Don Nickles

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. That is fine. I inform my colleagues, we only have a couple more amendments that will require votes. Mine is one of them. We will try to do that in the very near future. Certainly, if my colleague from Alabama wants to make remarks, go ahead.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, for the information of our colleagues, we are getting closer to finalizing this bill. To my knowledge, there are possibly two additional amendments that will require rollcall votes. I also think the time for debate on both of those can be fairly brief. We will have a managers' amendment, and I guess we will have a vote on final passage. I don't think we would have come this far had it not been for the very competent and capable leadership of Senators Byrd and Stevens as well as my colleague and friend, Senator Reid. To finish this bill, frankly, for this many amendments and for the most part with votes taken in one day is pretty remarkable. I make one editorial comment. I thank the managers for supporting an amendment offered by Senator Inhofe and myself dealing with $12 million for restoration of the I-40 bridge in Oklahoma which was hit by barge traffic. It caused 14 fatalities, the largest number of fatalities of any bridge accident in U.S. history. It also shut down east-west traffic into our State. This is one of our major east-west corridors. It is a major inconvenience not just for our State but for the entire country. We have some money, as requested by the Department of Transportation, in this bill. I thank my colleagues for their assistance in that proposal. Also, I particularly thank my colleague, Senator Inhofe, who is on the authorizing committee and worked very hard to make that happen. I compliment him for it. Amendment No. 3588

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I ask that amendment No. 3588 be called up.

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms), the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Campbell), and the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Thurmond) are necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES. I move to lay that motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I would first like to thank President Bush for providing the down payment of $3 million to begin the process of the recovery. I would also like to thank Senators Byrd, Stevens, Shelby and Murray for their help in providing the remaining $12 million. This is the appropriate way to respond to an emergency. Interstate 40 is one of the nation's vital east-west links. This tragedy not only took lives, but also is causing hardships and major economic disruptions in surrounding communities. I applaud Senator Inhofe for his efforts. I am pleased that we could work together to secure the additional funds for the bridge repair and all other associated costs.

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Thurmond), the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms), and the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Campbell) are necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms) is necessarily absent. I further announce that if present and voting the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms) would vote ``yea.''

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms) is necessarily absent. I further announce that if present and voting the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms) would vote ``no.''

Mr. NICKLES. If the Senator will yield, I appreciate that because there is some angst on our side. People thought we were in line to do an amendment. I appreciate your accommodation with the recognition, and we will have an amendment ready when we conclude this amendment.

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms) is necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms), the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Murkowski), and the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Domenici) are necessarily absent. I further announce that if present and voting the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms) would vote ``yea.''

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I rise today to honor a true friend of Oklahoma and the energy industry and a true friend of mine. Keith Bailey, chairman of the Williams Companies, retired last month after leading that company for the last 29 years. Keith is a man of energy, of generosity and compassion, whose values have shaped Williams and set a tone of integrity, creativity and vision for the industry throughout his career. From his office in Tulsa, OK, Keith has run a global energy company with a full spectrum of energy products, services and operations. He has also championed innovation in the telecommunications industry, overseeing the building of a nationwide communications network, which sprang from the use of the company's former oil pipeline assets. Keith is a respected leader in the energy industry and in the Tulsa community. His view of corporate and personal success has always included support for people, education and charitable causes. He has energetically gone about the business of supporting his community and his neighbors in a quiet way, but in a measurable one. His contributions of time, money and expertise have benefited hundreds in Tulsa, in Oklahoma and thousands nationally. Keith has also provided leadership serving the United Way, both as campaign and board chair of the Tulsa area, and on the United Way of America's Board of Governors. He has also served as the chair of the Board of Trustees at the University of Tulsa, board chair for the Philbrook Museum of Art and the Board of the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum. Recently, he sponsored the buffalo mural project, which now adorns the capitol building in Oklahoma City. Keith places a high value on education. He served as a member of President George W. Bush's transition team on education. He has served on the Education Task Force of the Business Roundtable and is currently the chair of the National Alliance of Business and on the Board of AEGIS. He was actively engaged in promoting the President's education reform package. Three of his four children are educators, one of them teaching in Oklahoma. Keith has been instrumental in the growth of Williams. He joined Williams in 1973 and was named Chairman of the Board in 1994, when the company's assets totaled $5 billion. Today assets stand at $38 billion. Shareholders have enjoyed a 790 percent return from 1990 to 2001. The company is listed at number 174 on the ``Fortune 500'' list this year. On Bailey's watch, the company has grown to be the Nation's third largest marketer of natural gas; a top 10 power marketer; North America's second largest natural gas gatherer and producer; possessor of the largest petroleum storage facilities in North America; a top 10 independent energy producer; and second largest gas pipeline transporter in the Nation. I know that for all his business achievements, shareholder return and asset growth, Keith Bailey clearly would like to be remembered in more humanistic terms. Bailey has said, ``when I think of my time at Williams, I don't think of the deals. I think of people.'' Keith Bailey lives the core values and beliefs of the company every day. I know he will be missed.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Madam President, will the Senator yield?

