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Max Baucus is a former U.S. Senator from Montana, serving from 1978 to 2014. A member of the Democratic Party, Baucus was known for his work on health care reform and tax policy. He played a significant role in the passage of the Affordable Care Act and was a key advocate for various economic initiatives during his tenure. Baucus also served as the Chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, where he influenced legislation related to taxation and trade. After leaving the Senate, he was appointed as the U.S. Ambassador to China, where he focused on strengthening U.S.-China relations.
I want all Americans to know just how much I appreciate the very, very hard work of the Senator from Virginia who has led the way among the three of us in developing, I think, a terrific bill. I compliment him, and I want all Virginians to…
We Americans are very lucky. We live in the most beautiful place on Earth. Our mountain chains, our Great Plains, our national parks, our coasts and forests are a heritage no other country can match. It is our responsibility, through this…
This week the United States Trade Representative will conduct a set of talks on China's accession to the World Trade Organization. Their results will have a great effect on our trade policy for years to come. So this afternoon I want to…
This is a short, simple amendment dealing with our China policy. It has the support of the State Department; business; and Chinese dissidents. I hope it will also get the support of Congress. The amendment, very simply, allows the Asian…
On another matter, I wish to inform the Senate that we in the Environment and Public Works Committee are working very diligently to come up with a good solid reform of the Endangered Species Act. In this respect, I say that Senator…
I very much thank again publicly my chairman of the committee, Senator Roth, who has heard many, many compliments on his leadership of the committee. I have complimented him many times already. Other Senators have complimented him many…
In the last couple of hours, in my judgment, this debate has turned into a rather partisan matter, with Republicans lining up on one side and Democrats lining up on the other. That is fine. I mean, each Senator has his right to say what he…
I rise today in very firm opposition to the cloture motion on S. 4, the so-called Family Friendly Workplace Act... Comptime would let working parents balance the needs of their families with the demands of their jobs. I believe it is only…
The U.S. mutual fund industry has become a dominant force in developing, marketing, and managing assets for American investors. Since 1990, assets under management by U.S. mutual funds have grown from $1 trillion to about $3.5 trillion…
We heard today from both the chairman and the ranking member of the Budget Committee that we need to address this problem; the problem that there is a deficiency in highway-mass transit-infrastructure spending that must be dealt with at…
We all deeply appreciate the amount of work the Senator from New Mexico has made to try to put this together. It is an almost impossible task. He made an interesting statement, though, that I would just like to follow up on a little bit…
But again I ask you, at what time, at what point would we begin to find the additional dollars that we all know we need for transportation?
The public expects some essential services from the Government. Social security payments, highway funding, national defense, a safety net in bad times, clean air and water, the National Park System, and so on. These are important to the…
As a newly inducted member of the downtown Optimist Club of Great Falls, MT, I take great pride in telling my colleagues about the new Optimist International Child Safety Awareness Program. In recent months, there have been numerous…
The Senate now has before it the conference report to accompany S. 640, the Water Resources Development Act of 1996. I would like to compliment the conferees on the fine work they have done in bringing this conference report to the Senate…
The U.S. merchant marine is facing an uncertain future. The U.S. commercial fleet is falling behind which diminishes its power to protect the United States' interests abroad and at home. This is why I strongly support the Maritime Security…
I know the distinguished chairman of the committee will join with me in also thanking Administrator Browner; Bob Perciasepe, Assistant Administrator; and Cynthia Dougherty, and a former administration official who worked very hard on this…
In the past 2 years, the House of Representatives has made some good decisions, but I must say they have also made some rather questionable ones that is, from the two Government shutdowns not too long ago to the attempted cuts in school…
This is an accommodation to allow us to proceed with the bill. I think it meets the objective of the Senator from Texas, and as to another look at the degree to which there is an accounting clerical error, it is also significant. It is my…
The allocation made to States is determined by the receipts received 2 years earlier. So 1994 determines 1996, and the amount in the trust fund in 1995 determines 1997.
Very clearly, the Department of Treasury admits the error, a $1.590 billion miscalculation. To review this, so that Senators understand how this procedure works, by law, there is a 2-year time lag, which means that because a mistake was…
The Senator from Texas--by the way, one of the biggest beneficiaries of this bureaucratic snafu, his State, gets more dollars as a result of this bureaucratic snafu than almost any other State.
This is a very simple technical correction amendment. Very simply, it corrects a mistake that the Department of the Treasury made. The administration tells us, incredibly, they need legislative authority to correct the mistake. This…
Essentially following up, I thank the managers for the amendment. There was a natural catastrophe in the State of Montana due to abnormal weather. This amendment helps that situation. I thank the Senators.
When I came to the Senate a few years back, one of the first bills I introduced was the Taxpayers' Bill of Rights, to protect taxpayers in disputes with the Internal Revenue Service. At that time I noted: Oliver Wendell Holmes reasoned…
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