On Thursday, February 22, committee concluded
hearings to assess problems in monitoring and enforcing parole under the
Interstate Compact for Parole and Probation, after receiving testimony from
Representative Chabot; William Ridgely, Compact Administrator for Wisconsin,
Madison; Mario Paparozzi, Deputy Compact Administrator for New Jersey,
Trenton; Susan F. Bishop, Compact Administrator for South Carolina, Columbia,
and Ray Parra, Compact Administrator for Texas, Austin, both on behalf of the
Parole and Probation Compact Administrators' Association; and Jill Goldhart,
Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections, Columbus.
FDA REFORM
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: On Wednesday and Thursday, February
21-22, committee concluded hearings on S. 1477, to improve the Federal
regulation of food, drugs, devices, and biological products, after receiving
testimony on Wednesday from David A. Kessler, Commissioner, Food and Drug
Administration, Department of Health and Human Services; Mary R. Hamilton,
Director of Operations, Program, Evaluation and Methodology Division, General
Accounting Office; Sherwin Gardner, Bethesda, Maryland, former Deputy
Commissioner, Food and Drug Administration; Carl Peck, Georgetown University
Medical Center, John Villforth, Food and Drug Law Institute, Lester Crawford,
Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, Susan Abbott, American
Spice Trade Association, and Carolyn Smith Dewall, Center for Science and the
Public Interest, all of Washington, D.C.; Ellen Stovall, National Coalition
for Cancer Survivorship, Silver Spring, Maryland; Derek Link, Gay Men's Health
Crisis, New York, New York; Pam Walker, Mitretek Systems, McLean, Virginia;
Neil D88Kahanovitz, Center for Patient Advocacy, Arlington, Virginia; and Seth
Rudnick, Leukemia Society of America, Providence, Rhode Island; and on
Thursday from Senator Mack; William B. Schultz, Deputy Commissioner for
Policy, Food and Drug Administration, Department of Health and Human Services;
Gregory Reaman, Children's National Medical Center, Bernard Gersch, American
Heart Association, Val D. Bias, National Hemophilia Foundation, Thomas J.
Moore, George Washington University, and Raymond L. Woosley and Frederick
Goodwin, both of the Georgetown University Medical Center, all of Washington,
D.C.; Bruce Chabner, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; and Paul Stolley,
University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore.
[Page: D88]
WORLDWIDE SECURITY THREAT
Select Committee on Intelligence: On Thursday, February 22, committee
concluded hearings to examine the threat to worldwide security, after
receiving testimony from John M. Deutch, Director of Central Intelligence;
Tobi Trister Gati, Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research;
and Lt. Gen. Patrick Hughes, Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
WHITEWATER
Special Committee to Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and
Related Matters: On Thursday, February 22, committee resumed hearings to
examine issues relative to the Whitewater Development Corporation, receiving
testimony from Harold Ickes, Deputy Chief of White House Staff.
Hearings continue on Wednesday, February 28.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/02/26
Daily Digest - Monday, February 26, 1996; pages D93 - D104
Committee Meetings
No committee meetings were held.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/02/27
Daily Digest - Tuesday, February 27, 1996; pages D105 - D110
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
RAIL SAFETY
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded
hearings to examine the safety of the United States rail network, after
receiving testimony from Senators Lautenberg and Mikulski; Representative
Wynn; James E. Hall, Chairman, and Bob Laubey, Head, Rail Division, both of
the National Transportation Safety Board; Jolene M. Molitoris, Administrator,
and Grady Cothen, Associate Administrator of Safety Standards, both of the
Federal Railroad Administration, and Grace Crunican, Deputy Administrator,
Federal Transit Administration, both of the Department of Transportation;
Thomas M. Downs, National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Edwin L. Harper,
Association of American Railroads, and Ronald P. McLaughlin, Brotherhood of
Locomotive Engineers, all of Washington, D.C.; and Thomas F. Prendergast,
Metropolitan Transit Authority Long Island Rail Road, Jamaica Station, New
York, on behalf of the American Public Transit Association.
TRAVEL BAN TO LEBANON
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian
Affairs concluded hearings on proposals to prohibit United States citizens
from travelling to Lebanon, including a related measure, S. Res. 202, after
receiving testimony from Senators Graham and Abraham; Representatives Rahall,
Hoke, and LaHood; former Senator Percy; Robert H. Pelletreau, Assistant
Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs; Bruce O. Riedel, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs; former U.S.
Ambassador to Bahrain Sam Zakhem; Peter J. Tanous, American Task Force for
Lebanon, Ralph R. DiSibio, Parsons Corporation, and Khalil E. Jahshan,
National Association of Arab Americans, all of Washington, D.C.; and Casey
Kasem, Los Angeles, California.
[Page: D106]
NOMINATION
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded hearings on the nomination of
Barry R. McCaffrey, of Washington, to be Director of National Drug Control
Policy, after the nominee, who was introduced by Senators Warner and Nunn,
testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
PHARMACEUTICAL PATENT PROTECTION
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee held hearings to examine the
interrelationship between the intellectual property provisions of the GATT
Treaty implementing law and food and drug law and its impact on the creation
of new breakthrough drugs and production of lower cost generic copies, and S.
1277, to provide equitable relief for the generic drug industry, receiving
testimony from Senators Pryor, Faircloth, and Chafee; Michael Kantor, United
States Trade Representative; William E. Brock, The Brock Group, former U.S.
Trade Representative, Gerald J. Mossinghoff, former Commissioner, Patent and
Trademark Office, and Charles J. Cooper, Shaw, Pittman, Potts & Trowbridge,
both on behalf of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America,
and James P. Firman, National Council on the Aging, on behalf of the Generic
Drug Equity Coalition, all of Washington, D.C.; Robert J. Gunter, Novopharm
USA, Schaumburg, Illinois, on behalf of the National Pharmaceutical Alliance;
and Judith Simpson, United Patients' Association for Pulmonary Hypertension,
DeKalb, Illinois.
Hearings continue on Tuesday, March 5.
FAIR LABOR STANDARDS REFORM
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee concluded oversight hearings
on the implementation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and its impact on
workplace flexibility, after receiving testimony from Senator Ashcroft; Maggi
Coil, Motorola, Shaumberg, Illinois, and John H. Shamley, Washington, D.C.,
both on behalf of the American Compensation Association; Arlyce Robinson,
Computer Sciences Corporation, Falls Church, Virginia; Phyllis G. Diosey,
Malcolm Pirnie, Inc., White Plains, New York; E. Glenn Baker, John Alden Life
Insurance Company, Miami, Florida; Douglas P. Kight, Boeing Company, Seattle,
Washington; and Michael T. Leibig, Zwerdling, Paul, Leibig, Kahn, Thompson &
Wolly, Fairfax, Virginia.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/02/28
Daily Digest - Wednesday, February 28, 1996; pages D112 - D118
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE JOINT REQUIREMENTS OVERSIGHT COUNCIL
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded hearings to review the role
of the Department of Defense Joint Requirements Oversight Council (JROC),
after receiving testimony from Adm. William A. Owens, Vice Chairman, Joint
Chiefs of Staff.
WHITEWATER
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Development: Committee ordered
favorably reported an original resolution (S. Res. 227) to authorize the use
of additional funds for salaries and expenses of the Special Committee to
Investigate the Whitewater Development Corporation and Related Matters.
GOVERNORS PROPOSAL ON WELFARE AND MEDICAID
Committee on Finance: Committee resumed hearings on the bipartisan National
Governors' Association proposals to reform the Federal Medicaid and welfare
programs, focusing on the Administration's views, receiving testimony from
Donna E. Shalala, Secretary of Health and Human Services.
Hearings continue tomorrow.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Finance: Committee ordered favorably reported the nominations of
James E. Johnson, of New Jersey, to be Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for
Enforcement, and Stuart E. Eizenstat, of Maryland, to be Under Secretary of
Commerce for International Trade.
Prior to this action, committee concluded hearings on the nomination of Mr.
Johnson, after the nominee testified and answered questions in his own behalf.
UNITED STATES-EURATOM AGREEMENT FOR PEACEFUL NUCLEAR COOPERATION
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee held hearings to review the
proposed United States-European Atomic Energy Community (EURATOM) Agreement
for peaceful nuclear cooperation, and to examine the ability of the United
States to track exported U.S. nuclear materials, receiving testimony from
Victor S. Rezendes, Director, Energy, Resources, and Science Issues,
Resources, Community and Economic Development Division, General Accounting
Office; Fred McGoldrick, Principal Deputy Director, Office of Nuclear Energy
Affairs, Bureau of Political/Military Affairs, Department of State; Terry R.
Lash, Director, Office of Nuclear Energy, Science D 113and Technology,
Department of Energy; Norman A. Wulf, Deputy Assistant Director,
Non-Proliferation and Regional Arms Control Bureau, United States Arms Control
and Disarmament Agency; James Schlesinger, former Secretary of Energy; and
Marvin S. Fertel, Nuclear Energy Institute, and Paul Leventhal, Nuclear
Control Institute, both of Washington, D.C.
[Page: D113]
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded hearings on the nominations of
Charles R. Stack, of Florida, to be United States Circuit Judge for the
Eleventh Circuit, Joseph A. Greenaway, to be United States District Judge for
New Jersey, Ann D. Montgomery, to be United States District Judge for
Minnesota, James P. Jones, to be United States District Judge for the Western
District of Virginia, and Gary A. Fenner, to be United States District Judge
for the Western District of Missouri, after the nominees testified and
answered questions in their own behalf. Mr. Stack was introduced by Senator
Graham and Representative Meek, Mr. Greenaway was introduced by Senator
Lautenberg, Ms. Montgomery was introduced by Senators Grams and Wellstone, Mr.
Jones was introduced by Senator Robb and Representatives Boucher and Scott,
and Mr. Fenner was introduced by Senators Bond and Ashcroft and
Representatives Danner and McCarthy.
YOUTH VIOLENCE
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Youth Violence concluded hearings
to examine the current state of youth violence, focusing on its changing
nature and juvenile intervention programs designed to prevent increased
violence, after receiving testimony from James Alan Fox, Northeastern
University, and Eugene F. Rivers, III, Harvard Divinity School, both of
Boston, Massachusetts; Alfred Blumstein, Carnegie Mellon University,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; John J. DiIulio, Jr., Brookings Institution,
Washington, D.C.; Illinois Circuit Court Judge Carol Kelly, Chicago; Tennessee
Juvenile Court Judge C. Van Deacon, Jr., Cleveland; Stephen Hare, Faith City
Baptist Church, Bear, Delaware; and Thomas P. Gordon, New Castle, Delaware.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee began consideration of S.
