Duncan Faircloth

The Public Record

Quotes by year · 1994–1998144 total · peak 1996 (48)

★ Featured Quote

October 21, 1998

I think the Senator has a workable plan to move this toward a solution, and I urge the Department of the Interior and the District Government to study the matter and report back to us early next year.

— Duncan Faircloth

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In 1961, Congress amended the Fair Labor Standards Act to provide a narrow overtime exemption for commissioned employees in retail and service establishments. Under section 207(i) of the FLSA, outside commissioned sales employees are treated as professional employees and are thus exempt from the act. In contrast, most commissioned inside sales employees are not treated as professionals regardless of the similarly of their duties with regard to outside sales employees. Despite dramatic changes in the workplace since 1961, the FLSA continues to subject professional commissioned sales employees to an outdated, static view of the economy. Therefore, today I am introducing legislation to extend the limited FLSA exemption to all commissioned inside sales personnel. This bill is identical to H.R. 1226 which was introduced by Representative Harris Fawell.2 sources1996govinfo.gov
If the chairman would yield, I would ask whether any of the money in the fiscal year 1997 funding for particulate research will go to implementing an ambient air quality and emissions monitoring program, and will EPA be placing the monitors, or simply telling the States to do it? We want to know not just whether this expense will bring any health benefits, but also whether it will create serious unfunded mandates problems. I would ask the chairman if he would join me in requesting that the EPA send the appropriate committees of Congress, within 90 days, a description of the monitoring program they will be implementing and to what extent EPA will fund the cost of that program, and whether they intend to ask for additional funding in fiscal year 1998.2 sources1996govinfo.gov
If I might interject, the fact that EPA has found several studies that indicate a correlation between loading of particulates in the air and premature mortality is important. This suggested link to human health problems needs to be promptly and thoroughly investigated. My objective is to provide protection of public health and the environment by designing control strategies that reduce harmful particulates and other pollutants form the air people breathe. However, I am concerned that EPA may be rushed to judgment by the Federal courts before real science has been developed to inform the agency about which particulates, in which geographic locations, and in which concentrations are harming people and the environment. There are many questions that need to be answered about particulate matter, as EPA's Clean Air Scientific Advisory Committee, referred to as 'CASC,' made clear in its June 13, 1996, letter to EPA--to which the Senator from Idaho just referred. For example, we do not know the mechanisms by which particulates might affect public health. Since 1988, particulate matter concentrations have declined by more than 20 percent, with substantial future declines in particulates expected to result from compliance with existing clean air standards. Moving forward with the targeted research program recommended by the CASAC is essential to understand the health problems associated with particulates.2 sources1996govinfo.gov
I take the floor today to discuss an issue that is serious and becoming more serious every year, and that is the pitiful state of our legal system. It is becoming harder and harder and harder to convict anybody of anything. You can catch them on tape, film them committing the crime, and then you will probably lose it; they will be found not guilty. No amount of evidence seems to be sufficient anymore. I think we have reached this sorry and pitiful state because we have basically let the system be controlled by lawyers. When you control the legal system by lawyers, you are simply asking a thermostat to set itself. Defense lawyers are twisting and bending common sense to let the guilty go free, and they are aided by judges--in many cases, hand-picked by the trial lawyers. The lawyers pick the judges. At every turn, you have lawyers controlling a system that makes no common sense, except to serve one purpose, which is for their benefit. The most recent example I can think of is the glaring stupidity involving the Oklahoma bombing case.2 sources1997govinfo.gov
this amendment authorizes appropriations of $7,000,000 for a project called multitechnology integration in mixed-mode electronics. It is a project that will help give the United States a military advantage over our potential adversaries because it will support the development of technologies far superior to the off-the-shelf technologies that are becoming available to all nations on the global markets. As technologies are developed and commercialized, they become more standardized, mass produced, and widely available. We need to move beyond this cycle and find unique ways to integrate technologies into products that offer superior performance and are not available off-the-shelf. This appropriation increase is offset by a reduction in the Army's procurement appropriation for purchasing special equipment for user testing. I urge my colleagues to support this amendment.2 sources1997govinfo.gov
I rise to introduce the Safe Highways Act. This bill authorizes $20 million per year over the next five years for enforcement activities to prevent unsafe foreign trucks from rolling across our borders under NAFTA. This bill will fund inspections at our borders to keep these Mexican and Canadian trucks off our roads unless they meet our tough truck safety standards. Our standards are higher than in Mexico and Canada, and, certainly, I do not want these trucks rumbling down our roads and threatening the safety of our families. Mexican trucks are already permitted to operate in limited areas in the United States and, in fact, they have been doing so for two decades. We can enforce these standards at the border, but it will take training and an increased effort to handle the additional traffic from NAFTA, so we need to step up and put this money aside. These foreign trucks will soon roam more of our roads under NAFTA. We need to be ready. This is literally a matter of life and death for American families who share the road with these trucks.2 sources1998govinfo.gov

Sep 24, 1998

this Sense of the Senate resolution puts the Senate on record about a transportation issue in the largest city in my State. The failure of this Administration to stand up for American carriers under our air services agreements with foreign…

