This is a transcript from a Joint Hearing of the U.S. Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources and the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and the Workforce that addresses the U.S. Department of Education's development of regulations necessary to implement the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) Amendments of 1997. It includes opening statements from Senator James Jeffords (R-VT), Representative William Goodling (R-PA), Senator Edward Kennedy (D-MA), Senator Dan Coats (R-IN), Representative Matthew Martinez (D-CA), and Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA). Prepared statements are included from Senator Bill Frist (R-TN), Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Representative Frank Riggs (R-CA), and Representative Charlie Norwood (R-GA). Presentations are then provided from Judith Heumann, Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitation Services, Martha Feland, the President of Cabot School Board in Arkansas, Frank Clark, a school district attorney from Hershey Pennsylvania, Brian McNulty, Colorado Assistant Commissioner of Education, and Patricia McGill Smith, from the National Parent Network on Disabilities. Questions from the members of Congress and answers from the panelists are included. Among issues addressed in the testimony are discipline, suspensions of students with disabilities, funding of IDEA, and alternative placements. (CR)