1423, to amend the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 to make
modifications to certain provisions, but did not complete action thereon, and
recessed subject to call.
SMALL BUSINESS ADVOCACY ACT/SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY FAIRNESS
ACT
Committee on Small Business: Committee concluded hearings on S. 917, to
facilitate small business involvement in the regulatory development processes
of the Environmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health
Administration, and S. 942, to promote increased understanding of Federal
regulations and increased voluntary compliance with such regulations by
oversight boards to monitor the enforcement practices of certain Federal
agencies with respect to small business concerns, and to provide relief from
excessive and arbitrary regulatory enforcement actions against small entities,
after receiving testimony from Senator Feingold; Rosemary Reed, Double R
Productions, Washington, D.C., J. Scott George, Mid America Dental, Hearing,
and Vision Center, Mount Vernon, Missouri, and Scott Holman, Bay Cast, Inc.,
Bay City, Michigan, on behalf of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, all on behalf
of the White House Conference on Small Business; Kent P. Swanson, Nurses
Available, Inc., Towson, Maryland, on behalf of the National Federation of
Independent Business; Victor N. Tucci, Three Rivers Health and Safety, Inc.,
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on behalf of National Small Business United; H.
Daniel Pincus, HDP Industries, Hilton Head, South Carolina, on behalf of the
National Association of Home Builders; Wendy Lechner, Printing Industries of
America, Alexandria, Virginia, on behalf of the Small Business Legislative
Council; and James W. Morrison, National Association for the Self-Employed,
Washington, D.C.
ECONOMIC ESPIONAGE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee concluded joint hearings with the
Committee on the Judiciary's Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and
Government Information on proposed legislation to combat economic espionage,
after receiving testimony from Louis J. Freeh, Director, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, Department of Justice; Geoffrey S.L. Shaw, Global Commerce
Link, Boulder, Colorado; and Raymond Damadian, Fonar Corporation, Melville,
New York.
MENTAL DISORDERS IN THE ELDERLY
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded hearings to examine mental
illness among the elderly and the potential savings to the overall health care
system that can result from prompt, accurate diagnosis and treatment of mental
diseases, after receiving testimony from Barry D. Lebowitz, Chief, Mental
Disorders of the Aging Research Branch, National Institute of Mental Health
(Rockville, Maryland), Department of Health and Human Services; D 114Gene D.
Cohen and Frederick Goodwin, both of the George Washington University Medical
Center, and June Silverberg, all of Washington, D.C.; Ira R. Katz and Gary L.
Gottlieb, both of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,
Philadelphia; Dorothy P. Rice, University of California at San Francisco; Mike
Wallace, New York, New York; and Anne O. Emery, Baltimore, Maryland.
[Page: D114]
Joint Meetings
VETERANS PROGRAMS
Joint Hearing: Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs concluded joint hearings
with the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs on the legislative
recommendations of the Disabled American Veterans, after receiving testimony
from Thomas A. McMasters, III, on behalf of the Disabled American Veterans,
Washington, D.C., who was accompanied by several of his associates.
CUBAN LIBERTY AND DEMOCRATIC SOLIDARITY ACT
Conferees met to resolve the differences between the Senate- and House-passed
versions of H.R. 927, to seek international sanctions against the Castro
Government in Cuba, and to plan for support of a transition government leading
to a democratically elected government in Cuba.
1996/02/29
Daily Digest - Thursday, February 29, 1996; pages D120 - D130
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
[Page: D121]
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY REFORM
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies
concluded hearings to review the status of recommendations made by the
National Academy of Public Administration on reforming the Environmental
Protection Agency, after receiving testimony from Frederic James Hansen,
Deputy Administrator, Environmental Protection Agency; Genevieve Matanowski,
Chair, Environmental Protection Agency Science Advisory Board; Mary Gade,
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency, Springfield; Charles Williams,
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, St. Paul; and William D. Ruckelshaus,
Browning-Ferris Industries, former Administrator of the Environmental
Protection Agency, Timothy Mohin, Intel Corporation, and Randy Farmer, Amoco,
all of Washington, D.C.
GOVERNORS PROPOSAL ON WELFARE AND MEDICAID
Committee on Finance: Committee continued hearings on the bipartisan National
Governors' Association proposals to reform the Federal Medicaid and welfare
programs, receiving testimony from Robert B. Carleson, former U.S.
Commissioner of Welfare, Arlington, Virginia; Sheldon Danziger, University of
Michigan, Ann Arbor; Fred Kammer, Catholic Charities USA, Alexandria,
Virginia; Heidi H. Stirrup, Christian Coalition, and Robert D. Reischauer, The
Brookings Institution, both of Washington, D.C.; John C. Goodman, National
Center for Policy Analysis, Dallas, Texas; Louis F. Rossiter, Virginia
Commonwealth University, Richmond; and James R. Tallon, Jr., Kaiser Commission
on the Future of Medicaid, New York, New York.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the following
business items:
The nomination of Barry R. McCaffrey, of Washington, to be Director of
National Drug Control Policy;
H.R. 782, to allow members of employee associations to represent their views
before the United States Government, with an amendment in the nature of a
substitute; and
S. Res. 219, designating March 25, 1996 as "Greek Independence Day: A National
Day of Celebration of Greek and American Democracy".
Also, committee began consideration of S. 269, to increase control over
immigration to the United States by increasing border patrol and investigator
personnel, improving the verification system for employer sanctions,
increasing penalties for alien smuggling and for document fraud, reforming
asylum, exclusion, and deportation law and procedures, instituting a land
border user fee, and to reduce use of welfare by aliens, and S. 1394, to
reform the legal immigration of immigrants and nonimmigrants to the United
States, but did not complete action thereon, and will meet again on Thursday,
March 7.
SECRETARY OF SENATE/SGT AT ARMS/ARCHITECT OPERATIONS
Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee held hearings to review the
fiscal year 1997 budget and operations of the Secretary of the Senate, Senate
Sergeant at Arms, and Architect of the Capitol, and on the establishment of a
criteria for the selection of a new Architect of the Capitol, receiving
testimony from Kelly D. Johnston, Secretary of the Senate; Howard O. Greene,
Jr., Senate Sergeant at Arms; William L. Ensign, Acting Architect of the
Capitol; Paul S. Rundquist, Specialist in Congressional Organization and
Operations, Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress; and Raj
Barr-Kumar, Raj Barr-Kumar Architects Engineers, on behalf of the American
Institute of Architects, Washington, D.C.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee met in closed session to receive a
briefing on intelligence matters from officials of the intelligence community.
Committee will meet again on Wednesday, March 6.
Joint Meetings
[Page: D126]
CUBAN LIBERTY AND DEMOCRATIC SOLIDARITY ACT
Conferees on Wednesday, February 28, agreed to file a conference report on
H.R. 927, to seek international sanctions against the Castro Government in
Cuba, and to plan for support of a transition government leading to a
democratically elected government in Cuba.
FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT
Conferees met to resolve the differences between the Senate- and House-passed
versions of H.R. 1561, to consolidate the foreign affairs agencies of the
United States; to authorize appropriations for the Department of State and
related agencies for fiscal years 1996 and 1997; and to responsibly reduce the
authorizations of appropriations for the United States foreign assistance
programs for fiscal years 1996 and 1997, but did not complete action thereon,
and will meet again on Tuesday, March 5.
1996/03/04
Daily Digest - Monday, March 4, 1996; pages D132 - D134
Committee Meetings
No committee hearings were held.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/03/05
Daily Digest - Tuesday, March 5, 1996; pages D135 - D142
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
LABOR/HHS/EDUCATION APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services,
and Education concluded hearings on resolving the funding impasse for the
Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education, and to examine
how these agencies would function without a budget agreement, after receiving
testimony from Robert B. Reich, Secretary of Labor; Donna E. Shalala,
Secretary of Health and Human Resources; and Richard W. Riley, Secretary of
Education.
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Committee held hearings on proposed legislation
authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 for the Department of Defense and the
future years defense program, receiving testimony from William J. Perry,
Secretary of Defense; Gen. John M. Shalikashvili, USA, Chairman, Joint Chiefs
of Staff; and John J. Hamre, Comptroller, Department of Defense.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded hearings on the
nominations of Thomas Paul Grumbly, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary, and
Alvin L. Alm, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary for Environmental
Management, both of the Department of Energy, and Charles William Burton, of
Texas, and Christopher M. Coburn, of Ohio, each to be a Member of the Board of
Directors of the United States Enrichment Corporation, after the nominees
testified and answered questions in their own behalf. Mr. Coburn was
introduced by Senators Glenn and DeWine.
CORPORATE SUBSIDY REFORM
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee held hearings on S. 1376, to
terminate unnecessary and inequitable Federal corporate subsidies, receiving
testimony from Senators McCain and Thompson; and Stephen Moore, CATO
Institute, Robert J. Shapiro, Progressive Policy Institute, Martha Phillips,
Concord Coalition Citizens Council, and Ann McBride, Common Cause, all of
Washington, D.C.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
PHARMACEUTICAL PATENT PROTECTION
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded hearings on the effects of the
Drug Price Competition and Patent Term Restoration Act of 1984 on generic
competition and drug innovation, after receiving testimony from Representative
Waxman; John Klein, on behalf of the Generic Pharmaceutical Industry
Association and the National Association of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers,
Gerald J. Mossinghoff, Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America,
Daniel Perry, Alliance for Aging Research, and Dixie D. Horning, Gray
Panthers, all of Washington, D.C.; Bruce L. Downey, Barr Laboratories, Inc.,
Pamona, New York; David Beier, Genentech, San Francisco, California, on behalf
of the Biotechnology Industry Organization; and Henry G. Grabowski, Duke
University, Durham, North Carolina.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee ordered favorably reported
the following business items:
S. 1423, to make modifications to certain provisions of the Occupational
Safety and Health Act of 1970, with amendments; and
The nominations of Patricia Wentworth McNeil, of Massachusetts, to be
Assistant Secretary of Education for Vocational and Adult Education, Pascal D.
