Don Nickles

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Alaska [Mr. Murkowski] is necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Arkansas [Mr. Murkowski] is necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I now ask that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the resolution appear at this point in the Record.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Senate Resolution 117, submitted earlier today by Senator Jeffords.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the passage S. 39 be vitiated and the bill be indefinitely postponed.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that if and when the Senate Committee on Commerce reports H.R. 1658, a bill to reauthorize and amend the Atlantic Striped Bass Conservation Act, it be referred to the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works for a period not to exceed 20 session days of the Senate; and that if the bill has not been reported by the Committee on Environment and Public Works by that time, it be automatically discharged and placed on the Senate Calendar.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I also ask unanimous consent that from 12:30 to 2:15 p.m. the Senate stand in recess in order to meet for the weekly policy meetings.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until the hour of 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, September 3. I further ask that on Wednesday, immediately following the prayer, the routine requests through the morning hour be granted, and the Senate immediately resume consideration of amendment No. 1057, the Harkin amendment, to the Agricultural appropriations bill.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that there now be a period for the transaction of morning business with Senators permitted to speak therein for up to 5 minutes each.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. For the information of all Members, tomorrow the Senate will immediately resume consideration of the Harkin amendment to the Agriculture appropriations bill. Under the previous order, there will be 20 minutes for debate on the amendment equally divided between Senator Cochran and Senator Harkin. Following the use or yielding back of time, a vote will occur on or in relation to the Harkin amendment at approximately 9:50 tomorrow morning. Following disposition of the Harkin amendment, the Senate will resume consideration of Senate bill 1061, the Labor-HHS appropriations bill. Members can expect additional amendments to the Labor-HHS appropriations bill to be debated and voted on throughout Wednesday's session of the Senate. It is hoped that action on the Labor-HHS appropriations bill will be completed during Wednesday's session of the Senate. As always, Members will be notified as to when additional rollcall votes can be expected. In addition, the Senate will recess from 12:30 to 2:15 for the weekly policy luncheons. As indicated earlier, it is hoped that the Senate will complete action on both the Labor-HHS and the Interior appropriations bill, and hopefully consider the FDA reform legislation this week. Therefore, Members can anticipate votes during each day of the session this week, including Friday.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I am happy to join as a cosponsor to S. 625, the Auto Choice Reform Act of 1997. This bill enjoys wide bipartisan support for the choice that it offers every American when choosing car insurance. Under this bill, families and individuals will be able to exchange the right to bring certain lawsuits for a substantial savings on their automobile insurance. This bill will allow consumers the right to purchase a low-cost policy that will cover medical bills and lost wages but not pain and suffering damage claims. Those policies will also give the purchasers immunity from pain and suffering claims against them. The current State liability systems will remain intact as a choice for individuals who would prefer the freedom to sue and be sued for pain and suffering damages. American taxpayers stand to save a total of $45 billion nationwide. This savings would go directly in the pocket of every insured person at no cost to the taxpayers. The Joint Economic Committee has projected that the auto choice option will save Oklahomans $420 million in automobile insurance premiums and will put $186 back into the accounts of every person with a car. This is the equivalent of an instant tax cut for every insured person. The New York Times stated that with this bill: ``Everyone would win-- except the lawyers'' that live off of the current liability system. In fact, trial lawyers take in an estimated $17 billion a year from auto accident cases. USA Today reported that 35 cents of every auto premium dollar goes to lawyers. This bill has been labeled a ``model of federalism.'' Each State has the right to opt out of auto choice if the State insurance commissioner finds that residents fail to receive at least a 30 percent reduction in bodily injury premiums. The State legislature retains the right to simply pass a law against this option and keep its current auto liability system. There is mounting evidence that the current auto liability insurance system has become prey to rampant fraud and abuse, which is constantly fed by inflated pain and suffering claims. FBI Director Louis Freeh estimated that the average household pays an additional $200 in unnecessary premiums just to cover these fraudulent schemes. This hits low income families particularly hard since about one-third of a family's disposable income is consumed by car insurance costs. Auto choice will put that money back into the pockets of taxpayers to help pay for needed expenses, providing long-overdue relief to all who choose this option. I am happy to cosponsor this bill and hope that every American with car insurance will be given the opportunity to make this choice to provide long over due relief to all who choose this option. It is time for all drivers to begin to enjoy lower auto premiums and to allow government to spend its resources outside of the courtroom.