[Congressional Record: April 23, 1998 (Digest)]
[Page D394-D397]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]
[DOCID:cr23ap98-1]


                                           Thursday, April 23, 1998

[[Page D394]]

                              Daily Digest

HIGHLIGHTS

      Senate passed Education Savings Act for Public and Private
      Schools.

                                 Senate

Chamber Action
Routine Proceedings, pages S3469-S3559
Measures Introduced: Eleven bills and three resolutions were
introduced, as follows: S. 1971-1981, S.J. Res. 45, S. Con. Res. 90,
and S. Res. 215.
  Pages S3534-35
Measures Reported: Reports were made as follows:
  S. 1360, to amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996 to clarify and improve the requirements for
the development of an automated entry-exit control system, to enhance
land border control and enforcement, with an amendment in the nature of
a substitute.
  S. 1504, to adjust the immigration status of certain Haitian
nationals who were provided refuge in the United States, with an
amendment in the nature of a substitute.
Page S3534
Measures Passed:
  Education Savings Act for Public and Private Schools: By 56 yeas to
43 nays (Vote No. 102), Senate passed H.R. 2646, to amend the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986 to allow tax-free expenditures from education
individual retirement accounts for elementary and secondary school
expenses, and to increase the maximum annual amount of contributions to
such accounts, after taking action on amendments proposed thereto, as
follows:
  Pages S3469-95, S3499-S3528
Adopted:
  By 58 yeas to 42 nays (Vote No. 96), Kempthorne Modified Amendment
No. 2302 (to Amendment No. 2301), to provide for student improvement
incentive awards. (By unanimous-consent, the amendment, as further
modified, was considered as an amendment in the first degree.)
                                                         Pages S3470-73
  Coverdell (for McCain) Amendment No. 2298, to provide for a study of
multilingualism in the United States.
Pages S3484-85
  Coverdell (for Dorgan) Amendment No. 2307, to amend the Gun-Free
Schools Act of 1994 to promote school safety.
Pages S3484-85
  Levin/Bingaman Amendment No. 2299, to replace the expansion of
education individual retirement accounts to elementary and secondary
school expenses with an increase in the lifetime learning education
credit for expenses of teachers in improving technology training, as
amended.
Pages S3473-76, S3492-93
  Subsequently, the amendment was modified.
Page S3494
  Coverdell Amendment No. 2309, to make grants available to early
childhood reading, to improve reading skills of students, to expand
high-quality family literacy programs, and reduce the number of
children who are referred to special education due to reading
difficulties.
Pages S3488-92, S3494
  By 74 yeas to 26 nays (Vote No. 101), Bingaman Amendment No. 2308, to
provide assistance to address school dropout problems.
                                                  Pages S3485-88, S3494
Rejected:
  By 46 yeas to 54 nays (Vote No. 95), Coats Amendment No. 2297, to
provide an additional incentive to donate to elementary and secondary
schools or other organizations which provide scholarships to
disadvantaged children.
Pages S3469-70
  By 34 yeas to 66 nays (Vote No. 97), Landrieu Amendment No. 2301, to
provide funding to carry out a program that recognizes public and
private elementary and secondary schools that have established
standards of excellence.
Pages S3470-73
  Levin Amendment No. 2303 (to Amendment No. 2299, as amended), to
replace the expansion of education individual retirement accounts to
elementary and secondary school expenses with an increase in the
lifetime learning education credit for expenses of teachers in
improving technology training. (By 61 yeas to 39 nays (Vote No. 99),
Senate tabled the amendment.)
Pages S3473-76, S3492-93

[[Page D395]]