Forgione, of Delaware, to be Commissioner of Education Statistics, Department
of Labor, Mary Burrus Babson, of Illinois, to be a Member of the Board of
Directors of the Corporation for National and Community Service, David Finn,
of New York, to be a Member of the National Council on the Humanities, Donna
Dearman Smith, of Alabama, to be a Member of the Board of Trustees of the
Barry Goldwater Scholarship and Excellence in Education Foundation, LaVeeda
Morgan Battle, of Alabama, John N. Erlenborn, of Illinois, and Edna
Fairbanks-Williams, of Vermont, each to be a Member of the Board of Directors
of the Legal Services Corporation, Marca Bristo, of Illinois, and Kate Pew
Wolters, of Michigan, each to be a Member of the National Council D 137on
Disability, Patrick Davidson, of California, William P. Foster, of Florida,
Speight Jenkins, of Washington, Wallace D. McRae, of Montana, and Townsend D.
Wolfe, III, of Arkansas, each to be a Member of the National Council on the
Arts, and Norman I. Maldonado, of Puerto Rico, and Luis D. Rovira, of
Colorado, each to be a Member of the Board of Trustees of the Harry S. Truman
Scholarship Foundation.
[Page: D137]
WHITEWATER
Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee ordered favorably reported
S.Res. 227, to authorize the use of additional funds for salaries and expenses
of the Special Committee to Investigate Whitewater Development Corporation and
Related Matters.
Joint Meetings
VETERANS OF FOREIGN WARS
Joint Hearing: Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs concluded joint hearings
with the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs to examine the legislative
recommendations of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, after receiving testimony
from Paul Spera, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, Washington,
D.C., who was accompanied by several of his associates.
FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT
Conferees continued to resolve the differences between the Senate- and
House-passed versions of H.R. 1561, to consolidate the foreign affairs
agencies of the United States; to authorize appropriations for the Department
of State and related agencies for fiscal years 1996 and 1997; and to
responsibly reduce the authorizations of appropriations for the United States
foreign assistance programs for fiscal years 1996 and 1997, but did not
complete action thereon, and recessed subject to call.
1996/03/06
Daily Digest - Wednesday, March 6, 1996; pages D144 - D152
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
OMNIBUS APPROPRIATIONS
Committee on Appropriations: Committee ordered favorably reported an original
bill (S. 1594) making omnibus consolidated rescissions and appropriations for
the fiscal year ending September 30, 1996.
[Page: D145]
APPROPRIATIONS--DEFENSE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense held hearings on proposed
budget estimates for fiscal year 1997 for the Department of Defense, receiving
testimony from John J. Hamre, Under Secretary of Defense, Comptroller/Chief
Financial Officer.
Subcommittee will meet again on Wednesday, March 20.
BALLISTIC MISSILE DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded hearings to review the
current status of the ballistic missile defense program, after receiving
testimony from Paul G. Kaminski, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition
and Technology.
DOE DEFENSE PROGRAMS
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces concluded
hearings to examine the status of the Department of Energy Environmental
Management Program and the activities of the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety
Board, after receiving testimony from Thomas P. Grumbly, Assistant Secretary
of Energy for Environmental Management; John T. Conway, Chairman, Defense
Nuclear Facilities Safety Board; Ambrose L. Schwallie, Westinghouse/Savannah
River Co., Aiken, South Carolina; Lincoln E. Hall, Lockheed Martin Energy
Systems, Oak Ridge, Tennessee; W. John Denson, Lockheed Martin Idaho
Technologies, Idaho Falls; William C. Moffitt, Westinghouse/Hanford Co.,
Hanford, Washington; Robert G. Card, Kaiser Hill Co., Golden, Colorado; and
Donald Ofte, Fernald Environmental Restoration Management Corp., Fernald,
Ohio.
ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded hearings to examine the state of
the United States economy, economic impact of deficit reduction, and the role
of fiscal policy in enhancing long-term prospects, after receiving testimony
from Martin N. Baily, Member, Council of Economic Advisors; James R. Capra,
Capra Asset Management, Inc., Rye, New York; and Mickey D. Levy, NationsBanc
Capital Markets, Inc., New York, New York.
ELECTRIC POWER INDUSTRY
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee held oversight hearings
on issues relating to competitive change in the electric power industry, and
on S. 1526, to provide for retail competition among electric energy suppliers,
and to provide for recovery of stranded costs attributable to an open access
electricity market, receiving testimony from Charles B. Curtis, Deputy
Secretary, and Elizabeth A. Moler, Chair, Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, both of the Department of Energy; Cheryl L. Parrino, Wisconsin
Public Service Commission, Madison, on behalf of the National Association of
Regulatory Utility Commissioners; Daniel W. Fessler, California Public
Utilities Commission, San Francisco; Lisa Crutchfield, Pennsylvania Public
Utility Commission, Harrisburg; Richard H. Cowart, Vermont Public Service
Board, Montpelier; and Robert W. Gee, Texas Public Utility Commission, Austin.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
NOMINATION
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee concluded hearings on the nomination
of Rita Derrick Hayes, of Maryland, for the rank of Ambassador during her
tenure of service as Chief Textile Negotiator, Department of State, after the
nominee, who was introduced by Senators Thurmond and Hollings, testified and
answered questions in her own behalf.
MINORITIES IN SOUTH ASIA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Near East and South Asia
concluded hearings to examine the treatment of minorities in South Asia, after
receiving testimony from Robin Raphel, Assistant Secretary of State for South
Asia; David Forte, Cleveland State University, Cleveland, Ohio; Anne Buwalda,
The Jubilee Campaign, Vienna, Virginia; Patricia Gossman, Human Rights Watch
Asia, Washington, D.C.; and Kristen Obadal, Obadal & McLeod, Alexandria,
Virginia.
INTERSTATE TRANSPORTATION OF HUMAN PATHOGENS
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee concluded hearings to examine issues
relating to the interstate transportation of human pathogens, after receiving
testimony from Representatives Markey and Joseph Kennedy; Mark M. Richard,
Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Criminal Division, Department of Justice;
James M. Hughes, Director, National Center for Infectious Diseases, Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services;
David N. Sundwall, American Clinical Laboratory Association, Washington, D.C.;
Kenneth I. Berns, Cornell University Medical College, New York, New York, on
behalf of the American Society of Microbiology; and L. Barth Reller, Duke
University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, on behalf of the American
Type Culture Collection.
NIH
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee held oversight hearings on
activities of the National Institutes of Health, receiving testimony from
Harold E. Varmus, Director, Francis S. Collins, Director, National Center for
Human Genome Research, Richard D. Klausner, Director, National Cancer
Institute, D 146Kenneth Olden, Director, National Institute of Environmental
Health Sciences, Zach W. Hall, Director, National Institute of Neurological
Disorders and Stroke, Carl Kupfer, Director, National Eye Institute, and Alan
I. Leshner, Director, National Institute on Drug Abuse, all of the National
Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.
[Page: D146]
Hearings continue tomorrow.
SMALL BUSINESS REGULATORY FAIRNESS ACT
Committee on Small Business: Committee ordered favorably reported, with an
amendment in the nature of a substitute, S. 942, to promote increased
understanding of Federal regulations and increased voluntary compliance with
such regulations by small entities, to provide for the designation of regional
ombudsmen and oversight boards to monitor the enforcement practices of certain
Federal agencies with respect to small business concerns, and to provide
relief from excessive and arbitrary regulatory enforcement actions against
small entities.
U.S. INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee concluded hearings on the future
of United States intelligence, after receiving testimony from former Senator
Rudman and former Secretary of Defense Harold Brown, both on behalf of the
Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the United States Intelligence
Community; former Senator Baker; Richard N. Haass, Director, National Security
Programs and Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations; and Richard K.
Betts, Columbia University, New York, New York.
TELEMARKETING FRAUD
Special Committee on Aging: Committee concluded hearings to examine the scope
and trends of telemarketing fraud operations that target the elderly, after
receiving testimony from Kathryn E. Landreth, United States Attorney, District
of Nevada, and Charles L. Owens, Section Chief, Financial Crimes Section,
Federal Bureau of Investigation, both of the Department of Justice; Jodie
Bernstein, Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission;
Agnes Johnson, Biddeford, Maine, on behalf of the American Association of
Retired Persons; John F. Barker, National Fraud Information Center, and Peder
Anderson, both of Washington, D.C.; Edward B. Gould, Jr., Las Vegas, Nevada;
and Mary Ann Downs, Raleigh, North Carolina.
Joint Meetings
GOVERNMENT PERFORMANCE
Joint Hearing: Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs held joint oversight
hearings with the House Committee on Government Reform and Oversight on the
implementation of the Government Performance and Results Act of 1993,
receiving testimony from Charles A. Bowsher, Comptroller General of the United
States, General Accounting Office; Malcolm Holmes, Senior Public Sector
Management Specialist, World Bank, former Australia Senior Official Ministry
of Finance; Donald F. Ketti, University of Wisconsin, Madison; Robert W.
Lauterberg, Virginia Department of Planning and Budget, Richmond; and Frank
Fairbanks, Phoenix, Arizona.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
CHECHEN CONFLICT
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission):
Commission held hearings to examine issues relating to the Chechen conflict
and Russian democratic development, receiving testimony from Anatol Lieven,
Senior Fellow, United States Institute of Peace; Jack F. Matlock, Jr.,
Columbia University, New York, New York, former United States Ambassador to
the Soviet Union; and Sergei Kovalev, Moscow, Russia.
Commission recessed subject to call.
1996/03/07
Daily Digest - Thursday, March 7, 1996; pages D153 - D164
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee concluded hearings on the nominations
of Kenneth H. Bacon, of the District of Columbia, to be Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Public Affairs, Franklin D. Kramer, of D 154the District of
Columbia, to be Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security
Affairs, and Alvin L. Alm, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary of Energy
for Environmental Management, after the nominees testified and answered
questions in their own behalf.
[Page: D154]
Also, committee met in closed session to consider pending military
nominations, but made no announcements and recessed subject to call.
AIR BAG SAFETY
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee concluded
hearings to examine the performance of passenger air bags and other related
safety issues, after receiving testimony from Ricardo Martinez, Administrator,
Barry Felrice, Associate Administrator for Safety Performance Standards,
William Boehly, Associate Administrator for Research and Development, Jim
Headlund, Associate Administrator for Traffic Safety Programs, and Sam Dubbin,
Chief Counsel, all of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration,
Department of Transportation; Richard Klimisch and Vann Wilber, both of the
American Automobile Manufacturing Association, Washington, D.C.; and Brian
O'Neill, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, and George Parker,
Association of International Automobile Manufacturers, both of Arlington,
Virginia.
