I think certainly it is a responsibility of elected officials to be observant of public opinion and constituent views. But I think it is also important to understand that polling and the use of polls is oftentimes quite contradictory and…

I do not think we want to extend the debate unnecessarily here, because the issues on this amendment are virtually identical to the issues that were on the floor in the context of Senator Simpson's amendment. The fact is that this is…

I was not as surprised as he was at the remarks of the Senator from Colorado about this effort to bring legal immigration into the illegal immigration bill. As I said in my earlier comments, and as I think the remarks of the Senator from…

I believe we are on the Simpson amendment here to the illegal immigration bill. References made by the Senator from California to the Abraham-Kennedy amendments being in this bill are not accurate. There is no provision related to the…

I rise to note the passing of our Commerce Secretary, Ron Brown, in a plane crash outside Dubrovnik, Bosnia. This tragic accident took with it a vast amount of talent and expertise in the persons of numerous American business people, and…

I would like today to discuss the proposals we Senate Republicans have developed under the leadership of the majority leader, Senator Dole, to end frivolous lawsuits brought by prisoners, to remove our prisons from the control of Federal…

I rise tonight to make an opening statement with regard to the bill, S. 1664, on illegal immigration. Let me begin by stating my support for this legislation. It is the product of much work in our Judiciary Committee and before that in the…

One of the significant problems we have--and I agree with him--is the problem of people who are getting out of prison at the State and local levels before they should. The problem, though, I think, is in large measure stemming from…

I support full funding for education and continued vigilance over Medicare fraud. In the past, I have offered several amendments to protect education spending from cuts as well as to create new initiatives to fight Medicare fraud. My…

I voted in favor of final passage of the bill because it would meet U.S. foreign relations and national security goals, while cutting spending in those areas that do not directly support the U.S. national security strategy. Many of the…

Mr. President, no single issue dominated our deliberations more than the subject of illegitimacy. Republican or Democrat. Liberal or Conservative. I believe nearly every Senator emphasized the need for our society to curtail the dramatic…

I accept the amendment of the Senator from Massachusetts. As is plain from its language, it does not request the Commission to send new guideline changes. Rather, it requests the Commission's recommendations for how the laws and guidelines…

Mr. President, if this amendment succeeds, we will have nothing left in this bill geared to the problem of illegitimacy that virtually every Member of this Senate has talked about and described is a problem in their State. This portion of…

Our understanding is, with some changes which we made prior to introducing the amendment here today, it was to provide sort of a fail-safe to ensure that the concerns that the Senator from Ohio has expressed about the possibility of having…

In essence, our amendment would ensure that Federal agencies periodically assess the utility of regulations that disproportionately impact small business. I think it is critically important any regulatory reform bill take into account…

The concern the Senator from Ohio expressed was one that we took into account in the process of putting together the amendment originally. What we tried to balance was the responsibilities of the different officials in the Small Business…

I do not want to express the suggestion that we have spent a huge amount of time considering the specific role of the head of SBA. But let me go back to the point as to why the chief counsel for advocacy was initially identified. That is…

Mr. President, I would also say that the Abraham-Dole amendment has been strongly supported by all the Nation's major small business organizations, including the NFIB, the National Association for the Self-Employed, the Small Business…

I will say we felt, of the various responsibilities at the Small Business Administration, the advocate's office is, in effect, a somewhat independent figure whose principal responsibility under current law would seem to be very consistent…

At this point, I would not be in a position to make that change, I say to the Senator from Ohio. Because my mind is not fully closed on this, there are a number of people who participated in putting together this amendment initially, and I…

I just wanted to add a couple more points to my opening remarks on this amendment, because I think they elaborate a little more fully on some of the concerns I raised at that time. As I mentioned in my comments, the need, in my judgment…

the amendment I have proposed with my esteemed colleague from Kentucky would extend the joint liability reforms of S. 565 to all cases whose subject matter affects interstate commerce. This extension is necessary, in our view, to realize…

let me take a few minutes to explain to the American people what this debate over the balanced budget amendment is really all about. It is a debate between those in this body who want to maintain the status quo versus those of us who want…

during the past year I have repeatedly been approached by citizens of my State of Michigan who have expressed their outrage about the current congressional pension system. Initially, their anger was focused upon what they believed to be an…

recently the Committee on Labor and Human Resources, on which I serve, held 3 days of hearings on reforming the Federal Government's system of job training programs. Over the course of the hearings, the committee heard testimony from a…