This congressional report presents and examines the Carl D. Perkins Vocational-Technical Education Act Amendments of 1997. The following items are included: text of the amendments; summary of three hearings held in preparation for amending the Perkins Act; statement of views of the Committee on Education and the Workforce regarding needed changes in the act; overviews and section-by-section analyses of the impact of the amendments on the four titles of the 1990 Perkins Act; oversight findings of the committee; estimate of the amendments' cost; voting record of the members of the Committee on Education and the Workforce on the individual amendments; text of changes made in the 1990 Perkins Act by the amendments; and additional and minority views regarding the amendments. The text of changes in the 1990 Perkins Act constitutes approximately 75% of the report and details changes in the following: vocational-technical education assistance to the states (including state organization and planning responsibilities); basic state grants for vocational-technical education (including funds allocated for secondary, postsecondary, and adult vocational-technical education programs and for rural areas, special populations, and large cities); research and development (including funding for tech prep); and general provisions (federal administrative provisions; state administrative provisions; definitions). (MN)