NATIONAL PARKS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Parks, Historic
Preservation and Recreation concluded hearings on S. 745, to require the
National Park Service to eradicate brucellosis afflicting the bison in
Yellowstone National Park, S. 796 and H.R. 238, bills to provide for the
protection of wild horses within the Ozark National Scenic Riverways,
Missouri, and prohibit the removal of such horses, and S. 1451, to authorize
an agreement between the Secretary of the Interior and a State providing for
the continued operation by State employees of national parks in the State
during any period in which the National Park Service is unable to maintain the
normal level of park operations, after receiving testimony from Senators
McCain and Bond; John J. Reynolds, Deputy Director, National Park Service,
Department of the Interior; Donald Luchsinger, Deputy Administrator for
Veterinary Services, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Department of
Agriculture; Bob R. Hillman, Idaho Department of Agriculture, Boise; Douglas
R. Kennedy, Poplar Bluff, Missouri, and Jim Smith, Eminence, Missouri, both on
behalf of the Missouri Wild Horse League; Philip H. Voorhees, National Parks
and Conservation Association, D.J. Schubert, Meyer and Glitzenstein, on behalf
of the Fund for Animals, both of Washington, D.C.; Clarence J. Siroky, Montana
Department of Livestock, Helena; Paul Nicoletti, University of Florida College
of Veterinary Medicine, Gainesville; Art Reese, Wyoming Game and Fish
Department, Cheyenne; Del Hensel, National Bison Association, Denver,
Colorado; and Mike Fox, InterTribal Bison Cooperative, Rapid City, South
Dakota.
NATIONAL FORESTS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Forests and Public
Land Management concluded hearings on S. 393 and H.R. 924, bills to prohibit
the Secretary of Agriculture from transferring any national forest system
lands in the Angeles National Forest in California out of Federal ownership
for use as a solid waste landfill, after receiving testimony from
Representatives McKeon and Moorhead; Gray Reynolds, Deputy Chief, Forest
Service, Department of Agriculture; Mayor Carl Boyer, Santa Clarita,
California; Harry Grossman, Walt Disney Studios, Burbank, California; Frank
Bernheisel, Gershman, Brickner and Bratton, Falls Church, Virginia; Kenneth
Kazarian, BKK Corporation, Torrance, California; Jack R. Michael, Waste
Management Programs, Modesto, California; Dean Hargos, Dames & Moore, Las
Vegas, Nevada; and Harriet Burgess, American Land Conservancy, San Francisco,
California.
LANGUAGE OF GOVERNMENT ACT
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee held hearings on S. 356, to
declare English as the official language of the Government of the United
States, receiving testimony from Senators Simon and Bingaman; Representatives
Mink, Velazquez, and Underwood; Iliodor Philemonof, St. George Tanaq
Corporation, Anchorage, Alaska; Kauanoe Kamana and Namaka Rawlins, both on
behalf of the Punana Leo Project, Hilo, Hawaii; Leonard Chee, Navajo Nation
Council, Window Rock, Arizona; Joanne Chase, National Congress of American
Indians, and Karen K. Narasaki, National Asian Pacific American Legal
Consortium, both of Washington, D.C.; and Juan F. Perea, University of Florida
College of Law, Gainesville.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee resumed markup of S. 269, to increase
control over immigration to the United States by increasing border patrol and
investigator personnel, improving the verification system for employer
sanctions, increasing penalties for alien smuggling and for document fraud,
reforming asylum, exclusion, and deportation law and procedures, instituting a
land border user fee, and reducing the use of welfare by aliens, and S. 1394,
to D 155reform the legal immigration of immigrants and nonimmigrants to the
United States, but did not complete action thereon, and will meet again on
Wednesday, March 13.
[Page: D155]
NIH
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee concluded oversight hearings
on activities of the National Institutes of Health, after receiving testimony
from Ruth Kirschstein, Deputy Director, Judith Vaitukaitis, Director, National
Center for Research Resources, Donald Lindberg, Director, National Library of
Medicine, Claude Lenfant, Director, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute,
Stephen I. Katz, Director, National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal
and Skin Diseases, Richard J. Hodes, Director, National Institute on Aging,
William Paul, Director, Office of AIDS Research, Anthony Fauci, Director,
National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and Duane F. Alexander,
Director, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, all of the
National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human Services.
Joint Meetings
U.S./SINO RELATIONS
Joint Hearing: Senate Committee on Foreign Relations' Subcommittee on East
Asian and Pacific Affairs concluded joint hearings with the House Committee on
International Relations' Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific to examine
United States-Sino relations, focusing on the intellectual property rights
agreement and related trade issues, after receiving testimony from Michael
Kantor, United States Trade Representative; and Jason Berman, Recording
Industry Association of America, Robert Holleyman, Business Software Alliance,
and Eric Smith, International Intellectual Property Alliance, all of
Washington, D.C.
FOREIGN RELATIONS AUTHORIZATION ACT
Conferees agreed to file a conference report on the differences between the
Senate- and House-passed versions of H.R. 1561, to consolidate the foreign
affairs agencies of the United States, to authorize funds for fiscal years
1996 and 1997 for the Department of State and related agencies, and to
responsibly reduce the authorizations of appropriations for United States
foreign assistance programs for fiscal years 1996 and 1997.
1996/03/08
Daily Digest - Friday, March 8, 1996; pages D166 - D172
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
VA REORGANIZATION
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies
held hearings to examine the status of the reorganization of the Veterans
Health Administration and related initiatives to improve VA health care
delivery methods, receiving testimony from Kenneth Kizer, Under Secretary for
Health, and William Merriman, Acting Inspector General, both of the Department
of Veterans Affairs; David Baine, Associate Director, Human Resources
Division, General Accounting Office; and Richard Schultz, Disabled American
Veterans, Washington, D.C.
Subcommittee recessed subject to call.
GOVERNMENT TRAVEL MANAGEMENT
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee on Oversight of Government
Management and the District of Columbia held oversight hearings to examine
certain recommendations to improve travel management throughout the federal
government, receiving testimony from Christopher W. Hoenig, Director, Edith A.
Pyles, Assistant Director, and Shane D. Hartzler, Communications Analyst, all
of the Information Resources Management, Policies and Issues, Accounting and
Information Management Division, General Accounting Office; John J. Hamre,
Under Secretary of Defense (Comptroller); G. Martin Wagner, Associate
Administrator, Office of Policy, Planning and Evaluation, General Services
Administration; Tony Musick, Chief Financial Officer, Internal Revenue
Service, Department of the Treasury; and Donald K. Charney, Director of
Finance (Chief Financial Officer), U.S. Agency for International Development,
on behalf of the Joint Financial Management Improvement Program.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
AGE DISCRIMINATION IN EMPLOYMENT
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee concluded hearings on S. 553
and H.R. 849, bills to amend the Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967
to reinstate an exemption for certain bona fide hiring and retirement plans
applicable to State and local firefighters and law enforcement officers, after
receiving testimony from Senator Moseley-Braun; Terrance W. Gainer, Illinois
State Police, Springfield, on behalf of the International Association of
Chiefs of Police; Robert M. O'Neil, University of Virginia, Charlottesville;
Christopher Mackaronis, Bell, Boyd, and Lloyd, Washington, D.C.; Thomas
Miller, Indiana Fire Department, on behalf of the International Association of
Fire Fighters, and William H. Smith, Indiana State Police, on behalf of the
American Association of Retired Persons, both of Indianapolis, Indiana; Frank
J. Landy, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, on behalf of the
American Psychological Association; and Loren G. Myhre, Biomedical Computer
Systems, San Antonio, Texas.
Joint Meetings
EMPLOYMENT--UNEMPLOYMENT
Joint Economic Committee: Committee held hearings to examine the
employment-unemployment situation for February, receiving testimony from
Katharine G. Abraham, Commissioner, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Department of
Labor.
Committee recessed subject to call.
1996/03/11
Daily Digest - Monday, March 11, 1996; pages D173 - D176
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM
Committee on Finance: Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy held
hearings on the future of Social Security, focusing on the original intent of
the program, expectations of different generations, and changes necessary to
ensure that retirees born after 1946 will be treated fairly relative to
current and past retirees, receiving testimony from Shirley S. Chater,
Commissioner, and Harry Ballantyne, Chief Actuary, both of the Social Security
Administration; Alden Levy, Third Millennium, New York, New York; Matthew
Miller, The New Republic, Los Angeles, California; and Neil Howe, Great Falls,
Virginia.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
NOMINATION
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded hearings on the
nomination of Thomas A. Fink, of Alaska, to be a Member of the Federal
Retirement Thrift Investment Board, after the nominee testified and answered
questions in his own behalf.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/03/12
Daily Digest - Tuesday, March 12, 1996; pages D177 - D184
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
INTERNATIONAL CRIME
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Foreign Operations concluded
hearings to assess the costs associated with law enforcement training
initiatives to combat international crime, terrorism, and narcotics, after
receiving testimony from Louis J. Freeh, Director, Federal Bureau of
Investigation, Department of Justice.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Armed Services: Committee ordered favorably reported the
nominations of Maj. Gen. Richard C. Bethurem, USAF, to the grade of lieutenant
general, Lt. Gen. Michael E. Ryan, USAF, to the grade of general, Gen. Richard
E. Hawley, USAF, to the grade of general, Alvin L. Alm, of Virginia, to be
Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environmental Management, and 131 routine
military nominations in the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Committee resumed hearings on proposed
legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 for the Department of
Defense, and the future years defense plan, receiving testimony from John H.
Dalton, Secretary of the Navy; Adm. Jeremy M. Boorda, USN, Chief of Naval
Operations; and Gen. Charles C. Krulak, Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Hearings continue tomorrow.
WELFARE FOR IMMIGRANTS
Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded hearings to examine Federal
welfare benefits for immigrants, focusing on the public charge exclusion in
immigration law and the enforcement of a sponsor's support affidavits, after
receiving testimony from David A. Martin, General Counsel, Immigration and
Naturalization Service, Department of Justice; Virginia State Delegate Karen
Darner, Arlington, on behalf of the National Conference of State Legislatures;
George J. Borjas, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Mark
Tajima, Los Angeles County Chief Administrative Office, Los Angeles,
California.
