Kay Bailey Hutchison

there have been times that we, as a nation, have become so accustomed to successful space shuttle launches that we barely heard about them on the evening news. One hundred and fourteen successful missions have provided a wealth of…

I so appreciate that the majority leader has called this to the Nation's attention because we have been working on this bill for almost 2 weeks now. The majority of the body has not had its say. The Judiciary Committee worked very hard on…

since 9/11, Congress and the administration have done so much to secure our homeland, but the area that we still must work on is port security. We have vulnerabilities because we don't have enough coverage overseas with customs and border…

I ask you notify me at 30 seconds, so I can turn the microphone over to Senator McConnell. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senate will be in order.

This will reduce our reliance on the foreign governments' information that we may or may not be able to verify. Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, we have had a lot of talk about the security of our ports over the last few weeks, a lot of talk…

I hope our colleagues will not vote for the amendment. The Senate just voted overwhelmingly to put almost $1 billion into port security. That is the right thing to do, but the right way to pay for it is out of the 920 account. To make this…

I wish to take a moment to read the letter of William Barret Travis from the Alamo. This is a tradition I continue that was started by Senator John Tower to commemorate Texas Independence Day, and that is today, March 2. Today is the 170th…

when the hour of 8 o'clock arrives, I ask to be notified. I wish to speak on the motion made on my behalf by Senator Grassley earlier to instruct conferees to make the sales tax deduction permanent. This is very important to the States…

if we are not going to take up the major tax cut at this time, I am going to ask unanimous consent to take up the AMT. In 1969, when Congress passed the AMT it was supposed to affect 1 in 500,000 taxpayers who make over $200,000 a year. In…

I do hope the Senator from Montana, working with the chairman of the Committee on Finance, will make it a priority early next year to have the tax reconciliation package go through with AMT and with the other tax cuts that would be…

I sign on to that effort immediately. With this kind of coalition maybe we can do something very important by doing away with the AMT in this country. ____________________

last Friday, when I spoke to my colleagues about the NASA authorization bill, the Senate, in the press of other business at the end of the session, was unable to take up the conference report on S. 1281, the National Aeronautics and Space…

I am rising to say we now know we will get the votes on the reconciliation and we are going to have a vote on the Defense appropriations bill which includes the ANWR legislation as well as the Katrina hurricane relief and the Rita…

I don't know what the parliamentary situation is, if my time is not to be charged to the bill or charged to the bill. Could the Presiding Officer inform me? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The last two speakers have asked their time not be charged…

That would be my request. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Defense Appropriations

the conference report on the authorization of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration is in its final stages of being approved. There are some things that are still to be worked out, but I am proud to have been the subcommittee…

collegiality and bipartisanship is a two-way street. You can't do it if only one person wants to do the right thing. I have worked with Senator Feinstein. She has been chairman of our committee, and I have been ranking member. I have been…

I believe what we bring before the Senate today is a product worthy of our support. The conference report has been crafted under two different approaches. What I believe has emerged is not only a good compromise but also makes strides in…

we have already passed the resolution. When it comes from the House, we have deemed that it would be passed here. With that, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The…

I so appreciate that we can do this in the Senate, which is what we ought to be doing in every committee. I hope by our ability to do this--frankly, the Appropriations Committee, in general, does so--we will be able to create a better…

I wish to speak today on an amendment that has been offered on this bill that I very much hope the Senate will not agree to. The Dorgan amendment, which has been offered, would institute a windfall profits tax on the major oil and gas…

I ask unanimous consent at 3 o'clock today the Senate proceed to executive session and to consecutive votes on the following nominations: No. 386, John Smoak, to be United States District Judge for the Northern District of Florida; and No…

A voice vote would be fine with us. The PRESIDING OFFICER. If there is no debate, the question is on agreeing to the amendment. The amendment (No. 2218) was agreed to.

I do thank the Senator from Wyoming for the great leadership he is providing for our Nation to start preparing us for the different types of flu viruses that might come our way. I know he has worked very hard on this in his chairmanship of…

I thank Senator Feinstein. It is clear we worked very well to address the needs of veterans in our country and the military construction needs of all the services in our country. I, too, thank her staff and my staff, Tammy Cameron, Dennis…