Don Nickles

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I have noted with interest the comments of Senators Daschle and Reid regarding unfinished legislative work before the recess. What is also unfinished business before the recess is nominations. Over the past week, Senator Reid and I have had a series of continued conversations regarding nominations, and we will continue to talk in good faith to make progress on nominations. But our unfinished work here in the Senate is not just legislative in nature. It is necessary that we work hard to clear a sizable number of nominations before the recess, to give the President the public servants he needs to staff his administration, make it run, have it work, and see it accountable to the American people. I look forward to seeing the Senate head towards the recess with work on both the legislative and executive calendars. I yield the floor.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Bond), the Senator from Montana (Mr. Burns), the Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Enzi), the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Frist), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Roberts), the Senator from Alabama (Mr. Sessions), the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Stevens), and the Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Thomas), are necessarily absent. I further announce that if present and voting the Senator from Montana (Mr. Burns), would vote ``yea.''

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Thompson) is necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES

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

Mr. NICKLES

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

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Bond), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Brownback), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe), and the Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain) are necessarily absent. I further announce that if present and voting, the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe) would vote ``yea.''

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Bond), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Brownback), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe), and the Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain) are necessarily absent. I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe) would vote ``yea.''

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Missouri (Mr. Bond), the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Brownback), the Senator from Arizona (Mr. McCain), and the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe) are necessarily absent. I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. Inhofe) would vote ``yea.''

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I wish to thank my friend and colleague, Senator Reid from Nevada. We did get some things accomplished today. We did pass two appropriations bills. We did confirm, I think, about 18 people. And we are going to confirm about three judges tomorrow, and several other individuals. So we are making progress. I thank my friend and colleague as well for his patience. This is not the easiest process, as we found out in the last session of Congress. Sometimes it is more difficult to pass appropriations bills than it should be. But my friend from Nevada has been very persistent. He is getting his appropriations bills passed and we are getting some nominations through. I pledge to continue working with him to see if we can accomplish both objectives: completing appropriations bills in a timely manner and also seeing to it that President Bush's nominees are given fair consideration and are confirmed in an appropriate timeframe.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I thank the Chairman and Ranking Member for their commitment to the upgrade. After two years of delays, I urge them to monitor the Sergeant of Arms to see that the system is upgraded as expeditiously as possible.

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Frist) and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms) are necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I want to express my concerns to the chairman and ranking member of the Legislative Branch appropriations subcommittee about the information technology capabilities of the Senate. I am particularly concerned that the e-mail and networking systems of the Senate do not allow Senators and their staffs to take advantage of the latest in technology innovations. For example, the cc:mail e-mail system employed by the offices of every Senator is no longer even supported by the company that developed it. It is an antiquated system that makes remote access slow and cumbersome, and does not allow for the use of wireless e-mail. At this time, the Sergeant of Arms is looking at a January 2002 rollout of a modernized system that will bring the Senate into the 21st Century. This bill contains substantial increases in spending for the IT Support Services Division of the Sergeant of Arms. It is my understanding that some of this increase will be used for other purposes. Therefore, I ask the chairman and ranking member what portion of these increases will be used for the upgrade of the e-mail system?

