The hearings and meeting were transcribed. Copies of the transcriptions are available upon request.

Hearings of Friday, March 6, 1998

Introduction. The co-chairs of the Commission, Kathleen Brown and Jon Corzine, began the hearings shortly after 9:00 a.m. on Friday, March 6, in the House Budget Committee Hearing Room, Room 210 Cannon House Office Building, Washington, DC. All Commissioners were present at this time or shortly thereafter, except for Woody Brittain and Steve Rattner. Sitting at the table with the Commissioners were Barry Anderson, Executive Director of the Commission, and William Dinkelacker, Designated Federal Official from the Department of the Treasury. As required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the meeting had been announced in the Federal Register.

Several items were distributed to the public and the Commission or were available at the meeting:

--       an agenda;

--       the fact sheet about the Commission;

--       a list of written testimony and statements received by the Commission;

--       the press release announcing the meeting; and

--       draft minutes of the January 30 and 31 sessions;

In addition, written testimony of witnesses was distributed during the day.

Purpose. The purpose of the hearings was to take testimony from the witnesses about capital budgeting, ask them questions, and hear a presentation about the Federal budget from Commissioners Stan Collender and Rudy Penner.

Testimony. The following persons appeared before the Commission:

9:45      Robert E. Rubin, Secretary of the Treasury

10:30    Edward M. Gramlich, Board of Governors, Federal Reserve System

11:15    Paul Posner, Director, Budget Issues, General Accounting Office

1:00      Commission Members Rudy Penner and Stan Collender: Budget Concepts

2:30      Representative for Research and Development
             Raymond G. Kammer, Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology,
                   Department of Commerce

3:15      Representative for Physical Capital
             David Plavin, President, Airport Council International

Written testimony was submitted by Mr. Gramlich and Mr. Posner. Copies of the written testimony are available upon request to the Executive Director, Barry Anderson.

Prior to the end of the meeting, Stan Collender distributed a discussion draft "Mission Statement" for consideration by the Commission and for discussion the next day.

The hearings ended about 4:00 p.m. after the testimony of Mr. Plavin.

Meeting of Saturday, March 7, 1998

Introduction. The co-chairs opened the meeting at 9:05 a.m. in the Truman Room of the White House Conference Center, 726 Jackson Place, NW, Washington, DC. The meeting was open to the public. All Commissioners were present except Mr. Brittain. Sitting at the table with the Commissioners were Barry Anderson, Executive Director of the Commission, and William Dinkelacker, Designated Federal Official from the Department of the Treasury. As required by the Federal Advisory Committee Act, the meeting had been announced in the Federal Register.

The same handouts were available to the public as those on March 6. In addition, three handouts were available from the Department of the Treasury:

--       "Independence of the Treasury and Federal Reserve;"
--       "United States of America U.S. Treasury Security Auctions;" and
--       Remarks by Gary Gensler, Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, at The Bond Market
          Association Annual Meeting, Boca Raton, Florida (March 6, 1998).

Minutes.--The Commission approved the draft minutes of the January 30 and 31 hearing and meeting as written.

Congressional presentation. At 9:15 the following panel of witnesses discussed the Congressional budget process:

--       Sue Nelson, Minority Director of Budget Review and Analysis, Senate Budget Committee;
--       Jack Conway, Professional Staff Member, Senate Appropriations Committee;
--       Susan J. Irving, Associate Director, Budget Issues, General Accounting Office; and
--       Art Sauer, Majority Deputy Director, House Budget Committee.

During the panel presentation there were many questions and observations by the members of the Commission. The panel concluded about 11:00 a.m.

The location of the April 24/25 meetings were discussed and it was decided to have these sessions again in Washington, instead of Chicago as previously planned. In addition, future plans were as follows:

May 8/9:                     New York City
June 26/27:                 Washington, DC
September 18/19:       Washington, DC
November 2:              Washington, DC
December 4/5:            Washington, DC
 

Mr. Corzine announced that Barry Anderson, Executive Director for the Commission, was leaving OMB and that the Commission has begun to think about this change. The remainder of the meeting the Commission discussed the discussion draft "Mission Statement" distributed by Stan Collender the previous day, the assignments of the work groups, and related items.

The meeting adjourned at 12:30 p.m.