I call up a second-degree amendment that is at the desk, the Santorum-Craig-Hutchison-Kyl amendment, and ask for its immediate consideration. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator…

I expressed in this letter that I was disappointed the Department was not forthcoming, and I was hopeful they would come forward and let us know what was necessary, how much money was needed, so we could then respond. And as I mentioned in…

I rise to introduce the Telephone Excise Tax Repeal Act of 2005, a bill that would abolish a tax that is severely outdated. The telephone excise tax originated on long distance service under the Spanish American War Act of 1898. At that…

I am introducing the Expanding Charitable and Volunteer Opportunities Act of 2005. I am proud of the charitable work that is continuously done throughout this country. However, individual charitable giving rates among Americans have…

being mindful of yesterday's passage of SAFETEA, I rise to speak to an issue that was not addressed in the Senate bill. This is an area of the legal system needing reform that affects interstate commerce in the transportation…

at a time when the importance of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is highlighted by concerns over the safety of pharmaceuticals, it would be foolish to move forward with importation policies that would circumvent the safety…

Under this provision, States would continue to determine the level of compensation available for accident victims by setting minimum insurance coverage requirements for every vehicle.

I will discuss steel grid reinforced concrete decking--a product that I understand to have significant technological benefits and the ability to accomplish the goals of bridge and highway officials across the country. I am told that the…

[t]hough only a few States enforce laws that threaten nonnegligent companies with unlimited vicarious liability, they affect consumers and businesses from all 50 States.

Vicarious liability means higher consumer costs in acquiring vehicles and buying insurance and means higher commercial costs for the transportation of goods.

This provision is a common sense reform that holds vehicle operators accountable for their own actions and does not unfairly punish owners who have done nothing wrong.

you have States such as Texas and States out West and many other States that are bigger geographically, such as Georgia. Yet Pennsylvania is fifth in the country in the ton miles our roads have to sustain. So what we are asking for is a…

in 1939, before many Members of this body had been born, Miss Elizabeth Bryden of Waltham, MA, came to Washington, D.C. to work for Congressman Robert Luce. She continued to work on the Hill, with little interruption, until the start of…

If the Senator is going to miss his train because of my 7 minutes, not because of his own speech, I will withhold. But if he is going to miss the train because of his speech--

I along with Senator Lieberman am introducing the Savings and Working Families Act of 2005. The need for this legislation comes at a time when Americans face an ongoing savings and assets crisis. One third of all Americans have no assets…

today I am introducing ``The America Saving for Personal Investment, Retirement, and Education (ASPIRE) Act of 2005'' along with Senator Corzine, Senator Schumer and Senator DeMint. A bipartisan group of members is introducing companion…

I am introducing the ``Good Samaritan Volunteer Firefighter Assistance Act of 2005.'' Amazingly, every year quality firefighting equipment worth millions of dollars is wasted. In order to avoid civil liability lawsuits, heavy industry and…

I would answer that and say that as you see, we have a surplus right now that can be used to fund these accounts for the next 10 years. After that we run a deficit in the Social Security Program, and we would have to come up with a way of…

Now my question. I asked this question, Senator DeMint asked the same question of both of my colleagues, and in neither instance did we get a response. So I will give my colleagues one last try. We asked, what would my colleagues do, what…

I thank the Senator. This is really an interesting question, and I think everyone admits that there is a gap between the amount of money coming in and the amount of money that we are going to need to pay, and that is shown by this cash…

I ask either of my colleagues, they have heard of the solution we have put forward, and I guess the question I have is, the Senator from Illinois suggested we can fix it the way we fixed it in the past. The way it was fixed in the past is…

I suggest the chart is not accurate. According to the Congressional Budget Office, extending the tax cuts would cost about .7 percent of the gross domestic product between now and 2050, whereas the Social Security deficit is 1.4 percent of…

I refer the Senator to line 20 through line 25. If the Senator would read that, he will find that any State which prohibits any portion of employee tips from being considered as wages, so that is the operative language that limits this…

I don't recall exactly what the increase was. I will check and see what the wage was in 1990 as compared to what it is today. We are proposing a modest increase. If the Senator is suggesting it should be a smaller increase, I will be happy…

I point out to the Senator page 20 of my amendment discusses the tip credit. It specifically refers to only States that are covered by this provision as States that do not have a tip credit. I believe it is seven States that are the only…