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, first, I wish to compliment and congratulate the chairman of the Finance Committee, Senator Roth, and his counterpart, Senator Moynihan, for the bipartisan way in which they have worked to put this bill together. Also, I wish to compliment the majority leader of the Senate, Senator Lott, and Speaker of the House, Speaker Gingrich, because, frankly, they set up the design to make this happen. They said let's get something passed. Let's pass a law. Let's reach out. Let's have Democrat support. Let's not jut pass a Republican package. I will tell you, I think the bill we passed 2 years ago was a lot better. It had a net tax cut of $245 billion. This bill has a tax cut of $95 billion. The difference is this is going to become law. That is important. The tax bill we passed a couple of years ago had a tax credit of $500 per child. We have it in this bill. And so if a family of median income has three kids, that's $1,500 that they get to spend, not Washington, DC. It is their money. They earned it. They should be able to keep it. That is the whole premise of this package. We have education relief. I hear some of my colleagues who are opposing this say, well, it does too much for the wealthy. It's really slanted toward the upper income. That is totally false; 82 percent of the package goes to education and the family tax credit. Those are limited to middle income. Families with over $100,000 or over $110,000 do not qualify. So this is targeted towards families, middle-income families. I think it is a good package. It also has IRA's, and I compliment Chairman Roth because he has been so steadfast in pushing for individual retirement accounts for spouses. Now we have millions of nonworking spouses that will be able to invest in an IRA before taxes. I think that is a very positive provision. We have educational IRA's, again because of Chairman Roth. We have relief from the so-called death tax. We will increase the exemption from $600,000 to $1 million. It takes 10 years. So I encourage people not to pass away if they are in that range. They need to wait a few years. But we also increased the exemption for family businesses, farms and ranches. And I will tell my colleagues, it is extremely popular, very much needed. If you have a family farm, business or ranch and you happen to pass away and you have a taxable estate of $1 million. You are in a taxable rate of 39 percent. And I don't think Government is entitled to take 39 percent of that property. And so again I think this is long overdue. We have other relief in this bill to encourage savings, to encourage investment. We reduced the capital gains tax 20 percent. Every time we reduced capital gains we have had more savings. And so again, I think this is a positive bill. It will encourage jobs; it will encourage savings. It will leave families to keep more of their own money in their pocketbooks. I compliment again the Speaker and I compliment the leader, Senator Roth, and Senator Moynihan, those who worked so tirelessly to make this happen. The good news is this will become law. We will do what we said we were going to do. We said we were going to give American families tax relief. We said we were going to pass incentives to create more jobs. We have done that in this bill. I urge my colleagues to vote for it. I am glad to see this will become law soon. I yield the floor.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee has worked closely with me on a provision in this bill to clarify the application of section 168(j) of the Internal Revenue Code to Indian lands in Oklahoma. Section 168(j) was enacted in 1993 to provide accelerated depreciation for property placed in service on Indian reservations. Since Oklahoma has no formal reservations, the House of Representatives included a provision in their tax bill to clarify that lands in Oklahoma within the jurisdictional area of an Oklahoma Indian tribe and eligible for trust-land status would qualify for section 168(j). As the chairman knows, the Senate receded to the House provision in conference. However, since the House leaves the interpretation of the provisions to the U.S. Department of the Interior, I believe it is essential that we clarify congressional intent. There needs to be a ``bright-line'' test for determining which Oklahoma lands qualify for section 168(j) in order to treat Oklahoma fairly compared to other States and to avoid costly litigation. The Department of the Interior has indicated that ``lands in Oklahoma within the jurisdictional area of an Oklahoma Indian tribe'' would be defined as lands within boundaries of the last treaties with the Oklahoma tribes. This definition narrows the land area compared with current law by eliminating the unassigned lands. Because I believe it is important that we clarify this matter, does the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee concur with my explanation?

