It is absolutely true. The fact is, if you look around the country, insurance rates have not gone down where these medical malpractice reforms have been initiated. But another thing it doesn't take into consideration is the tremendous harm…

I wish that I were able to express myself in a manner that is worthy of my feelings about the Senator from West Virginia. I can't do that, but I can do the best I can. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't recognize personally how…

as thousands of families look forward to summer vacations at our beautiful national parks, we must address an issue that could one day ruin their experience: privatization of the National Park Service. The Park Service has worked hard to…

It is unacceptable that in a country as wealthy as ours seniors across the country are struggling to afford the high cost of prescription drugs. I have supported adding a prescription drug benefit to Medicare because I believe no…

the Boxer amendment is very simple. It says if a person is receiving cancer drugs and they come to a period of time--as this bill is written--where they run out of the ability to get help from the Medicare Program, that they, in effect…

this is the greatest and most prosperous Nation in history. Nobody has worked harder to make this country great than our senior citizens. And few things weigh more heavily on their minds than the soaring cost of prescription drugs. You…

we on this side have been as cooperative as we could be. We have done everything we can to move this legislation along. And I have said publicly that I appreciate how Senator Frist has handled legislation since he has become the Republican…

on behalf of Senators Graham, Feinstein, Murkowski, Johnson, and this Senator, this is a tremendous piece of work Senator Graham has done. It is good legislation. At least 12 percent of our seniors would be subject to a gap in coverage…

If I could say through the Chair to the leader, as the leader indicated, we have more than 30 amendments. To vote on those would take 12 hours, or something like that. The two managers last night indicated they thought two-thirds of the…

my first elective job was when Medicare came into being. I was the chairman of the board of trustees at a place called Southern Nevada Memorial Hospital. It is now called the University Medical Center. At that time it was the largest…

Senator Bingaman and I worked for a number of years to try to create within the Department of Education an education czar because children who drop out of school are never what they could be. We have so many students dropping out of…

I respond to my friend there is some dispute as to what the 10-year surplus was when he took office. Some say $7.1 trillion. Some say 6.2. But trillions of dollars over 10 years. And in fact, the last 3 years of the Clinton administration…

The debt this year will be the largest in the history of the world, not only the United States.

My friend is right. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that national unemployment had increased in April to more than 6 percent, highest unemployment in 106 months.

I spoke to our State legislature and I said the President's No Child Left Behind Act is leaving lots of children behind. There was a little criticism for my having said that. But I was right. In the State of Nevada, as we speak, the Clark…

This is something I can't understand, why there is so much silence on the other side of the aisle about these huge annual deficits he has created, especially since when he took office we were spending less money than we were taking in. To…

We not only have statements that would fill volumes about how bad the deficit was. And, in fact, I can remember Alan Greenspan telling us the most important thing we could do--he appeared before the Appropriations Committee--was get rid of…

Senator Alexander said, ``It's time to put the teaching of history and civics back in its rightful place in our schools so our children grow up learning what it means to be an American.'' That is really what this is all about. It is about…

I can remember when I served in the House of Representatives on the Foreign Affairs Committee. Mr. Kissinger came before the committee. The chairman of the committee, Mr. Solarz from New York, said: I don't know how to refer to you. Dr…

we make many different kinds of speeches on the Senate floor. Some of those speeches seek to advance legislation and amendments and some aim to commemorate historic events. None are as sad as those we make in the memory of a member of the…

As we all knew yesterday, the problem with not having amendments was that CBO had not completed scoring on the Medicare bill. It is my understanding there is scoring on the bill and Senators Grassley and Baucus will offer either some…

I think the work done yesterday on the FAA bill was exemplary. The managers of the bill, the chairman and ranking member, Senator McCain and Senator Hollings, showed their maturity. They worked through these amendments. When there was a…

That is absolutely right. It is based upon the formula I have just given. I say to the managers of this bill--the chairman of the Commerce Committee and the ranking member of the Commerce Committee--I have spoken to their staffs, I have…

We have places, such as at McCarran Airport, where, if we had additional help, we could move people into the airport more quickly but we simply don't have the TSA people to do that. We have some of our hub airports where, as the Senator…

If I could say one additional thing before I sit down. I do not have the opportunity very often to talk about the good work of the committee but, as far as this Senator is concerned, some of the best work of this committee is to allow…