[Page: D179]
ANGOLA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on African Affairs concluded
hearings to examine prospects for peace and democracy in Angola, after
receiving testimony from J. Brian Atwood, Administrator, Agency for
International Development; George E. Moose, Assistant Secretary of State for
African Affairs; Paul Hare, U.S. Special Representative to the Angolan Peace
Process; Gerald J. Bender, University of Southern California, Culver City; R.
Bruce McColm, Institute for Democratic Strategies, Alexandria, Virginia; and
Edward DeJarnette, United States-Angola Chamber of Commerce, and Edmond
Corthesy, International Committee of the Red Cross, both of Washington, D.C.
HUMAN RADIATION EXPERIMENTS
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee held hearings to examine human
radiation experiment issues, focusing on initiatives to protect human subjects
in research, receiving testimony from Sarah F. Jaggar, Director, Health
Financing and Public Health Issues, Health, Education, and Human Services
Division, and Bernice Steinhardt, Associate Director, Energy, Resources, and
Science, Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division, both of the
General Accounting Office; Gary B. Ellis, Director, Office for Protection from
Research Risks, National Institutes of Health, Department of Health and Human
Services; Tara O'Toole, Assistant Secretary of Energy for Environment, Safety
and Health; Gordon K. Soper, Principal Deputy to the Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Nuclear and Chemical and Biological Defense Programs; Mayor George
N. Ahmaogak, Sr., North Slope Borough, Alaska; Phillip Muller and Tony de
Brum, both representing the Government of the Republic of the Marshall
Islands; E. Cooper Brown, Task Force on Radiation and Human Rights,
Washington, D.C.; Gwendon Plair, Concerned Relatives of Cancer Study Patients,
Cincinnati, Ohio; and James Nageak, Wainwright, Alaska.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
YOUTH VIOLENCE
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Youth Violence concluded hearings
on proposed legislation authorizing funds for programs of the Juvenile Justice
and Delinquency Prevention Act, after receiving testimony from Senator
Grassley; Ray Luick, Wisconsin Office of Justice Assistance, Madison; William
R. Woodward, Colorado Department of Public Safety, Denver; S. Camille Anthony,
Utah Commission on Criminal and Juvenile Justice, Salt Lake City; Jerry
Regier, Oklahoma Department of Juvenile Justice, Oklahoma City; Patricia West,
Virginia Department of Youth and Family Services, Richmond; Robert G.
Schwartz, Pennsylvania State Advisory Group on Juvenile Justice, Philadelphia,
on behalf of the American Bar Association; Steve A. Carson, LaFollette Police
Department, LaFollette, Tennessee; and Byron F. Oedekoven, Gillette Police
Department, Gillette, Wyoming.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/03/13
Daily Digest - Wednesday, March 13, 1996; pages D186 - D194
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Committee continued hearings on proposed
legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 for the Department of
Defense and the future years defense plan, receiving testimony from Togo D.
West, Jr., Secretary of the Army; and Gen. Dennis J. Reimer, USA, Chief of
Staff of the Army.
Hearings continue tomorrow.
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Personnel held hearings on
proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 for the Department
of Defense and the future years defense program, focusing on manpower,
personnel, and compensation programs, receiving testimony from Edwin Dorn,
Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness; Sara E. Lister,
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs; Bernard
Rostker, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Manpower and Reserve Affairs; and
Rodney A. Coleman, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and
Reserve Affairs, Installations and Environment.
Subcommittee will meet again on Wednesday, March 20.
ENERGY DEFENSE PROGRAMS
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces held hearings to
examine Department of Energy atomic energy defense programs, focusing on
nuclear stockpile stewardship and management, receiving testimony from Charles
B. Curtis, Deputy Secretary of Energy; Victor H. Reis, Assistant Secretary of
Defense for Defense Programs; Harold P. Smith, Assistant to the Secretary of
Defense for Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Defense; Victor S. Rezendes,
Director, Energy, Resources and Science Issues, General Accounting Office;
Joan B. Rohlfing, Director, Office of Non-Proliferation and National Security;
Siegfried S. Hecker, Director, Los Alamos National Laboratory, C. Bruce
Tarter, Director, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and C. Paul
Robinson, President, Sandia National Laboratories, all of the Department of
Energy; Ambrose L. Schwallie, Westinghouse/Savannah River Co., Aiken, South
Carolina; Karen K. Clegg, Allied Signal, Kansas City, Missouri; F.P.
Gustavson, Lockheed Martin Energy System, Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and William A.
Weinreich, Pantex Plant, Amarillo, Texas.
Subcommittee recessed subject to call.
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee ordered favorably
reported the following business items:
S. 1271, to amend the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 to direct the Secretary
of Energy to develop an integrated management system for spent nuclear fuel
and high-level nuclear waste, with an amendment in the nature of a substitute;
S. 1596, to convey to the State of California certain land specified for the
Ward Valley Low level Radioactive Waste facility;
S. 1467, authorizing funds for the Federal portion of a rural water supply
system within the service area of the Fort Peck Rural Water County District in
Montana; and
The nominations of Thomas Paul Grumbly, of Virginia, to be Under Secretary of
Energy, Alvin L. Alm, of Virginia, to be Assistant Secretary of Energy for
Environmental Management, and Charles William Burton, of Texas, and
Christopher M. Coburn, of Ohio, each to be a Member of the Board of Directors
of the United States Enrichment Corporation.
CONVENTION ON CHEMICAL WEAPONS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee resumed hearings on the Convention
on the Prohibition of Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical
Weapons and on Their Destruction, opened for signature and signed by the
United States at Paris on January 13, 1993 (Treaty Doc. 103-21), receiving
testimony from Amoretta Hoeber, former Deputy Under Secretary of the Army,
Arlington, Virginia; Baker Spring, Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C.; J.D.
Crouch, Southwest Missouri State, Branson, former Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy; and Michael L. Moodie,
Chemical and Biological Arms Control Institute, Alexandria, Virginia.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
[Page: D188]
WEAPONS PROLIFERATION
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
held hearings to examine the status of United States efforts to improve
nuclear material controls in the Newly Independent States, receiving testimony
from John F. Sopko, Deputy Chief Counsel to the Minority, and Alan Edelman,
Counsel to the Minority, both of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations;
Harold J. Johnson, Associate Director, International Relations and Trade
Issues, National Security and International Affairs Division, General
Accounting Office; Glenn E. Schweitzer, Director, Office for Central Europe
and Eurasia, National Research Council; Graham Allison, Harvard University,
Cambridge, Massachusetts; William C. Potter, Monterey Institute of
International Studies, Monterey, California; Sarah A. Mullen, Center for
Strategic and International Studies, and Joshua Handler, Greenpeace, both of
Washington, D.C.; Gary Bertsch, University of Georgia, Athens; and Andrei Y.
Glukhov, Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, Richland, Washington.
Hearings continue on Wednesday, March 20.
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the
nominations of Joseph A. Greenaway, to be United States District Judge for the
District of New Jersey, Ann D. Montgomery, to be United States District Judge
for the District of Minnesota, James P. Jones, to be United States District
Judge for the Western District of Virginia, and Gary A. Fenner, to be United
States District Judge for the Western District of Missouri.
Also, committee resumed markup of S. 269, to increase control over immigration
to the United States by increasing border patrol and investigator personnel,
improving the verification system for employer sanctions, increasing penalties
for alien smuggling and for document fraud, reforming asylum, exclusion, and
deportation law and procedures, instituting a land border user fee, and
reducing the use of welfare by aliens, and S. 1394, to reform the legal
immigration of immigrants and nonimmigrants to the United States, but did not
complete action thereon, and will meet again tomorrow.
CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM
Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee resumed hearings on proposals
to amend the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 to provide for a voluntary
system of spending limits and partial public financing of Senate primary and
general election campaigns, to limit contributions by multicandidate political
committees, and to reform the financing of Federal elections and Senate
campaigns, receiving testimony from Representatives Shays, Meehan, and Linda
Smith; David N. O'Steen, National Right to Life Committee, and Becky Cain,
League of Women Voters of the United States, both of Washington, D.C.; John
Dye, Lebanon, Virginia, on behalf of the Virginia Rural Letter Carriers'
Association; James Bopp, Jr., Terre Haute, Indiana, on behalf of the Free
Speech Coalition; Charles R. Serio, Linthicum Heights, Maryland; Col. Billie
M. Bobbitt, USAF (Ret.), Sidney, Ohio; and Linda DeVries, Louisville,
Kentucky.
Hearings continue on Wednesday, April 17.
INTELLIGENCE
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee held closed hearings on
intelligence matters, receiving testimony from officials of the intelligence
community.
Committee recessed subject to call.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/03/14
Daily Digest - Thursday, March 14, 1996; pages D196 - D206
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Committee continued hearings on proposed
legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 for the Department of
Defense and the future years defense program, receiving testimony from Shelia
E. Widnall, Secretary of the Air Force; and Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman, Chief of
Air Force Staff.
Committee will meet again on Tuesday, March 19.
MILITARY READINESS
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Readiness held hearings to
examine current and future military readiness as the Armed Forces prepare for
the 21st Century, receiving testimony from Gen. Dennis J. Reimer, USA, Chief
of Army Staff; Adm. Jeremy M. Boorda, USN, Chief of Naval Operations; Gen.
Ronald R. Fogleman, USAF, Chief of Air Force Staff; and Gen. Charles C.
Krulak, USMC, Commandant of the Marine Corps.
Subcommittee will meet again on Thursday, March 21.
IMPACT OF SPECTRUM ESTIMATES ON BUDGET
Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded hearings to examine budgetary and
economic implications of certain proposals to auction the electromagnetic
radio frequency spectrum, focusing on the current plan at the Federal
Communications Commission to manage a transition from existing broadcast
television technology to a new technology, after receiving testimony from
David H. Moore, Senior Analyst, Natural Resources and Commerce Division,
Congressional Budget Office; Larry Irving, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for
Communications and Information; Mike Burgess, KOB-TV, Albuquerque, New Mexico;
Howard Shrier, Nebraska Broadcasters Association, Lincoln; Jerry A. Hausman,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge; and Tom Hazlett, University
of California, Davis, on behalf of the American Enterprise Institute.
