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Noting the significant increase since 1990 in food-borne illnesses affecting school children, these hearings transcripts provide testimony on the safety of federal school lunches. Statements by Senator Richard Durbin and Representatives Stephen Horn, Janice Schakowsky, and Carolyn Maloney emphasized the array of federal agencies with various food safety responsibilities, food safety agencies' inability to mandate food recalls, and the need for better cooperation and communication between the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Representative Rosa DeLauro discussed findings of unsanitary conditions and unsafe food handling practices in Chicago area schools, recordkeeping flaws preventing officials from tracing food contamination to its source, the need to consolidate and streamline the number of federal agencies/committees responsible for protecting food, and the need to give the USDA and FDA authority to conduct mandatory recalls. General Accounting Office testimony recommended making schools aware of federal inspection and compliance records of potential food suppliers and described USDA and FDA measures to protect the food supply from deliberate contamination. Officials from the FDA and USDA described their respective roles in ensuring food safety and procedures for responding to illness outbreaks. An official of the Center for Science in the Public Interest discussed gaps in the food safety system and urged passage of the Durbin-DeLauro Safe Food Act. Two parents from a food safety advocacy group testified about their childrens food-borne illnesses, urged trace-back capability and accountability, advocated a single food safety agency, and maintained that overemphasizing consumer education misdirects responsibility for food safety from producers to consumers. Counsel for the National Food Processors Association asserted that mandatory recall is unnecessary because of industry cooperation with federal recall requests and maintained that a single food safety agency is not likely to provide the kinds of benefits proposed. Questions for witnesses related to interagency cooperation and communication, bioterrorism possibilities, specific incidents of foodborne illnesses and the followup investigations, USDA guidance to districts regarding procurement procedures, and concerns about due process. Appended to the transcripts are prepared statements, letters, and charts illustrating the school lunch supply chain and food safety oversight responsibilities. (KB)

This document presents witness testimonies addressing the growing problem of Ecstasy use among American youth. All accounts point to the fact that youth are increasingly experimenting with the drug and experiencing seizures and other adverse affects at an alarming rate. Opening statements from Senators Lieberman, Bunning, and Akaka related the problem of drugs in their states. Testimony was presented from two teenage residents of Phoenix House Drug Rehabilitation Center, who are recovering from Ecstasy addiction. Other witnesses include Dr. Donald R. Vereen, Jr., Deputy Director of National Drug Control Policy; Alan I. Leshner, Director of National Institute on Drug Abuse; John C. Varrone, Assistant Commissioner of Customs; Joseph D. Keefe, Chief of Operations for Drug Enforcement Administration; John M. Bailey, Connecticut Chief State's Attorney; and Roy Rutland, Narcotics Detective for Miami-Dade Police Department. The hearing attempted to determine if the government was doing enough to stop the continued spread of this drug. It was hoped that the hearing gave a better understanding of the problem and provided some insight into what must be done. The appendix contains the prepared statements of the witnesses. (JDM)

This document records the oral and written testimony of witnesses who testified at a hearing on a proposed amendment to the Federal Workforce Restructuring Act of 1993. The amendment would spell out how the federal work force is to be reduced in size and would provide cash incentives for early retirement as well as make retraining of existing workers more feasible. Witnesses included Senators Glenn, Roth, Stevens, Sasser, Pryor, and Akaka, as well as several officials of the Office of Management and Budget and the Department of Defense. The witnesses generally supported the idea of the amendment but pointed out the need to ensure that new workers were not hired to replace each one who left and that top-level officials as well as lower supervisors and workers were chosen for early retirement or voluntary layoff. The text of the amendment is included in the document. (KC)

This document presents testimony and prepared statements concerning the lack of information about educational and career opportunities for young people beyond high school, and the need for improving access to student financial aid information so that economically disadvantaged students have the opportunity to go on to higher education. Witnesses were: Col. John C. Meyers, Director, Advertising and Public Affairs, U.S. Army Recruiting Command; Hon. Ernest C. Canellos, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary, Office of Student Financial Assistance, U.S. Department of Education; Gwendolynne S. Moore, Representative, Seventh Assembly District, State of Wisconsin; Selena Dong, Legislative Director, United States Student Association; Regina E. Manley, president National Association of College Admission Counselors, Chicago [IL] Public Schools; Gary D. Bass, Executive Director, OMB Watch; and A. Dallas Martin, Jr., President, National Association of College Admission Counselors. Also included in the document is a U.S. Department of Education publication called "The Key to the Future," that provides information to assist those interested in seeking student aid, including how to get it, what's available, and general information on the department's Student Aid process. Appendices contain: (1) prepared statements of witnesses in order of appearance; (2) statements from Senators Lieberman and Rudman; (3) responses from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators to Senator Rudman's questions; and (4) responses to questions from Senator Kohl by the U.S. Department of Education. (GLR)