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, for the information of the Senate and the public I am announcing that the Subcommittee on Energy Research, Development, Production and Regulation of the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources will hold an oversight hearing to receive testimony on the topic of competitive Change in the Electric Power Industry: the Oklahoma Perspective. The hearing will be held on Thursday, August 21, 1997, at the Oklahoma City Community College theater, 777 South May Avenue, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. It will begin at 1:30 p.m. Participation is by invitation. Those interested in testifying or submitting material for the hearing record should write to the Subcommittee on Energy Research, Development, Production and Regulation, Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, United States Senate, Washington, D.C. 20510 attn: Shawn Taylor at (202) 224-7875 or Howard Useem (202) 224-6567.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I wish to thank my colleagues for their cooperation, particularly the chairman of the Finance Committee and the Senator from New York for their patience. I know they have a challenge before them today. I wish to compliment them, incidentally, on the work that they have done in the last 3 months putting both bills together, both the Balanced Budget Act and the Tax Relief Act that we will be passing later today. They worked unbelievable hours. I compliment them for their very fine work. I thank all of my colleagues for their cooperation in allowing us to pass this bill so quickly this morning. I thank my colleagues, and I yield the floor. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I move to reconsider the vote.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I am also proud to be joined by my colleague and friend in the Senate, Senator Inhofe.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, today, the Senate is considering S. 871, the Oklahoma City National Memorial Act of 1997. This important legislation will establish the Oklahoma City National Memorial as a unit of the National Park Service and create the Oklahoma City Memorial Trust. The memorial will commemorate the national tragedy ingrained in all of our minds that occurred in downtown Oklahoma City at 9:02 a.m. on April 19, 1995, in which 168 Americans lost their lives and countless thousands more lost family members and friends. The Oklahoma City National Memorial will serve as a monument to those whose lives were taken and others who will bear the physical and mental scars for the rest of their days. The memorial will stand as a symbol to the hope, generosity, and courage shown by Oklahomans and fellow Americans across the country following the Oklahoma City bombing. This will be a place of remembrance, peace, spirituality, comfort, and learning. Under this legislation, the National Park Service Memorial site will encompass the footprint of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, 5th Street between Robinson and Harvey, the site of the Water Resources Building, and the Journal Record Building. An international competition was held to determine the design of the Oklahoma City National Memorial, and the winning design was announced on Tuesday, July 1. I commend the Oklahoma City Memorial Foundation for an excellent selection of the winning design. In addition to designating the memorial site as a unit of the National Park Service, this bill also establishes a wholly owned government corporation to be known as the Oklahoma City National Memorial Trust. The trust, consisting of a chairman and an eight-member board, will be charged with administering the operation, maintenance, management, and interpretation of the memorial site. Further, the legislation authorizes a one-time $5 million Federal donation for construction and maintenance of the memorial. The Federal appropriation will be matched by $5 million from the Oklahoma State Legislature and $14 million in private donations. While the thousands of family members and friends of those killed in the bombing will forever bear scars of having their loved ones taken away, the Oklahoma City National Memorial will revere the memory of the survivors and those lost, and venerate the bonds that drew us all closer together as a result. Mr. President, while it is impossible to recognize everyone whose hard work and effort made this memorial possible, I will submit for the Record a list of individuals who formed the core of the memorial design foundation. In addition, I would like to extend particular appreciation to Gov. Frank Keating; Oklahoma City mayor, Ron Norick; Mr. Bob Johnson, director of the Oklahoma City Memorial Foundation charged with selecting the design for the Memorial; Vice Chairman Karen Luke; Mr. Tom McDaniel; Mrs. Polly Nichols; Mr. Don Ferrell; and Mr. Richard Williams. Our country is proud of you, and I am confident our country will be proud of the Oklahoma City National Memorial. I ask unanimous consent that the list of individuals who formed the core of the memorial design foundation be printed in the Record.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 134, Senate bill 871.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina [Mr. Faircloth] is necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina [Mr. Faircloth] is necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Mississippi, [Mr. Cochran] is necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Minnesota [Mr. Grams] is necessarily absent.