  By 49 yeas to 51 nays (Vote No. 100), Boxer Amendment No. 2306, to
improve academic and social outcomes for students by providing
productive activities during after school hours.
                                               Pages S3479-84, S3493-94
  During consideration of this measure today, Senate also took the
following action:
  By 46 yeas to 53 nays (Vote No. 98), three-fifths of those Senators
duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, Senate
rejected a motion to waive the Congressional Budget Act of 1974 with
respect to consideration of Dodd Amendment No. 2305, to provide funding
for part B of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Subsequently, a point of order that the amendment was in violation of
Section 302(f) of the Congressional Budget Act was sustained, and the
amendment thus fell.
Pages S3476-79
  Northern Ireland Peace Agreement: By a unanimous vote of 97 yeas
(Vote No.103), Senate agreed to S. Con. Res. 90, to express the sense
of the Congress in congratulating the participants in the negotiations
resulting in the Northern Ireland Peace Agreement.
                                               Pages S3495-99, S3528-29
  Request of the House: Senate agreed to S. Res. 215, directing the
Secretary of the Senate to request the House of Representatives to
return the official papers on S. 414, and to make a technical
correction in the Act as passed by the Senate.
  Page S3559
State Department Reorganization Conference Report-Agreement: A
unanimous-consent agreement was reached providing for the consideration
of the conference report on H.R. 1757, to consolidate international
affairs agencies, to authorize appropriations for the Department of
State and related agencies for fiscal years 1998 and 1999, to ensure
that the enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)
proceeds in a manner consistent with United States interests, to
strengthen relations between the United States and Russia, and to
preserve the prerogatives of the Congress with respect to certain arms
control agreements, on Friday, April 24, 1998, with a vote on the
conference report to occur on Tuesday, April 28, 1998, at 2:25 p.m.
                                                     Pages S3499, S3559
NATO Enlargement Treaty-Agreement: A unanimous-consent agreement was
reached providing for the consideration of Treaty Doc. 105-36,
Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949 on Accession of Poland,
Hungary, and the Czech Republic, on Monday, April 27, 1998.
                                                             Page S3499
Appointment:
  Special Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem: The Chair, on
behalf of the President pro tempore, and upon the recommendation of the
Democratic Leader, pursuant to the provisions of S. Res. 208 of the
105th Congress, appointed the following Senators to the Special
Committee on the Year 2000 Technology Problem: Senators Dodd, Moynihan,
and Bingaman.
  Page S3559
Nominations Received: Senate received the following nominations:
  Nikki Rush Tinsley, of Maryland, to be Inspector General,
Environmental Protection Agency.
  Robert A. Freedberg, of Pennsylvania, to be United States District
Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania vice Thomas N. O'Neill,
Jr., retired.
  David R. Herndon, of Illinois, to be United States District Judge for
the Southern District of Illinois vice William L. Beatty, retired.
                                                             Page S3559
Messages From the House:
  Page S3533
Measures Referred:
  Page S3533
Communications:
  Page S3534
Executive Reports of Committees:
  Page S3534
Statements on Introduced Bills:
  Pages S3535-44
Additional Cosponsors:
  Pages S3544-45
Amendments Submitted:
  Pages S3546-54
Notices of Hearings:
  Page S3554
Authority for Committees:
  Page S3554
Additional Statements:
  Pages S3554-59
Record Votes: Nine record votes were taken today. (Total--103)
                              Pages S3470-73, S3479, S3493-94, S3528-29
Adjournment: Senate convened at 9:30 a.m., and adjourned at 8:27 p.m.,
until 10 a.m., on Friday, April 24, 1998. (For Senate's program, see
the remarks of the Acting Majority Leader in today's Record on page
S3559.)

Committee Meetings
(Committees not listed did not meet)
FOOD STAMP PROGRAM
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry: Committee concluded
hearings to examine the incidence of fraud and abuse in the Food Stamp
Program, focusing on proposed legislation to strengthen current laws to
make it illegal for prisoners and fleeing felons to collect food stamps
by requiring States to conduct criminal background checks on anyone
applying for food stamps, and Federal efforts to ensure the integrity
of the Food Stamp Program, after receiving testimony from
Representative Menendez; Yvette S. Jackson, Administrator, Food and
Nutrition Service, Department of Agriculture; Robert A.

[[Page D396]]