Mr. NICKLES

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

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank my friend and colleague Senator Thompson for yielding to me. I will be brief. I have heard our colleagues. I heard part of Senator Wellstone's statement. He said he thought Mr. Graham would be extreme, out of the mainstream, as far as regulating a lot of our industries. I totally disagree. I am looking at some of the people who are stating their strong support for Dr. John Graham. I will just mention a couple, and I will include for the Record a couple of their statements. One is former EPA Administrator William Reilly. No one would ever call him extreme. He said that John Graham has ``impressed me with his rigor, fairmindedness and integrity.'' Dr. Lewis Sullivan, former Secretary of Health and Human Services, said ``Dr. Graham is superbly qualified to be the OIRA administrator.'' Former administrators from both Democrat and Republican administrations conveyed their confidence that John Graham ``is not an 'opponent' of all regulation but rather is deeply committed to seeing that regulation serves broad public purposes as effectively as possible.'' I looked at this letter. It is signed by Jim Miller and Chris DeMuth, Wendy Gramm, all Republicans, but also by Sally Katzen, who a lot us got to know quite well during a couple of regulatory battles, and John Spotila, both of whom were administrators during President Clinton's reign as President. They served in that capacity. They said he is superbly qualified. Dr. Robert Leiken, a respected expert on regulatory affairs at the Brookings Institution said that Dr. Graham is ``the most qualified person ever nominated for the job.'' That is a lot when you consider people such as Chris DeMuth and Wendy Gramm, Sally Katzen and others, all very well respected, both Democrats and Republicans. If you had statements by people who have served in the job, both Democrats and Republicans, when you have people who have been former heads of EPA-- incidentally, when we passed the clean air bill, I might mention, Administrator Reilly--when they are strongly in support of him, they say he is maybe the most qualified person ever, that speaks very highly of Dr. Graham. If I believed all of the statements or thought that the statements were accurate that claim he would be bad for the environment, and so on, I would vote with my colleagues from Illinois and Minnesota. I don't happen to agree with that. It just so happens that several former Administrators don't agree with it either. Dr. Graham is supported by many people who are well respected. He is more than qualified. I believe he will do an outstanding job as OIRA Administrator. I urge our colleagues, both Democrats and Republicans, to give him an overwhelming vote of support. I thank my colleagues, Senator Thompson and Senator Levin, for allowing me to speak. I ask unanimous consent to print in the Record the letters I referenced.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Tennessee (Mr. Frist) and the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Helms) are necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Ensign) is necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Nevada (Mr. Ensign) is necessarily absent.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I compliment both of our colleagues from Georgia for their statements, and also Senators Gramm and Torricelli for the statements they have made. I have been in the Senate for 20-plus years. A year ago today was probably one of the saddest days of my career because we lost a real friend, a true Senator, an outstanding Senator, Paul Coverdell, a person who achieved a lot in his very brief career in the Senate. He was in the Senate for a little over 8 years. He accomplished a lot. He was elected to leadership in his first term in the Senate. That is very unusual on our side of the aisle. That doesn't happen very often. Paul Coverdell was very unusual, very exceptional, very talented, very likable, a very popular U.S. Senator. He did a lot. So we are commemorating the 1-year anniversary of his death and celebrating, to some extent, the contributions that he has made. Naming the Peace Corps building after him, the National Peace Corps headquarters building, is a real tribute to his leadership. The building at the University of Georgia, the Institute of Biomedical and Health Sciences, which will conduct research for decades and generations to come and will save countless lives, no doubt, will be a real contribution in recognition of his service to the country. The education savings account that bore his name, as Senator Torricelli said, after years of battle--unsuccessful at first, but finally successful--was signed into law this year. Naming those the ``Coverdell savings accounts,'' where individuals can put in up to $2,000 a year and use that for education K-12, hails a very significant achievement; it showed real tenacity, real forcefulness. It was something that Paul Coverdell would not give up on, and it is now the law of the land. It will enable thousands of people to be able to provide for, save for, and improve their education. Because of his foresight, leadership, tenacity, and his perseverance, it is now the law of the land. Paul Coverdell had a very positive impact on countless millions of people in the United States and across the world. It is only fitting that we pay him a proper tribute. I remember the memorial services in Georgia when our colleagues Phil Gramm and Zell Miller, our newest colleague, made statements that were as moving as any I have heard when they talked about the contributions Paul Coverdell has made to the State of Georgia, our country, and the Senate. So it is with regret that we recognize the 1 year passing of Paul Coverdell, but it is only fitting and proper that we recognize and say thank you to Paul Coverdell and wish Nancy Coverdell all of our best in the years to come.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from New Hampshire (Mr. Smith) is necessarily absent. I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from New Hampshire (Mr. Smith) would vote ``nay.''

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from New Hampshire (Mr. Smith) is necessarily absent. I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from New Hampshire (Mr. Smith) would vote ``yea.''

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from New Hampshire (Mr. Smith) is necessarily absent. I further announce that if present and voting, the Senator from New Hampshire (Mr. Smith) would vote ``yea.''

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I thank my friend and colleague, Senator Reid. I appreciate his not entering a request to limit or say that all amendments would have to be filed by a certain period of time. I encourage my colleagues to work with the managers of this bill, Senator Domenici on our side, if they have amendments, to bring those to his attention. It is certainly not our intention to procrastinate on this bill. We would like to see the amendments that are pending and do some homework on the amendments, consider them, take them up, pass them or defeat them, and come to final passage in the not too distant future. I urge all of our colleagues, Republicans and Democrats, if they have amendments, to please bring those forward so we can deal with those appropriately and finish consideration of this important bill.

Mr. NICKLES. Mr. President, I concur. I compliment Senator Reid for bringing forward Mr. Graham's nomination. That is a very important nomination. It deals with the Office of Regulatory Affairs. It deals with the cost of regulations. You cannot go a day without seeing some regulations that have an impact in the billions and billions of dollars. It is very difficult for President Bush to deal with this issue and not have his person installed as head of the office. We will have 7 hours of debate on Mr. Graham's nomination. I look forward to that debate and to his confirmation as well.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. I announce that the Senator from Wyoming (Mr. Enzi) is necessarily abent.

Mr. NICKLES

Mr. NICKLES. Will the Senator yield for one other comment?