Rod Grams

Mr. President, I am usually not one to quote poetry here on the Senate floor, but I rise today and ask my colleagues' indulgence as I broach a serious subject with a not-so-serious bit of rhyme. Abracadabra, thus we learn The more you…

I just wanted to inform the Senate of my intentions today--later on, after this time for debate--to offer an amendment that would permanently exempt interest payments owed by disaster victims to the Internal Revenue Service. This is a very…

Ronald Reagan once remarked that: They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. Mr. President, with the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the…

Today, across our country, Americans are commemorating Earth Day, a day that is vitally important to all who serve in this chamber. As my colleagues know, Earth Day was first observed on April 22, 1970. Its purpose was--and remains--to…

I rise to briefly state my strong support for the $3.5 billion in NAB, the new arrangements to borrow, and also the additional $14.5 billion in replenishment. The conditions attached to this amendment, I believe, are a good compromise…

as you know, the Senate has before it and is debating a very important bill to promote educational alternatives. It is a bill which advances educational options, one which would encourage families to be actively involved in their…

I rise this afternoon just briefly to recognize National Agriculture Week. It is no secret that America's farmers are the most productive in the world, and it is so appropriate that we take a few moments to recognize their many, many…

I rise this morning along with my colleague to make a few brief observations about Social Security and how we can preserve and strengthen it. I thank my colleague from Wyoming for reserving floor time so that we can address this critical…

I rise today to express my hope that the agreement reached by Secretary Annan in Iraq results in the end of a conflict that has plagued the international community over the past seven years--the failure of Saddam Hussein to live up to the…

Throughout Minnesota's history, its residents have been considered among America's most civic-minded citizens, who are interested in public affairs and concerned about how government decision-making affects their daily lives. I have been…

I rise today, on the 189th anniversary of his birth, to pay tribute to an American of commonsense ways and uncommon character. Let me read to you from the autobiography of Abraham Lincoln, which he penned in December of 1859. I was born…

I rise today to make a few, brief observations about the President's budget. Let me say I welcome the fact that President Clinton has come up with a budget that may finally be balanced in the next fiscal year, although I do not agree with…

I am particularly impressed at how effectively the state agencies, GSA and the Defense Re-utilization and Marketing Service have worked together as a team to respond quickly and efficiently during times of national disasters and…

I want to rise today to introduce the Survivors of Torture Support Act and to ask my colleagues for their support, and I send the bill to the desk.

85 years ago today, the 16th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, giving Congress the power to levy an income tax on the people. As we mark this occasion, I rise to call upon Congress to take immediate action to end…

I rise today because after 16 years of denials, delays, and indifference on the part of the U.S. Department of Energy, the American taxpayers are about to find themselves saddled with the liability for our nation's nuclear waste. It is a…

I simply cannot believe some of the things I have heard on the floor, that somehow this effort would require a quid pro quo. Mr. President, in diluting this effort, I think it is insulting that this legislation is being demagoged in this…

as we reconvene today for the second session of the 105th Congress, there is important work ahead of us. I am certain my colleagues join me in acknowledging that regardless of the headlines and the commotion that is going on outside this…

there are acts of courage and personal sacrifice that are so great that they should never be forgotten. There are acts which decades--even centuries--later still reverberate, and touch our soul as a nation. Surely, the heroic deeds of the…

This provision is not intended to limit the U.S. Mint's use of technology or approach to design. We intend for the Mint to develop a dollar coin that meets the needs of the public and is not subject to counterfeiting. If the Mint believes…

The Committee is directing the Mint to develop the best possible dollar coin. We have not sought to limit the Mint or require a clad coin.

No, that provision is intended to be descriptive. The Mint is instructed to utilize anticounterfeiting technology.

Minnesota and Michigan are two States that share a common border with Canada, and so I am very proud today to join my colleague, Senator Abraham, chairman of the Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, as a cosponsor of his bill to ensure…

before we vote on IRS Commissioner nominee Charles O. Rossotti, I'd like to take this opportunity to make a few remarks about the direction IRS reform should take. But first let me commend Mr. Rossotti for his courage to take on this job…

When my good friends, Senator Hutchinson of Arkansas and Senator Dan Coats of Indiana, and I first proposed the $500-per-child tax credit back in 1993, we were not doing it to grab headlines and it was not a piece of cheap political…