INTERNATIONAL AVIATION RELATIONS
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on Aviation
held hearings to examine United States policy with regard to international
aviation relations, receiving testimony from Charles A. Hunnicutt, Assistant
Secretary for Aviation and International Aviation, and Patrick Murphy, Deputy
D200Assistant Secretary for Aviation and International Affairs, both of the
Department of Transportation; John Anderson, Director, Transportation Issues,
Resources, Community, and Economic Development Division, General Accounting
Office; Frederick W. Smith, Federal Express Corporation, Memphis, Tennessee;
Dan Kasper, Coopers & Lybrand, Boston, Massachusetts; and Joseph Schwieterman,
Chaddick Aviation Institute/DePaul University, Chicago, Illinois.
[Page: D200]
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
RIGHT-OF-WAY CLAIMS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Committee concluded hearings on S.
1425, to recognize the validity of rights-of-way for the construction of
highways over public lands, not reserved for public uses, granted under
section 2477 of the Revised Statutes, after receiving testimony from Senator
Stevens; John D. Leshy, Solicitor, Department of the Interior; Alaska
Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth J. Barry, and Alaska State Senator Loren
Leman, both of Juneau; Chip Dennerlien, National Parks and Conservation
Association, Anchorage, Alaska; Scott Groene, Southern Utah Wilderness
Alliance, Cedar City; and Barbara Hjelle, Washington County, Utah.
WETLAND MITIGATION BANKING
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Committee concluded oversight
hearings to examine basic concepts underlying wetland mitigation banking,
current practice and trends, Administration's recent Federal Guidance for the
Establishment, Use and Operation of Mitigation Banks, and related proposals,
including H.R. 961, Clean Water Amendments/Comprehensive Wetlands Conservation
and Management Act, after receiving testimony from H. Martin Lancaster,
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works; Robert Perciasepe, Assistant
Administrator for Water, Environmental Protection Agency; Thomas R. Hebert,
Deputy Under Secretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and the
Environment; John R. Dorney, North Carolina Department of Environment, Health
and Natural Resources, Raleigh; Steve Gordon, Lane Council of Governments,
Eugene, Oregon; John H. Ryan, Land and Water Resources, Inc., Rosemont,
Illinois; Denver J. Stutler, Jr., ECOBANK, Winterpark, Florida; Robert D.
Sokolove, U.S. Wetland Services, Inc., Bethesda, Maryland; William J. Mitsch,
Ohio State University, and Charles J. Ruma, on behalf of the National
Association of Home Builders, both of Columbus, Ohio; Leonard Shabman,
Virginia Water Resources Research Center/Virginia Tech, Blacksburg; Jan
Goldman-Carter, National Wildlife Federation, Washington, D.C.; and Curtis C.
Bohlen, Center for Estuarine and Environmental Studies/University of Maryland,
Solomons, Maryland.
POSTAL SERVICE REFORM
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee on Post Office and Civil
Service held hearings on proposals to reform the United States Postal Service,
receiving testimony from Ian D. Volner, Advertising Mail Marketing
Association, John F. Sturm, Newspaper Association of America, and Tonda F.
Rush, National Newspaper Association, all of Washington, D.C.; Cary Baer,
Reader's Digest Association, Inc., Pleasantville, New York, Christopher
McCormick, L.L. Bean, Inc., Freeport, Maine, and Jonah Gitlitz, Washington,
D.C., all on behalf of the Direct Marketing Association; Hamilton Davison,
Paramount Cards, Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Jack Mayer, Hallmark Cards, Kansas
City, Missouri, and Jeff Weiss, American Greetings Corporation, Cleveland,
Ohio, all on behalf of the Greeting Card Association; and Timothy J. May,
Patton, Boggs, and Blow, Washington, D.C., M. Jerome Jensen, Jr., Fingerhut
Companies, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Chris Rebello, Current, Inc.,
Colorado Springs, Colorado, all on behalf of the Parcel Shippers Association.
Hearings continue on Monday, March 18.
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee continued markup of S. 269, to increase
control over immigration to the United States by increasing border patrol and
investigator personnel, improving the verification system for employer
sanctions, increasing penalties for alien smuggling and for document fraud,
reforming asylum, exclusion, and deportation law and procedures, instituting a
land border user fee, and reducing the use of welfare by aliens, and S. 1394,
to reform the legal immigration of immigrants and nonimmigrants to the United
States, but did not complete action thereon, and will meet again on Wednesday,
March 20.
[Page: D201]
Joint Meetings
VETERANS PROGRAMS
Joint Hearing: Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs concluded joint hearings
with the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs on legislative recommendations
of certain veterans organizations, after receiving testimony from Richard
Grant, Paralyzed Veterans of D205America, Richard G. Fazakerley, Blinded
Veterans of America, Virginia M. Torsch, Retired Officers Association, Charles
R. Jackson, Non-Commissioned Officers Association of the United States, and
Neil Goldman, Jewish War Veterans of the United States, all of Washington,
D.C.
[Page: D205]
PRODUCT LIABILITY
Conferees on Wednesday, March 13, agreed to file a conference report on the
differences between the Senate- and House-passed versions of H.R. 956, to
establish legal standards and procedures for product liability litigation.
ALBANIA
Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe (Helsinki Commission):
Commission held hearings to examine the challenges to democracy in Albania,
receiving testimony from Elez Biberaj, Director of the Albanian Service, Voice
of America; and Fred Abrahams, Human Rights Watch/Helsinki, and Kathleen
Imholz, both of New York, New York.
Commission recessed subject to call.
1996/03/15
Daily Digest - Friday, March 15, 1996; pages D208 - D216
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Acquisition and Technology held
hearings on proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 and
the future years defense programs, focusing on emerging battlefield concepts
for the 21st century and the implications of these concepts for technology
investment decisions, receiving testimony from Gen. Charles C. Krulak, USMC,
Commandant, and Lt. Gen. Anthony C. Zinni, USMC, Commanding General Marine
Expeditionary Force, both of the United States Marine Corps; Adm. Jay L.
Johnson, USN, Vice Chief of Naval Operations; Lt. Gen. Ronald V. Hite, USA,
Military Deputy to the Assistant of the Army (Research, Development, and
Acquisition); Gen. Thomas S. Moorman, Jr., USAF, Vice Chief of Staff for the
Air Force; Maj. Gen. Edward G. Anderson III, USA, Assistant Deputy Chief of
Staff of the Army, Operations, Plans and Force Development; and George R.
Schneiter, Director, Strategic and Tactical Systems, Department of Defense.
Subcommittee will meet again on Wednesday, March 20.
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Airland Forces held hearings on
proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 for the Department
of Defense and the future years defense program, focusing on tactical aviation
issues, receiving testimony from Brig. Gen. Robert Magnus, USMC, Assistant
Deputy Chief of Marine Crops Staff for Aviation; Lt. Gen. Ralph E. Eberhart,
USAF, Deputy Chief of Air Force Staff for Plans and Operations; Rear Adm.
Dennis V. McGinn, USN, Director, Air Warfare Division, Office of the Chief of
Naval Operations; and Rear Adm. Craig E. Steidle, USN, Director, Advanced
Strike Technology Program.
Subcommittee will meet again on Friday, March 22.
NATIONAL RIGHT TO WORK ACT
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee concluded hearing on S. 581,
to repeal those provisions of Federal law that require employees to pay union
dues or fees as a condition of employment, after receiving testimony from
Senator Faircloth; Representative Goodlatte; Reed Larson, National Right to
Work Committee, Springfield, Virginia; Don Judge, Montana State AFL-CIO,
Helena; and John Willson, Neosho, Missouri.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/03/18
Daily Digest - Monday, March 18, 1996; pages D217 - D222
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
POSTAL SERVICE REFORM
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Subcommittee on Post Office and Civil
Service concluded hearings on proposals to reform the United States Postal
Service, after receiving testimony from John T. Estes, Main Street Coalition
for Postal Fairness, Lee M. Cassidy, National Federation of Nonprofits, Gene
A. Del Polito, Advertising Mail Marketing Association, Jerry Cerasale, Direct
Marketing Association, Inc., Arthur B. Sackler, Time Warner Inc., and Robert
J. Brinkmann, Newspaper Association of America, all of Washington, D.C.; and
Guy H. Wendler, Stamats Communication, Inc., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, on behalf of
American Business Press.
[Page: D220]
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/03/19
Daily Digest - Tuesday, March 19, 1996; pages D224 - D232
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Committee resumed hearings on proposed
legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 for the Department of
Defense and the future years defense program, focusing on the military
strategies and operational requirements of the unified commands, receiving
testimony from Gen. George A. Joulwan, USA, Commander in Chief, United States
European Command; Gen. J.H. Binford Peay III, USA, Commander in Chief, United
States Central Command; Gen. John J. Sheehan, USMC, Commander in Chief, United
States Atlantic Command; and Rear Adm. James B. Perkins III, USN, Acting
Commander in Chief, United States Southern Command.
Hearings will continue on Thursday, March 21.
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Seapower held hearings on
proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 and the future
years defense program, focusing on Department of the Navy Expeditionary
Warfare Programs, receiving testimony from Maj. Gen. J.L. Jones, USMC,
Director Expeditionary Warfare, Rear Adm. John O. Pearson, USN, Commander,
Mine Warfare Command, and Rear Adm. Richard D. Williams III, USN, Program
Executive officer for Mine Warfare, all of the Department of the Navy.
Subcommittee will meet again on Thursday, March 21.
[Page: D227]
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Committee concluded hearings
on the nominations of Stuart E. Eizenstat, of Maryland, to be Under Secretary
of Commerce for International Trade, and Gaston L. Gianni Jr., of Virginia, to
be Inspector General, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, after the
nominees testified and answered questions in their own behalf. Mr. Eizenstat
was introduced by Senator Coverdell.