Mr. NICKLES. I would like to reserve some time for a Republican to be able to follow Senator Kennedy.

Mr. NICKLES. Will the Senator modify his request?

Mr. NICKLES. Well, if Senator Kennedy is going to be speaking on minimum wage, I would like for a Republican, likewise, to have an opportunity to speak on that.

Mr. NICKLES. For 15 minutes?

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Madam President, I thank my friend and colleague from Nevada. We are considering a lot of amendments. I know the chairman of the Finance Committee has been working through amendments. We have been working through amendments as well, and we are going to get into a situation where we have a lot of votes. For the information of our colleagues and particularly our colleague and friend from West Virginia, Senator Byrd, who has three or four amendments, one of which is second degreed by our friend and colleague from South Carolina, Senator Hollings. Senator Byrd's amendment in the first degree deals with a congressional oversight group that changes in composition. Right now, the oversight for trade is in the Finance Committee. I happen to serve on the Finance Committee, so I was interested in the composition of the congressional oversight group. It talks about the oversight from the House. I notice in the House group, it consists of the majority leader and minority leader, and eight additional members would be appointed by the Speaker of the House, four each from the minority and majority. It also says none of the eight members appointed under this paragraph will be members of the Committee on Ways and Means. Then it says the membership in the Senate congressional oversight group shall be comprised of the following Members of the Senate: President pro tempore of the Senate, Senator Byrd; minority leader and majority leader; eight additional Members appointed by the President pro tempore of the Senate, four members from the majority after consulting with the majority leader, and four members from the minority party after consulting with the minority leader of the Senate. Then it also says that none of the eight members appointed under this paragraph may be members of the Committee on Finance. I am a member of the Finance Committee, and I do not want to have that jurisdiction taken away from the Finance Committee. So I am going to oppose this amendment. At some point, I am going to move to table the amendment. I would not want to table the amendment of the Senator from West Virginia without notifying him and giving him a chance to debate. Maybe he has debated it and I missed that debate, but I was not aware until a few moments ago of the impact of this new oversight committee, which would exclude members of the Finance Committee, which has jurisdiction over trade. I would think Democrats and Republicans who serve on the Finance Committee would not like to find out that an area over which they have jurisdiction and over which they have some responsibility, on which they have had hearings, would be excluded from this oversight committee. That is my purpose of speaking now. It is not for total debate but to let my colleague from West Virginia know that at some point, not immediately--as a matter of fact, it will be after the 2:30 briefing by the FBI Director--a motion will be made to table the underlying Byrd amendment dealing with the oversight group. I wanted my colleague to be aware of that. I yield the floor.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Madam President, there is no objection on this side.

Mr. NICKLES. I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms) is necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I believe we have a couple of people. I suggest we try and accommodate speakers until 5:40, and then Senator Byrd wants to speak, and then there will be a motion to table and we will start a series of rollcall votes.

Mr. NICKLES. Yes.