Jeff Bingaman: “I come here today to express my support for the efforts of the Senator from South Carolina, Senator Hollings, and to…”

“I come here today to express my support for the efforts of the Senator from South Carolina, Senator Hollings, and to express my disappointment with the vote last night on the Danforth amendment and the ongoing partisan debate that seems to have bogged this bill down into what I see as extraneous matters. Last evening, I was somewhat amazed that the Danforth amendment won as much support as it did, particularly among Republican Senators. I hope that this does not signal the death knell of a very long era of bipartisanship on technology policy going back more than a decade. As we all tried to learn the lessons of the mistakes that were made in the seventies by Presidents of both parties on such large-scale development projects as the Clinch River breeder reactor, the Synfuels Corporation, and the supersonic transport. I have supported making the research and development tax credit permanent since I have come to this body. In my view, it is a false choice to choose between this bill and that tax credit.”