In February of this year, a constituent wrote me to express his concerns about the negative impact expansion of the ``kiddie tax'' would have upon his family, and more specifically his quadriplegic daughter. His daughter's assets are in a…

after cloture was not invoked on S. 2290, the Hatch-Frist asbestos bill, Senator Daschle and I asked Judge Becker to conduct a mediation process in the hope of identifying a path to reach consensus on this contentious yet extraordinarily…

this Sunday a lot of families will be celebrating a very special day, a day of joy, a day of thankfulness, and for some a day of sadness due to the fact that their loved ones, their mothers, have passed. Restaurants are going to be packed…

I take the opportunity to comment on the economic news from this week. It is dramatic and encouraging. Although we wake up, turn on the television, read the paper, and we cannot help, by the time we get to the second page, being depressed…

I mentioned in my remarks last night the importance of finishing this bill. Members on both sides of the aisle understand the importance of this legislation, the importance of jobs in manufacturing in this country, and the importance of…

I rise to comment on the critical importance of moving ahead on many of the pending nominations for the ambassadorial and foreign affairs post, and to speak to John Negroponte, who has become a good friend, someone whom I admire…

very briefly, in response, we have had a very productive week. As I set out really 2 weeks ago, and again last Friday and Monday, I agreed that we would work hard every day this week and we would consider relevant amendments, and we would…

I do want to draw attention to this terrible tragedy unfolding in the Darfur region of Sudan. I have had the opportunity to travel to the Sudan a number of times, many times over the last several years, and care greatly for the people…

Over the past week we have become aware-- indeed, the entire world has learned of the graphic evidence--of abuse against Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison. We express shock; we express condemnation of these despicable acts. That has…

On the fifth of May, 1862, in Puebla, Mexico, a fighting force of 2,000 peasants confronted 6,000 well-equipped and expertly trained French troops. The French troops had come to conquer the small town. Instead, the peasant army prevailed…

I am delighted with the outcome of that last cloture vote. It means we can proceed on course to finish this bill--a very important bill. I congratulate the managers but encourage our colleagues to come forward with germane amendments. We…

Reserved, low key, self-deprecating, totally professional, and devoted to the Senate,'' that is how assistant enrolling clerk Joe Monahan describes his colleague Tom Lundregan, who retires tomorrow from his post as the Senate's enrolling…

this week our colleague, Senator John Kerry, is traveling to the Midwest to discuss ways to help boost job creation. While I applaud his intention on this issue, I also want to make certain Senator Kerry is aware we have scheduled a third…

I am disappointed to have to come to the Senate floor and file these cloture motions at this time. Earlier today, I had hoped we would finally make progress on the pending Internet tax access bill. Last week, I said we would be addressing…

I do hope we will be able to complete the Internet access bill and that we can work through the turn of events of today. Again, I hope over the course of the evening people will come back and lay out a plan to accomplish what is important…

very briefly, I wish to comment on an event we are celebrating throughout the United States today and indeed throughout the world today. That is the fact that today is the 34th anniversary of Earth Day, an event that gives people the…

I am disappointed that we did not invoke cloture on the asbestos reform bill. As I have said numerous times in recent days, this is an important issue, an issue we are not going to give up on. It is too important to the American people. It…

I believe the process needs to initially focus on the major issues--overall funding, claims values, and projections. If we can make progress on this front, I strongly believe we can resolve the others.

we are in a unique situation, as you just heard explained quite well. This is a bill I very much want. It is a nonpartisan bill about which this body has spoken very loudly. I appreciate the leadership of my colleague from Nevada on this…

There is a lot of work most people don't see. Certainly, you didn't see very much of it on the Senate floor over the last couple days. People have worked in a bipartisan way to pass a bipartisan bill. So I, too, congratulate the…

If the Democratic leader will yield for a question, if we start right now and we work through today, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday on issues we debated and talked about--a lot of people are a lot more expert than me--why can't we do…

I am delighted to have this discussion now because I think what the distinguished Democratic leader and Senator Sarbanes pointed out is that we have a problem. Whether the problem is one outlined--it may be in the bill. I don't know the…

S. 1125, the Fairness in Asbestos Injury Resolution Act, as reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee, represents an unprecedented advance on complex and difficult issues that have stalled previous attempts at similar legislation…

it is time for us to bring the asbestos bill to a floor vote and to bring it to discussion so we can continue the progress that needs to be made on this important bill. As I said earlier this morning, every day we do not act is a day…

I will take another few moments to talk on a separate issue that centers on a topic that has been the subject of a lot of debate and a lot of discussion on the Senate floor and elsewhere. It is the overall topic, the phenomenon of…