Don Nickles: “I rise as a cosponsor and supporter of S. 1. I wish to congratulate Senator Kempthorne, especially for his leadership on…”

“I rise as a cosponsor and supporter of S. 1. I wish to congratulate Senator Kempthorne, especially for his leadership on this issue. I am delighted to have it up on the floor of the Senate so we would not have to listen to him every week saying that unfunded mandates should now be considered on the floor. I also wish to compliment Senator Glenn for his leadership on this bill, as well as Senator Roth and Senator Domenici for their contributions in making it happen and making it happen this quick. Most of all, I wish to compliment Senator Dole, because he made it S. 1 and made it one of our highest priorities. The first priority was to make Congress abide by the laws like everybody else, and I compliment him for that. That is long overdue, in some cases as much as 50 or 60 years overdue. I am pleased the Senate was finally able yesterday to pass that piece of legislation. Some of us have been working on that legislation for years. Some people have expressed dismay at the fact that it took the Senate a week to pass the congressional compliance bill. Well, there are 10 different statutes. Some of us, as I mentioned, have been working for years to make pass congressional coverage legislation and we passed it in a week.”