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Sep 17, 1998

It saddens me that we are here again debating partial-birth abortion. I feel inadequate at this point after hearing Dr. Frist give a thorough, methodical, and definitive reason why it is such a cruel and brutal procedure that it never even…

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Sep 17, 1998

I thank Senator Hatch. Mr. President, I agree with Senator Dodd. I, too, have been concerned about the problem that we see as a mounting one. We ought not to be putting college students in debt, particularly at such an early stage of their…

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Sep 9, 1998

how we vote is not always clear to Americans. For the average citizen it is not easy to keep straight whether a ``yea'' is for or against something--whether it is a vote to pass a bill or table it. It also can be difficult to sort out…

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Sep 3, 1998

Recent Congressional debates over federal regulatory programs, such as the revised particulate matter standard, and the criteria for listing new species under the Endangered Species Act, show the importance of providing the public with…

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Jul 30, 1998

I was disappointed that the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee did not include funding for the National Advanced Telecommunications and Applications Center in the Research Triangle Park in North Carolina. I ask the chairman whether this…

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Jul 30, 1998

I wish to thank you for agreeing to include an amendment to the FY 1999 DoD Appropriations bill that directs the Department of Defense (DoD) to immediately obligate all of the funds which Congress has mandated be used for a fair, and…

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Jul 30, 1998

This would include space at a port of entry or border crossing where a test might be conducted. Once this is done, I hope that ONDCP and the Customs Service will provide the committee with a recommendation on the strategy to guide the…

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Jul 30, 1998

In the light of the recent terrorist attacks on U.S. soil, our Nation's growing problem with drug smuggling and even the proliferation for weapons of mass destruction, it would be a tragedy if we did not take full advantage of the best…

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Jul 30, 1998

Therefore, may I assume that the chairman would support a reprogramming request from any branch of the Department of Defense if that branch found that unavoidable delays in its other programs made funding available for the NATAC?

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Jul 30, 1998

this amendment directs the General Accounting Office to take a close look at the health care benefit that we provide to our military dependents, retirees, and their survivors. Enough time has passed since we replaced CHAMPUS with the…

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Jul 30, 1998

Furthermore, I believe that the Defense Department should take whatever steps are necessary to transfer full administrative and operational responsibility for the PFNA program to the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP). It is my…

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Jul 29, 1998

as you know there has been severe financial turmoil in Asia. This has lead to a dramatic increase in the trade deficit. It is my understanding that exports from Asian nations are up significantly, particularly with respect to textiles…

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Jul 27, 1998

I rise to give my condolences to the slain officers and their families. Both of these brave men gave their lives to defend innocent visitors to our Nations Capital. Both gave their lives so that the Capitol can remain a free and open…

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Jul 21, 1998

I commend the Chairman on this bill, and for his attention to providing funding to the Graveyard of the Atlantic Museum, a public, nonprofit, educational institution, designed for Hatteras Island, one of North Carolina's Outer Bank…

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Jul 17, 1998

as a veteran, I rise in strong support of this amendment to restore funds for service-related medical conditions that result from tobacco use. This amendment offers a chance to reverse that cut, which the Clinton Administration proposed…

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Jul 16, 1998

this is the wrong time for a debate on tobacco taxes. No one is opposed to food safety, but I'm not so enthusiastic about a plan that raises taxes on already cash-strapped tobacco farmers to pay for new USDA bureaucrats. Farmers all over…

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Jul 9, 1998

I am appalled that the special interests and their Senate retainers triumphed again in their efforts to extend the ``trial lawyer tax'' imposed on the American people. The ultimate Washington special interest--the trial lawyers--will…

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Jul 7, 1998

In 1991, the Congress reformed the FDIC and mandated that the fund keep a reserve to deposit ratio of 1.25%. Fortunately, no government funds were used to keep the FDIC solvent when this was mandated in 1991. It was thought by many that it…

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Jun 18, 1998

the McCain bill is dead, and I say good riddance. It was nothing more than a massive tax increase on working Americans to fund an expansion of the Federal government. However, I suspect that we will revisit the tobacco issue, and I want to…

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Jun 18, 1998

I simply want to discuss very briefly an issue that I may later offer an amendment on to this legislation, and it is an issue that I understand you are also interested in, Mr. President. It is concerning the Commodity Futures Trading…

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Jun 16, 1998

I am shocked that the Senate rejected two prior attempts to limit these attorneys' fees, and I am amazed that we are here to debate whether a four thousand dollar per hour cap is enough for the trial lawyers. Over the past few days, a…

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May 22, 1998

I strongly support H.R. 2709. I come to the floor, however, rather worried about the administration's decision last week to waive sanctions against a French energy company that is doing a massive billion-dollar oil deal with Iran. The…

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May 20, 1998

while we may all agree that teenagers should not be smoking, this bill goes well beyond reaching that goal. We should all be deeply concerned about the ``tax and spend'' approach that the bill takes to resolving a social problem. The bill…

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Politicians like Duncan Faircloth