Don Nickles

Isn't the risk of spillage even greater from shipping, tanker movements than it is from the production record in the Gulf of Mexico?

I have great respect for State sovereignty and for listening to Senators who are dealing with areas surrounding their States. When they talk about the Everglades, I want to listen. I want them to listen to me when I talk about Oklahoma. I…

I will make two or three comments. First, I compliment and congratulate Senator Kennedy and Senator Gregg for their patience and leadership in managing this bill and also managing the education bill. Also, I congratulate Senator McCain and…

This amendment is vitally important for small business. This bill, the underlying bill, says employers beware, we are coming after you because we do not exempt employers. Interestingly enough, we exempt Federal employees, we exempt…

This amendment expands the coverage of the bill basically to all Americans. I have heard countless sponsors of the bill say we should cover everybody who needs basic protections. I have heard it time and time again. I have heard it on…

I thank my friend, Senator Brownback. I am the third Senator squeezed in front of him, and he has shown great patience. I will be brief. My colleague from Massachusetts said President Clinton gave these protections to Federal employees…

A couple comments. The average length of collective bargaining agreements: 66 percent of collective bargaining agreements with over 1,000 employees--that is over 1,200 collective bargaining agreements--the average length is 3 to 5 years…

I hope this amendment can be agreed to. In the underlying bill on page 173, it has ``effective dates'' for implementation of the legislation. The effective date for everybody, all plans in America, is by October 1, 2002. So that is when…

I appreciate my colleague's statement, but I totally disagree. Some of us have argued for contract sanctity, but we haven't been totally successful, I might add. Almost all those contracts would begin, if not by October 1, certainly by…

The Senator is correct. Federal employees are not covered by the underlying McCain-Kennedy bill.

I wish to compliment the Senator from Wyoming, Mr. Enzi, for his enrollee choice proposal. I think it is an outstanding proposal. I urge my colleagues to be in favor of it. I would also like to make a couple comments dealing with the…

I compliment my colleagues, Senator Collins and Senator Nelson, for offering an amendment which does recognize State roles in enforcement of insurance contracts. Unfortunately, I don't believe that is the case under the Breaux-Jeffords…

Health club memberships, hearings aids or hearing aid exams, homemaker services, hypnosis, massage therapy, physical therapy consisting of general exercise programs, plastic and other surgical procedures primarily for cosmetic purposes…

I hope employers around the country have been watching this debate. I have heard some of the proponents of the underlying McCain-Kennedy-Edwards measure say: It is not our intention to sue employers. We don't want to do that. No. We will…

I have heard sponsors of the bill say employers cannot be sued under this bill. I believe that is a direct quote. That is not factually correct. Under this bill, on page 144, is language that deals with this. It says: (A) Causes Of Action…

I also thank my colleague, Senator Bond from Missouri. He and I and the Senator from Arkansas have been fighting for this provision for years, and we are going to get it done. This provision is basic tax equity. Why in the world wouldn't…

I believe the bill already has a blue slip problem. There is already a tax increase in the bill, section 502, that extends customs user fees from the year 2003 to the year 2011. That is blue slip material. It is already there.

To further clarify, I heard the intention that you would like to have this completed by the Fourth of July, but correct me if I am wrong. We spent a little over 2 weeks on the education bill just on the motion to proceed. I believe on the…

My point is, let's be very careful not to do damage to the system, not to do damage to a quality health care system that is far from perfect. Let's do some things to make sure that we increase the number of people who have insurance. Let's…

So the State of Massachusetts still does not comply with the Health Insurance Portability Act we passed several years ago?

I may be off base, but I am reading the amendment, and it says: . . . State educational agency, may deny equal access or a fair opportunity to meet after school in a designated open forum to any youth group, including the Boy Scouts of…

I congratulate Senator Hatch and Senator Leahy for bringing the nomination of Ted Olson to be Solicitor General to the floor of the Senate. I am delighted we are going to have a vote on Mr. Olson. I know him well. I think he will be an…

We heard the minority leader say there are 72 million people who do not get anything out of the bill; they do not get a rate reduction because we do not reduce the 15-percent bracket. There are different ways of cutting taxes. The way we…

To answer my colleague's question, yes, the $600 applies to all taxpayers. The percent reduction did not happen for upper income taxpayers. The fact is they only get 1 point reduction in taxes in the first 4 years of this bill, and that is…

Last year we passed a bipartisan bill, with 59 votes in the Senate, to repeal the death tax. This amendment says let's not do that; stop at 53 percent; the Government is entitled to take over half. I think this is a terrible pay-for. It is…