Robinson, Director, Food and Agriculture Issues, Resources, Community,
and Economic Development Division, General Accounting Office; Chris
Hamilton, Abt Associates Inc., Cambridge, Massachusetts; and Harold S.
Beebout, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc., Washington, D.C.
APPROPRIATIONS--FOREIGN ASSISTANCE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on Foreign Operations held
hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year 1999 for foreign
assistance, focusing on a multi-year United States strategy to combat
infectious diseases in developing countries, receiving testimony from
James M. Hughes, Director, National Center for Infectious Diseases,
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and
Human Services; Nils M.P. Daulaire, Senior Health Advisor, Population,
Health and Nutrition Bureau for Programs and Policy, U.S. Agency for
International Development; David L. Heymann, World Health Organization,
Geneva, Switzerland; and Gail H. Cassell, Indianapolis, Indiana, on
behalf of Eli Lilly and Company.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Tuesday, April 28.
APPROPRIATIONS--FOREST SERVICE
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on the Interior and Related
Agencies held hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year
1999 for the Forest Service, receiving testimony from James R. Lyons,
Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, and Michael P.
Dombeck, Chief, Forest Service, both of the Department of Agriculture,
who were accompanied by several of their associates.
  Subcommittee recessed subject to call.
APPROPRIATIONS--NASA
Committee on Appropriations: Subcommittee on VA, HUD, and Independent
Agencies held hearings on proposed budget estimates for fiscal year
1999 for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, receiving
testimony from Daniel S. Goldin, Administrator, NASA, who was
accompanied by several of his associates.
  Subcommittee will meet again on Thursday, April 30.
AVIATION COMPETITION
Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation: Subcommittee on
Aviation concluded hearings to examine the Department of
Transportation's policy regarding unfair exclusionary conduct in the
aviation industry and the competitive implications of consolidation
among United States airlines, after receiving testimony from Nancy E.
McFadden, General Counsel, Department of Transportation; Richard B.
Hirst, Northwest Airlines, Inc., St. Paul, Minnesota; Alfred Kahn,
Cornell University, Ithaca, New York; Mark Kahan, Spirit Airlines,
Eastpointe, Michigan; and Steven A. Morrison, Northeastern University,
Boston, Massachusetts.
PUBLIC LANDS MANAGEMENT
Committee on Energy and Natural Resources: Subcommittee on Forests and
Public Land Management held hearings on S. 1253, to provide to the
Federal land management agencies the authority and capability to manage
effectively the federal lands in accordance with the principles of
multiple use and sustained yield, receiving testimony from Idaho State
Senator Judi Danielson, Council; Washington State Senator Robert
Morton, Colville; Cindy Bowen, Montrose County, Colorado, and Louise
Liston, Garfield County, Utah, both on behalf of the National
Association of Counties; Sue Kupillas, Jackson County, Oregon; and
Steve McClure, Union County, Oregon.
  Hearings were recessed subject to call.
CLEAN AIR REGULATIONS
Committee on Environment and Public Works: Subcommittee on Clean Air,
Wetlands, Private Property, and Nuclear Safety concluded hearings to
examine the Environmental Protection Agency proposed rule to improve
visibility and reduce regional haze in national parks and wilderness
areas, after receiving testimony from John S. Seitz, Director, Office
of Air Quality Planning and Standards, Office of Air and Radiation,
Environmental Protection Agency; Christine L. Shaver, Chief of the Air
Resources Division, National Park Service, Department of the Interior;
Utah Governor Michael O. Leavitt, Salt Lake City, on behalf of the
Western Governors' Association; Randolph Wood, Nebraska Department of
Environmental Quality, Lincoln; Kenneth A. Colburn, New Hampshire
Department of Environmental Services, Concord; and Lynn M. Terry,
California Environmental Protection Agency, Sacramento.
NOMINATIONS
Committee on Finance: Committee concluded hearings on the nominations
of Thelma J. Askey, of Tennessee, Jennifer Anne Hillman, of Indiana,
and Stephen Koplan, of Virginia, each to be a Member of the United
States International Trade Commission, and Patrick A. Mulloy, of
Virginia, to be an Assistant Secretary of Commerce, after the nominees
testified and answered questions in their own behalf. Ms. Askey was
introduced by Representative Archer, Ms. Hillman was introduced by
Senator Lugar, Mr. Koplan was introduced by Representative Rangel, and
Mr. Mulloy was introduced by Senators D'Amato and Sarbanes.

[[Page D397]]

TELEPHONE SLAMMING
Committee on Governmental Affairs: Permanent Subcommittee on
Investigations concluded hearings to examine issues relating to
telephone slamming which is the unauthorized switching of a consumer's
long-distance service, including S. 1740, to improve the protections
against the unauthorized change of subscribers from one
telecommunications carrier to another, which entities are most
responsible for intentional slamming incidents, and the technique used
to deceive consumers, after receiving testimony from Eljay B. Bowron,
Assistant Comptroller General for Special Investigations, Office of
Special Investigations, General Accounting Office; and William E.
Kennard, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission
BUSINESS MEETING
Committee on the Judiciary: Committee ordered favorably reported the
following business items:
  The nominations of James K. Robinson, of Michigan, to be Assistant
Attorney General for the Criminal Division, and Wilma A. Lewis, to be
United States Attorney for the District of Columbia, all of the
Department of Justice;
  S. 1504, to adjust the immigration status of certain Haitian
nationals who were provided refuge in the United States, with an
amendment in the nature of a substitute; and
  S. 1360, to amend the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant
Responsibility Act of 1996 to clarify and improve the requirements for
the development of an automated entry-exit control system, and to
enhance land border control and enforcement, with an amendment in the
nature of a substitute.
  Also, committee began markup of the proposed Digital Millennium
Copyright Act of 1998, but did not complete action thereon, and will
meet again on Thursday, April 30.
CHEMICAL AND BIOLOGICAL TERRORISM
Committee on the Judiciary: Subcommittee on Technology, Terrorism, and
Government Information concluded joint hearings with the Select
Committee on Intelligence to examine Federal efforts in dealing with
chemical and biological weapons threats to America, and the
implementation of the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act
(P.L. 104-132), after receiving testimony from Donald C. Latham,
Member, Defense Science Board; Christine M. Gosden, University of
Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom; and Richard Preston, New York,
New York.
