Now is the time and this is the place for the oratory to end and the true work in balancing our budget and building a brighter future for our own generation, for our children and our grandchildren, is to begin. There are no longer any real…

the function of the debate in this U.S. Senate is only on rare occasions designed to persuade other Members of the U.S. Senate to adopt a particular position. This is one of those occasions. If we reflect on previous budgets, we understand…

with an extensive shoreline in Washington State, the Coast Guard plays an important role in protecting those people who rely on the waters of the Columbia River, Puget Sound, and the Pacific Ocean for commercial and recreational purposes…

we are now beginning a debate over the President's budget proposal for 1997 and for succeeding years. In a very real sense, the fact that we are debating this proposal represents a major step forward from the situation in which we found…

in my few minutes, I will make three points. The first point is to agree with my colleague, the Senator from Nebraska, by the analysis of the Congressional Budget Office, the President's budget does indeed balance in the year 2002. It…

On December 5, 1992, President-elect William Clinton resigned his position as Governor of Arkansas. On that date, of course, he was assured of another job, after having remained as Governor through at least the full year in which he…

But I think often overlooked in this debate is the fact that this is not just any run-of-the-mill gas or motor vehicle fuel tax. This tax, imposed about 3 years ago at the time of President Clinton's first budget, represented an…

we will act tonight on Megan's law, which strengthens and improves a good law, and provides families with needed protection against the most heinous of crimes. Although Megan's law will not affect my State of Washington, which should, and…

Does the Senator from Georgia agree that the rationale for this is that the various labor union bosses find absolutely anathema any proposal which would allow informal arrangements between management and labor that does not go through…

I express my own opinion that while I think that a minimum wage increase, at least marginally, would decrease jobs and job opportunities, I nevertheless feel that creating a better overall economy through the TEAM Act is worth a compromise…

Is being filibustered and would be vetoed. The only way we can possibly get it into law is to marry it with something that the other side would like to see passed and let them determine whether or not their expressed devotion to a minimum…

So those of us who feel that cooperation, rather than confrontation, is the future for America and labor-management relationships, that this is the way we will build more jobs and greater competitiveness, that the only way we can authorize…

The bill before us is to provide a modest degree of relief, the reimbursement of attorney's fees and costs incurred by former employees of the White House Travel Office who were fired at the beginning of the Clinton administration and one…

Tomorrow, May 7, 1996, is tax freedom day. What is tax freedom day? Stated simply, it is the day on which the average American taxpayer stops working for the Government and begins working for himself or herself. It is a dramatic way of…

Mr. President, the only other comment about the program that I have to say is this. At one level, of course, balancing the budget is almost a moral course of action. It is simply wrong morally and ethically for us to continue year after…

in the real world, when one of us makes a promise, he is expected to keep it. Politicians are held in low repute precisely because people do not expect them to keep their promises, and herein lies the heart of President Clinton's problem…

with a modest degree of courage and a generous share of good will, this bipartisan report may well be remembered as a landmark in political and economic history of the 1990's. Personally, I never believed that we would reach the goal of a…

the day before yesterday, this Senate completed a vitally important task. A part of that task, an antiterrorism bill, was brought into being as a consequence of the tragedy 1 year ago in Oklahoma City. Another part of that accomplishment…

Jim Russell died last Sunday. My life and the lives of a legion of others are diminished as a result. Today the flags in Lakewood, WA, will fly at half mast for retired Adm. James Russell, who died last Sunday at the age of 93. It is…

let me make an important point about this bill. It is very narrow in scope, addressing portability and health coverage for preexisting conditions. It in no way resembles the expansive Clinton health care proposal this body defeated 2 years…

in monitoring the beginning of this debate, a set of lyrics from a source that I usually do not use came to mind as a bit of advice for the distinguished Senator from Delaware. These lyrics come from the Rolling Stones: ``You can't always…

the Columbia River is the crown jewel of our Pacific Northwest. Its waters passing through our dams light our cities and towns. Its waters held back at times by those dams have saved thousands of lives from destructive floods. Its waters…

I did not come to the floor for the purpose of discussing this issue, but having listened to this discussion, I do want to remark on the bizarre nature of an argument which emphasized so strongly the outrage of the last three Senators in…

I have today a bizarre example of the unthinking impact of conflicting Federal regulations on other conflicting Federal regulations and the fact that so often our bureaucracy simply does not think out the consequences of what it does…

I think a few brief moments in outlining what this bill does and what it does not do may be particularly in order at this stage in the debate. If we were to take at face value what we have heard from my distinguished colleague from South…