Don Nickles

Senator Bob Kerrey from Nebraska, as most people know, was a former Governor of Nebraska. He has completed two terms in the Senate. I, for one, hate to see him leave the Senate. I have had the pleasure of working with Senator Kerrey on the…

One, I thank my colleague from South Dakota, the minority leader, for his statement. I think that would be a great idea. We need to pass these conference reports, and send them to the President. Somebody said, there is a veto threat on one…

I do not think they ever wrote a letter saying they were opposed to the bill. He made it sound like they did. I do not know if they did. He has one that is maybe questionable on the bill. We have dozens which spent a lot of time supporting…

I want to comment on the Agriculture conference report that just passed overwhelmingly today in the Senate. It already passed the House and it will be going to the President to be signed. In my opinion, there are a couple of provisions in…

I think I heard my colleague say he agreed with me that the administration should have vetoed the U.N. resolution that strongly condemned Israel and was silent about Palestinian violence. We agree. I think he also said he agreed with me…

But it is interesting, the second statement says it: Condemns acts of violence, especially the excessive use of force against Palestinians, resulting in injury and loss of human life. No. 3, it: Calls upon Israel, the occupying Power, to…

I am critical of the administration for not vetoing Security Council Resolution 1322, which passed the Security Council on October 7. We could have vetoed this resolution. It was a biased resolution. It was an unbalanced resolution, a…

I commend Senator Stevens for his leadership and work on this important bill. Clearly, America has a continuing need to maintain a robust, well equipped military that is capable of defending freedom and preserving the peace. This bill…

In all likelihood tomorrow we will be sending the President a bill to eliminate the marriage penalty for most Americans. I urge the President to sign this bill. This bill will provide tax relief for millions of married couples. For…

I think the world of my colleague from New York, and I am very grateful. I want to make a couple comments. First, I compliment Senator Roth. This is really his proposal. He is greatly responsible for making this happen. He introduced this…

I rise to report on an agreement reached today between Senator Inouye and myself regarding the Fort Reno Agriculture Research Station at El Reno, Oklahoma. Our agreement delays any decision on the ARS until the next Administration. It also…

Yesterday the Senate passed legislation providing tax relief for married couples. We passed a bill that basically eliminates the marriage penalty tax for most married couples. The cost of the bill was $55.6 billion over 5 years and over…

I had printed in the Record the joint tax statement that had the 5-year cost at $56 billion and had the 10-year cost at $56 billion, my point being we ought to be accurate. For some people to imply the bill we passed was $248 is factually…

I don't know where the Senator got his chart, but I am telling him that factually any couple that made $52,000 under the bill we passed yesterday, the Republican bill, with 8 or 9 Democrats who voted with you, would get tax relief…

The announcement the majority leader just made that our friend and colleague, Paul Coverdell, passed away at 6:10 p.m. today is a very sad statement. Paul Coverdell was an outstanding Senator from the State of Georgia. This is Georgia's…

The President did this first in September of 1996 prior to the election... a massive land grab, power mineral grab--you name it--by the President of the United States for a photo op for election purposes that, in my opinion, may have been…

I look at my colleague's amendment, and he says for health care we will make it a tax credit. That means it is more valuable than wages; that means it is more valuable than any other expenditure for an employer. We passed several tax…

This amendment basically says: Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds shall be used to establish or expand a national monument under the act of June 8, 1906, the Antiquities Act, after July 17, 2000, except by an Act of…

Mr. President, I compliment my colleagues, several of whom have worked very hard to make sure we eliminate the marriage penalty. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas, Sam Brownback, Senator Ashcroft, and Senator Santorum have been pushing and…

I can think of a female entrepreneur in Oklahoma building a business. It has been very successful. She built it basically from scratch. I am going to guess it is worth $100 million. For this hypothetical example, it is worth $100 million…

I personally haven't agreed with the process under which we are considering this bill. I compliment the managers for their patience. The hour is late. I think we still have two or three other amendments to consider. I hope we can finish…

Our colleagues are proposing a tax credit for long-term health care. The Senate has passed that in a couple of bills. We passed it on minimum wage. We passed it on the Patients' Bill of Rights, giving an above-the-line deduction. There is…

If you are making it a refundable credit, you are making this more of a priority than health care. You are saying this is a more important item than food, in some cases, because you are having the Federal Government write a check to pay…

If it is a refundable credit, we have now turned a tax cut into a spending bill, I would assume spending billions of dollars. Again, we haven't had a chance to review the amendment. We haven't had it scored. We will review it. We will find…

Maybe my colleague from Iowa did not understand what we voted on earlier. Earlier we voted on repeal of the tax on Social Security which was passed by the Clinton-Gore administration, passed by Vice President Gore because he broke the tie…