FCC REFORM
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Committee held oversight
hearings on activities of the Federal Communications Commission, receiving
testimony from Dennis R. Patrick, Time Warner, Inc., Kenneth Gordon, National
Economic Research Associates, Albert Halprin, Halprin, Temple, Goodman &
Sugrue, and Kenneth Robinson, all of Washington, D.C.; Cheryl L. Parrino,
Wisconsin Public Utilities Commission, Madison, on behalf of the National
Association of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners; and Harry M. Shooshan,
Strategic Policy Research, Bethesda, Maryland.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
MIDDLE EAST PEACE PROCESS
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian
Affairs held hearings to examine the threat of terrorism and its impact on the
Middle East peace process, receiving testimony from L. Paul Bremer III,
Kissinger Associates, Inc., New York, New York; Michael Eisenstadt, Washington
Institute for Near East Policy, and Steven Emerson, both of Washington, D.C.;
Seif Ashmawy, Voice of Peace, Newark, New Jersey; and Vincent M. Cannistraro,
McLean, Virginia.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
ASSET FORFEITURE PROGRAM
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
held hearings to examine activities involving mismanagement of the Federal
Asset Forfeiture Program which authorizes certain government agencies to seize
property related to criminal conduct, focusing on United States Marshals
Service operation of the Bicycle Club Casino in Bell Gardens, California under
the Federal Asset Forfeiture Program, receiving testimony from Laurie E.
Ekstrand, Associate Director, Administration of Justice Issues, and James M.
Blume, Assistant Director, both of the General Government Division, and Gary
T. Engel, Assistant Director, Accounting and Information Management Division,
all of the General Accounting Office; Eduardo Gonzalez, Director, and Kenneth
Holecko, Assistant Director, both of the United States Marshals Service, and
Gerald E. McDowell, Chief, Asset Forfeiture and Money Laundering Section,
Criminal Division, all of the Department of Justice; James F. Lisowski, Sr.,
Lisowski Law Firm, Chtd., Las Vegas, Nevada; Thomas Atherton and Douglas
Sparkes, both of Los Angeles, California, and Harry J. Richard, Bell Gardens,
California, all on behalf of the Bicycle Club Casino; and Hollman Cheung, an
incarcerated witness.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
AUTHORIZATION--HATE CRIME STATISTICS ACT
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee held hearings on S. 1624, to permanently
authorize funds for programs of the Hate Crime Statistics Act of 1990,
receiving testimony from Charles W. Archer, Assistant Director, Criminal
Justice Information Services Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation,
Department of Justice; Mayor Emanuel Cleaver II, Kansas City, Missouri, on
behalf of the United States Conference of Mayors; Bobby Moody, Covington,
Georgia, on behalf of the International Association of Chiefs of Police; Steve
Arent, Anti-Defamation League, New York, New York; and Karen McGill Lawson,
Leadership Conference Education Fund, Washington, D.C.
INTELLIGENCE REFORM
Select Committee on Intelligence: Committee concluded hearings to examine
proposals for the renewal and reform of the United States intelligence
community, after receiving testimony from Stansfield Turner, William Webster,
and R. James Woolsey, all former Directors of Central Intelligence.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/03/20
Daily Digest - Wednesday, March 20, 1996; pages D234 - D242
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS--DEFENSE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Defense held hearings on proposed
budget estimates for fiscal year 1997 for the Department of Defense, focusing
on Ballistic Missile Defense, receiving testimony from Lt. Gen. Malcolm R.
O'Neill, USA, Director, Ballistic Missile Defense Organization, Department of
Defense.
Subcommittee will meet again on Wednesday, March 27.
APPROPRIATIONS--FOREIGN ASSISTANCE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Foreign Operations held hearings
on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 1997 for foreign assistance
programs, receiving testimony from J. Brian Atwood, Administrator, Agency for
International Development.
Subcommittee recessed subject to call.
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Acquisition and Technology
resumed hearings on proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year
1997 and the future years defense program, focusing on technology base
programs, receiving testimony from Paul G. Kaminski, Under Secretary of
Defense for Acquisition and Technology; Gilbert F. Decker, Assistant Secretary
of the Army for Research, Development, and Technology; John W. Douglass,
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development, and Technology;
Arthur L. Money, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition; and
Larry Lynn, Director, Advanced Research Projects Agency, Department of
Defense.
Subcommittee recessed subject to call.
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Personnel resumed hearings on
proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 for the Department
of Defense and the future years defense program, focusing on manpower,
personnel, and compensation programs, receiving testimony from Frederick F.Y.
Pang, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Force Management Policy; Lt. Gen.
Theodore G. Stroup, Jr., USA, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army for Personnel;
Vice Adm. Frank L. Bowman, USN, Deputy Chief of Naval Personnel; Lt. Gen.
Michael D. McGinty, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force for Personnel; and
Lt. Gen. George R. Christmas, USMC, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Marine Corps
for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.
Subcommittee recessed subject to call.
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces resumed hearings
on proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 for the
Department of Defense and the future years defense program, focusing on space
programs and related issues, receiving testimony from Gen. Joseph W. Ashy,
USAF, Commander in Chief, United States Space Command; Robert Davis, Deputy
Under Secretary of Defense for Space; Maj. Gen. Robert F. Dickman, USAF, Space
Architect, Department of Defense; and Keith Hall, Acting Director, National
Reconnaissance Office.
Subcommittee will meet again on Monday, March 25.
1997 BUDGET
Committee on the Budget: Committee concluded hearings on the President's
proposed budget request for fiscal year 1997 for the Federal Government, after
receiving testimony from Alice M. Rivlin, Director, Office of Management and
Budget.
HYDROGEN RESEARCH
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Energy Research and
Development concluded hearings on S. 1077, S. 1153, and H.R. 655, bills to
direct the Secretary of Energy to provide for a hydrogen energy research,
development and demonstration program relating to production, D236storage,
transportation, and use of hydrogen, after receiving testimony from Senator
Harkin; Representative Walker; Allan Hoffman, Acting Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Energy for Utility Technologies; Richard E. Rocheleau, University
of Hawaii, Manoa; Jerry Thomas, Montana Tradeport Authority, Helena; and
Robert Gurule, Albuquerque, New Mexico.
[Page: D236]
TRADE DEFICIT
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on International Economic Policy,
Export and Trade Promotion held hearings to examine the impact of balancing
the Federal budget on the United States trade deficit, receiving testimony
from Paul Wonnacott, Middlebury College, Middlebury, Vermont; Rudolph G.
Penner, Barents Group/KPMG Peat Marwick, Claude Barfield, American Enterprise
Institute, and Robert A. Blecker, American University, all of Washington,
D.C.; and I.M. Destler and Robert E. Scott, both of the University of
Maryland, College Park.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
WEST BANK/GAZA
Committee on Foreign Relations: Subcommittee on Near Eastern and South Asian
Affairs concluded hearings to examine the economic development situation in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip, after receiving testimony from Richard A. Roth,
Director, Office of Israel and Arab-Israeli Affairs, Department of State;
Terrence J. Brown, Deputy Assistant Administrator, Bureau for Asia and the
Near East, U.S. Agency for International Development; Ruth R. Harkin,
President and CEO, Overseas Private Investment Corporation; Ziad Karram, GRdG,
Inc., Fairfax, Virginia; Omar M. Kader, PaL-Tech, Inc., Arlington, Virginia;
and Peter Gubser, American Near East Refugee Aid, Washington, D.C., on behalf
of InterAction West Bank/Gaza Committee.
WEAPONS PROLIFERATION
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
resumed hearings to examine the status of United States efforts to improve
nuclear material control in the Newly Independent States, receiving testimony
from John Deutch, Director, Central Intelligence Agency; Rolf Ekeus, United
Nations Special Commission, New York, New York; Gary Milhollin, Wisconsin
Project on Nuclear Arms Control, Washington, D.C.; and David Kay, Hicks and
Associates, Inc., McLean, Virginia.
Hearings will continue on Friday, March 22.
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee resumed markup on S. 269, to increase
control over immigration to the United States by increasing border patrol and
investigator personnel, improving the verification system for employer
sanctions, increasing penalties for alien smuggling and for document fraud,
reforming asylum, exclusion, and deportation law and procedures, instituting a
land border user fee, and reducing the use of welfare by aliens, and S. 1394,
to reform the legal immigration of immigrants and nonimmigrants to the United
States, but did not complete action thereon, and will meet again on tomorrow.
CONGRESSIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE
Committee on Rules and Administration: Committee concluded oversight hearings
to examine certain activities of the Congressional Research Service, after
receiving testimony from Daniel P. Mulhollan, Director, Richard Price,
Jennifer O'Sullivan, and Melvina Ford, each a Specialist in Social
Legislation, Education and Public Welfare Division, Heidi Yacker, Information
and Technical Research Specialist, Congressional Reference Division, Kathleen
S. Swendiman, Legislative Attorney, American Law Division, Jean Yavis Jones,
Specialist in Food and Agriculture, and Section Head, Food and Agriculture
Section, Charles Hanrahan, Senior Specialist in Agricultural Policy, Ralph
Chite, Specialist in Agricultural Policy, Diane T. Duffy, Legislative
Attorney, and Sandra S. Osbourn, Specialist in American National Government,
all of the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress.
VA ELIGIBILITY REFORM
Committee on Veterans' Affairs: Committee held hearings on proposals to reform
eligibility rules for Department of Veterans Affairs health care benefits,
focusing on the effects of veterans' health care eligibility priorities which
govern all veterans' access to VA care and programs, including related
measures S. 1345, S. 1359, S. 1563, and provisions of H.R. 1385, receiving
testimony from David P. Baine, Director, Health Care Delivery and Quality
Issues, Health, Education, and Human Services Division, Jim Linz, Assistant
Director, Veterans Health Programs, and Terry Saiki, Senior Evaluator
(Seattle, Washington), all of the General Accounting Office; John R. Vitikacs,
The American Legion, James R. Currieo, Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United
States, David W. Gorman, Disabled American Veterans, Gordon H. Mansfield,
Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Kelli R. Willard West and William L.
Warfield, both of the Vietnam Veterans of America, all of Washington, D.C.;
James J. Kenney, AMVETS, Lanham, Maryland; and Larry D. Rhea, Non Commissioned
Officers Association of the United States of America, Alexandria, Virginia.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
[Page: D237]
Joint Meetings
1996 FARM BILL
Conferees met to resolve the differences between the Senate- and House-passed
versions of H.R. 2854, to modify the operation of certain agricultural
programs, but did not complete action thereon, and will meet again tomorrow.
1996/03/21
Daily Digest - Thursday, March 21, 1996; pages D243 - D252
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS--MILITARY CONSTRUCTION
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Military Construction held
hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 1997 for Army and Navy
military construction programs, receiving testimony from Robert M. Walker,
Assistant Secretary of the Army for Installations, Logistics and Environment;
and Robert B. Pirie, Jr., Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Installation and
Environment.