The transcript of the hearing that examined S. 1951, a bill to establish a Federal Interagency Council on Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education, is presented. The purpose of the bill is to promote cooperation and coordination among the dozen or so federal agencies that administer programs in science and math education. Witnesses include the following officials: (1) John Andelin, Office of Technology Assessment; (2) Christopher T. Cross, Office of Educational Research and Improvement; (3) Mark O. Hatfield, Senator from Oregon; (4) Sue Kemnitzer, former executive director, Task Force on Women, Minorities, and the Handicapped in Science and Technology; (5) J. Thomas Ratchford, National Science Foundation; (6) Richard E. Stephens, Department of Energy; and (7) Luther Williams, National Science Foundation. The text of S. 1951, the prepared statements of witnesses in order of appearance, a report on "Coordination of Programs on Mathematics and Science Education for the Department of Education, the National Science Foundation, and Other Agencies," and a letter to Senator Glenn from Christopher T. Cross dated June 14, 1990 are appended. (KR)

These hearings, representing the testimony before the Subcommittee on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse in August, 1978, sought to require government contractors to establish and operate alcohol abuse and alcoholism programs and services, or to arrange for referral to such services. Statements are included from witnesses representing such agencies as the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; Health Education Foundation and Association of Labor-Management Administrators and Consultants on Alcoholism, Inc. (Author/BMW)

A subcommittee report introduces the subject of these joint hearings--the problem of infant mortality in the United States; addresses the need for the legislation; summarizes the proposed legislation; and lists endorsing organizations. The hearings examine both the scope of the problem and S. 1209, legislation to create a national commission to prevent infant mortality. Testimony, which includes remarks by persons experiencing problems and participating in programs, reports: (1) efforts made to address the problem in Texas; (2) the work of the Southern Regional Task Force on Infant Mortality in South Carolina and Virginia; (3) Florida's program goals and interest in the legislation; (4) prenatal care of migrant workers; (5) activities of the Economic Opportunity Family Health Center of Liberty City in Miami (Florida); (6) human and economic costs of infant mortality and differences preventive measures make; (7) dimensions of the problem in Florida and efforts to address them; (8) programs of obstetric, pediatric, and neonatal intensive care units; (9) differences prenatal care can make to mothers' and babies' health; (10) the Children's Home Society's special prevention programs for high risk teens; (11) major trends in infant mortality and related statistics for the United States, reasons trends are occurring, and responsive activities of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; (12) the Reduced-Fee Maternity Program of Providence Hospital's Center for Life, Washington, D.C.; (13) dimensions of and approaches to the problem of infant mortality in Minnesota; (14) infant mortality among blacks in Washington, D.C.; and (15) approaches to preventing low birthweight among infants. Material submitted for the record, in addition to statements and letters, includes a research report on racial and socioeconomic disparities in childhood mortality in Boston, MA, other articles on infant mortality, the text of S. 1209, and an extensive summary of ways to prevent low birthweight. (RH)

This document contains oral and written testimony by United States Senators, government administrators, and employee representatives on a proposal to establish leave sharing for federal employees. The leave sharing concept could be implemented on a personal basis, with any employee donating sick or annual leave to another employee with a long-term illness who has exhausted his/her own leave, or via a "bank" in which employees could deposit and from which they could withdraw leave. Most of those testifying endorsed the leave sharing concept, and several cited cases in which such sharing would have saved an employee from financial ruin. Several witnesses had experience with leave sharing programs, either in other levels of government or in a federal leave-sharing pilot project, and heartily supported the concept. (The text of a bill authorizing federal leave sharing is included in this report.) (KC)

Submitted to Congress by Senator William V. Roth, Jr., of the Committee on Governmental Affairs, this document reports favorably on Senate Bill 786 (the Information Age Commission Act of 1986), legislation designed to establish a commission to study the impact of computer and communications systems on American society. The report provides: (1) a statement of the need for the legislation; (2) a summary of the legislation; (3) a discussion of the legislation; (4) legislative history of the bill; (5) a section-by-section analysis; (6) an evaluation of regulatory impact; (7) the estimated cost, provided in a letter from Rudolph G. Penner, Director of the Congressional Budget Office; (8) results of the vote in committee; and (9) a note on changes in existing law. (KM)

This publication is a comprehensive record of testimony and exhibits presented to the Committee on Governmental Affairs of the U.S. Senate during hearings on five proposed bills to establish a Department of Education. The hearings were conducted on October 12 and 13, 1977 to consider the following bills: S.991, S.255, S.300, S.894, and S.1685. Testimony and exhibits are presented chronologically and indexed alphabetically by witnesses' names. The complete text of each bill is also included. (JG)