Don Nickles

I rise today to honor a true friend of Oklahoma and the energy industry and a true friend of mine. Keith Bailey, chairman of the Williams Companies, retired last month after leading that company for the last 29 years. Keith is a man of…

Let me reiterate to my friend from Minnesota, I have already supported trade adjustment assistance. Trade adjustment assistance is to provide assistance to people who lose their jobs in training. That is the purpose of the program. The…

I do not think the amendment my colleagues from West Virginia and Maryland offered should be included in the bill. I think it is a killer amendment. I am concerned what people are trying to do in loading up the trade promotion authority…

Why shouldn't we do it for the communication workers or the airline workers or the hotel workers in Nevada?

I wonder, as well, as the sponsors of the amendment are very close to the steelworkers, if they can provide this Senator, over the next couple of days, what the benefits are and what the benefit package costs for retirees. Those are…

I understand. I am trying to figure out who is eligible. So I think I heard the Senator from Maryland say they are eligible if they are receiving retirement checks. They may be receiving the checks from the steel company, which even though…

If we are doing this for the steelworkers, how can you say we should not do this for the textile workers?

I am wondering how much this amendment will cost. How much does it cost per family, per beneficiary? Many times health care per family costs $7,000; sometimes steelworkers have very generous plans. Could they give me some idea of what it…

Correct me if I am wrong, active steelworkers would apply and would benefit under the TAA proposal as any other TAA eligible employee. The Senator's amendment applies only to retired steelworkers?

What age of eligibility can people--when you think of retirees, you think of somebody at age 65. What is the earliest age a retired steelworker might be who might receive benefits under this proposal?

I will ask either Senator, the duration of the amendment to benefit only the steelworkers is for 12 months. I happen to have great respect for the Senator from Maryland and the Senator from West Virginia. I have a feeling that if that 12…

One additional question. If a young person--say my son, or your son, is twenty-years-old, goes to work for a steel company and works there for 12 years or 15 years. Now they are 35 years old. Company XYZ goes bankrupt, so now that…

Since we are not going to vote on this today and you are sponsoring the amendment, I have heard the arguments made. We want to help these families. And you are providing health care for the families, 125,000 families, I believe I heard you…

I am just trying to learn what is in the Senator's amendment. I am going to debate against it in a minute, but I want to educate myself on what I am debating. The cost is $179 million over 10 years, but the program for steelworkers only…

If the Senator will yield a little further, I will be happy to shop it on our side. I do happen to think there are overwhelming majorities--probably on both sides of the aisle. We passed TPA out of the Finance Committee 18 to 3. Andean…

I believe there are still 70-some votes. The Senate historically has pretty much favored free trade. I think we would be happy to assist the majority leader to pass all three. We may have some differences, particularly on trade adjustment…

So there are lots of reasons to have concerns about this bill. I have mentioned the cost. I mentioned the enormous payments that would be made to some. I mentioned the fact that the total cash payments to farmers is really nonexistent…

I want to be in favor of an agriculture bill that is going to help farmers. Unfortunately, I think this bill fails that test. I look at this bill from a lot of different angles. I want to help agriculture. I think every Member in this body…

I'm pleased to join Senator Breaux today to introduce a bill that will allow all providers of broadband services to compete under the same rules and regulations. This bill will bring certainty to the regulatory environment ensuring more…

I see nothing in the current language of the electricity title of this bill to rectify this disparate treatment. This seems unfair, and contrary to our policy of promoting competitive markets in interstate electricity sales.

Is today's interstate wholesale electricity market a level playing field, in which all competitors are subject to the same rules?

I thank the Senator for that viewpoint. Do not misinterpret what we are saying. This is not about ``spreading the pain'' around to everybody. Rather, what we are saying is that if a municipally-owned or cooperatively-owned utility makes a…

I think it is a mistake to try to strike this language. This language says you can't expense over 2 years' payments that are made to keep a lease ongoing. Sometimes a person or a company may have a lease to drill or to explore. For…

The amendment I called up, sponsored by Senator Breaux, Senator Miller, Senator Voinovich, and myself, will reduce the penalty if a utility doesn't achieve the renewable standard that is set in the legislation. The legislation says that 10…

Correct me if I am wrong; Texas has a requirement that has a goal of 2,000 megawatts of new renewable energy by the year 2009. That represents 2.6 percent of their present generating capacity. Also correct me if I am wrong, but Texas has…