Subcommittee will meet again on Tuesday, April 16.
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Committee resumed hearings on proposed
legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 for the Department of
Defense and the future years defense program, focusing on military strategies,
operational requirements of the unified commands, receiving testimony from
Gen. Joseph W. Ashy, USAF, Commander in Chief, United States Space Command;
Gen. Eugene E. Habiger, USAF, Commander in Chief, United States Strategic
Command; Gen. Robert L. Rutherford, USAF, Commander in Chief, United States
Transportation Command; and Gen. Henry H. Shelton, Commander in Chief, United
States Special Operations Command.
Committee will meet again on Thursday, March 28.
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Seapower resumed hearings on
proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 for the Department
of Defense and the future years defense program, focusing on Department of the
Navy Shipbuilding programs, receiving testimony from John W. Douglass,
Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Research, Development and Acquisition; and
Vice Adm. Thomas J. Lopez, USN, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for
Resources, Warfare Requirements and Assessments.
Subcommittee will meet again on Tuesday, March 26.
GUARD AND RESERVE READINESS
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Readiness held hearings to
examine the readiness of the Guard and Reserve to support the National
Military Strategy, receiving testimony from Richard Davis, Director, and
Robert Pelletler, Assistant Director, both of the National Security Analysis,
General Accounting Office; and Deborah Lee, Assistant Secretary of Defense for
Reserve Affairs.
Subcommittee recessed subject to call.
FANNIE MAE/FREDDIE MAC
Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs: Subcommittee on HUD
Oversight and Structure held oversight hearings on the implementation of the
Federal Housing Enterprises Safety and Soundness Act of 1992 and its impact on
the role the Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) and the
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) have on the Nation's
mortgage finance system, receiving testimony from Franklin D. Raines, Fannie
Mae, and Leland C. Brendsel, Freddie Mac, both of Washington, D.C.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
[Page: D245]
PARKS/BATTLEFIELDS
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Parks, Historic
Preservation and Recreation concluded hearings on S. 305, to establish the
Shenandoah Valley National Battlefields and Commission in the Commonwealth of
Virginia, H.R. 1091, to improve the National Park System in the Commonwealth
of Virginia, S. 1225, to require the Secretary of the Interior to conduct an
inventory of historic sites, buildings, and artifacts in the Champlain Valley
and the Upper Hudson River Valley in Vermont, including the Lake George area,
S. 1226, to require the Secretary of the Interior to prepare a study of
battlefields of the Revolutionary War and the War of 1812, and to establish an
American Battlefield Protection Program, and S.J. Res. 42, designating the
Civil War Center at Louisiana State University as the United States Civil War
Center, making the center the flagship institution for planning the
sesquicentennial commemoration of the Civil War, after receiving testimony
from Senators Breaux and Warner; Representatives Wolf and Bliley; Katherine H.
Stevenson, Associate Director, Cultural Resource Stewardship and Partnerships,
and Ed Bearss, Historian Emeritus, both of the National Park Service,
Department of the Interior; Townsend H. Anderson, Vermont State Agency of
Development and Community Affairs, Montpelier; Ann Sullivan Cousins, Lake
Champlain Basin Program, Grand Isle, Vermont; Louise Ransom, Mount
Independence Coalition, Williston, Vermont; David Madden, United States Civil
War Center/Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge; Gabor Boritt, Civil War
Institute/Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, Pennsylvania; Dennis E. Frye,
Association for the Preservation of Civil War Sites, Fredericksburg, Virginia;
and James B. Donati, Jr., Henrico County Board of Supervisors, Richmond,
Virginia; and Eileen Woodford, National Parks and Conservation Association,
Washington, D.C.
CHEMICAL WEAPONS TREATY
Committee on Foreign Relations: Committee resumed hearings on the Convention
on the Prohibition of Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical
Weapons and on Their Destruction, opened for signature and signed by the
United States at Paris on January 13, 1993 (Treaty Doc. 103-21), receiving
testimony from Douglas J. Feith, Feith and Zell, Washington, D.C.; Kathleen C.
Bailey, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Livermore, California; Brad
Roberts, Institute for Defense Analysis, Alexandria, Virginia; and Frederick
L. Webber, Chemical Manufacturers Association, Arlington, Virginia.
Hearings will continue on Thursday, March 28.
TENTH AMENDMENT ENFORCEMENT ACT
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee held hearings on S. 1629, to
protect the rights of the States and the people from abuse by the Federal
Government, to strengthen the partnership and the intergovernmental
relationship between State and Federal governments, to restrain Federal
agencies from exceeding their authority, and to enforce the Tenth Amendment to
the U.S. Constitution, receiving testimony from Senators Dole, Hatch, and
Nickles; Virginia Attorney General James S. Gilmore III, Richmond; South
Carolina Attorney General Charles Molony Condon, Columbia; Colorado Solicitor
General Timothy M. Tymkovich, Denver; Alaska State Representative Eldon
Mulder, Juneau; Ohio State Representative Patrick Sweeney, Columbus; New York
State Senator James Lack, Albany; Nelson Lund, George Mason University School
of Law, Fairfax, Virginia; and John Kincaid, Lafayette College, Easton,
Pennsylvania.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
IMMIGRATION REFORM
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported an original
bill to increase control over immigration to the United States by increasing
border patrol and investigator personnel, improving the verification system
for employer sanctions, increasing penalties for alien smuggling and for
document fraud, reforming asylum, exclusion, and deportation law and
procedures, instituting a land border user fee, and reducing the use of
welfare by aliens. (As approved by the committee, the bill incorporates the
text of S. 269.)
AUTHORIZATION--INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES EDUCATION
Committee on Labor and Human Resources: Committee ordered favorably reported,
with an amendment in the nature of a substitute, S. 1578, to authorize funds
for programs of the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act.
HUBZONE ACT
Committee on Small Business: Committee held hearings on S. 1574, to create new
opportunities for growth and jobs in economically distressed urban and rural
communities, receiving testimony from C. Austin Fitts, Hamilton Securities
Group, Inc., and Marvin G. Harris, Bridget J.C. McLaurin, and Wanda Riddick,
all of Edgewood Technology Services Inc., all on behalf of e.villages, and Raj
Barr-Kumar, American Institute of Architects, all of Washington, D.C.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
[Page: D246]
Joint Meetings
CONTINUING APPROPRIATIONS
Conferees met to resolve the differences between the Senate- and House-passed
versions of H.R. 3019, making appropriations for fiscal year 1996 to make a
further downpayment toward a balanced budget, but did not complete action
thereon, and recessed subject to call.
1996 FARM BILL
Conferees agreed to file a conference report on the differences between the
Senate- and House-passed versions of H.R. 2854, to modify the operation of
certain agricultural programs.
1996/03/22
Daily Digest - Friday, March 22, 1996; pages D254 - D260
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
WEAPONS PROLIFERATION
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations
resumed hearings to examine the status of United States efforts to improve
nuclear material control in the Newly Independent States, receiving testimony
from John F. Sopko, Deputy Chief of Counsel to the Minority, and Alan Edelman,
Counsel to the Minority, both of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations,
Governmental Affairs Committee; Frank Miller, Principal Deputy Assistant
Secretary of Defense for International Security Policy; Charles B. Curtis,
Deputy Secretary of Energy; Thomas E. McNamara, Assistant Secretary of State
for Political-Military Affairs; Gordon Oehler, Director, NonProliferation
Center, Central Intelligence Agency; Robert M. Blitzer, Chief, Domestic
Terrorism/Counterterrorism Planning Section, National Security Division,
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Department of Justice; and Connie J. Fenchel,
Chief, Strategic Investigations, Office of Investigations, U.S. Customs
Service; Department of the Treasury.
Hearings will continue on Wednesday, March 27.
Joint Meetings
STATE OF THE ECONOMY
Joint Economic Committee: Committee concluded hearings to examine the economic
state of the United States, after receiving testimony from Joseph E. Stiglitz,
Chairman, Michael J. Boskin and Murray L. Weidenbaum, each a former Chair, and
William A. Niskanen and Alan Blinder, each a former Member, all of the Council
of Economic Advisers.
1996/03/25
Daily Digest - Monday, March 25, 1996; pages D261 - D264
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
AUTHORIZATION--DEFENSE
Committee on Armed Services: Subcommittee on Strategic Forces resumed hearings
on proposed legislation authorizing funds for fiscal year 1997 for the
Department of Defense and the future years defense program, focusing on
ballistic missile defense programs and related issues, receiving testimony
from Lt. Gen. Malcolm R. O'Neill, USA, Director, Ballistic Missile Defense
Organization, Department of Defense.
Subcommittee will meet again on Friday, March 29.
[Page: D262]
SOCIAL SECURITY REFORM
Committee on Finance: Subcommittee on Social Security and Family Policy held
hearings to examine the status and future of the Social Security system,
focusing on the current and projected financial status of Social Security,
trends in income and retirements savings, and personal security accounts,
receiving testimony from Henry J. Aaron, Brookings Institution, Washington,
D.C.; and Olivia S. Mitchell, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Howard
Young, University of Michigan, Livonia, Edith U. Fierst, Fierst and Moss, and
Sylvester J. Schieber, Watson Wyatt Worldwide, both of Washington, D.C., and
Edward M. Gramlich, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, all on behalf of the
Advisory Council on Social Security.
Hearings were recessed subject to call.
NOMINATION
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Committee concluded hearings on the
nomination of Robert E. Morin, to be an Associate Judge of the Superior Court
of the District of Columbia, after the nominee testified and answered
questions in his own behalf.
No Joint hearings noted.
1996/03/26
Daily Digest - Tuesday, March 26, 1996; pages D265 - D270
Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
APPROPRIATIONS--AGRICULTURE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development,
and Related Agencies held hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal
year 1997 for the Department of Agriculture, receiving testimony from Daniel
R. Glickman, Secretary, Richard E. Rominger, Deputy Secretary, Keith Collins,
Chief Economist, and Stephen B. Dewhurst, Director, Office of Budget and
Program Analysis, all of the Department of Agriculture.
Subcommittee will meet again on Thursday, March 28.
APPROPRIATIONS--ENERGY AND WATER DEVELOPMENT
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development held
hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 1997 for energy and
water development programs, receiving testimony on behalf of funds for their
respective activities from Patricia Beneke, Assistant Secretary for Land and
Water, an |
