[Senate Document 108-28]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]





                                                           S. Doc. 108-28


 
                        TRIBUTES TO HON. DON NICKLES




                                           

                                     Don Nickles

                       U.S. SENATOR FROM OKLAHOMA

                                TRIBUTES

                           IN THE CONGRESS OF

                           THE UNITED STATES



                                           


                                           

             [GRAPHIC] [TIFF OMITTED] T7212.001
             

Don Nickles


                                      Tributes

                                Delivered in Congress

                                     Don Nickles

                                United States Senator

                                      1981-2005

                                          a
                                           
                                           


                            Compiled under the direction

                                       of the

                             Joint Committee on Printing

                                Trent Lott, Chairman
                                           
                                      CONTENTS
             Biography.............................................
                                                                      v
             Farewell..............................................
                                                                    vii
             Proceedings in the Senate:
                Tributes by Senators:
                    Alexander, Lamar, of Tennessee.................
                                                                     22
                    Allard, Wayne, of Colorado.....................
                                                                     33
                    Allen, George, of Virginia.....................
                                                                     35
                    Burns, Conrad R., of Montana...................
                                                                      7
                    Byrd, Robert C., of West Virginia..............
                                                                      3
                    Chambliss, Saxby, of Georgia...................
                                                                     10
                    Cochran, Thad, of Mississippi..................
                                                                     31
                    Coleman, Norm, of Minnesota....................
                                                                     17
                    Collins, Susan M., of Maine....................
                                                                     38
                    Conrad, Kent, of North Dakota..................
                                                                      6
                    Daschle, Thomas A., of South Dakota............
                                                                     42
                    Dodd, Christopher J., of Connecticut...........
                                                                     28
                    Dole, Elizabeth, of North Carolina.............
                                                                     39
                    Domenici, Pete V., of New Mexico...............
                                                                     15
                    Feingold, Russell D., of Wisconsin.............
                                                                     11
                    Fitzgerald, Peter, of Illinois.................
                                                                     26
                    Frist, Bill, of Tennessee......................
                                                                  9, 12
                    Hatch, Orrin G., of Utah.......................
                                                                     37
                    Hutchison, Kay Bailey, of Texas................
                                                                     34
                    Inhofe, James M., of Oklahoma..................
                                                                  7, 28
                    Kyl, Jon, of Arizona...........................
                                                                     24
                    Lautenberg, Frank, of New Jersey...............
                                                                 26, 27
                    McConnell, Mitch, of Kentucky 
                     ............................................
                                                             14, 30, 42
                    Nelson, Bill, of Florida.......................
                                                                     26
                    Reid, Harry, of Nevada.........................
                                                                     35
                    Santorum, Rick, of Pennsylvania................
                                                                     36
                    Sessions, Jeff, of Alabama.....................
                                                                     19
                    Shelby, Richard C., of Alabama.................
                                                                      8
                    Smith, Gordon, of Oregon.......................
                                                                     32
                    Snowe, Olympia J., of Maine....................
                                                                     40
                    Stevens, Ted, of Alaska........................
                                                                     42
                                      Biography

               Retired Oklahoma Senator Don Nickles was one of the few 
             Members of the U.S. Senate with a background in small 
             business.
               He worked his way through Oklahoma State University by 
             starting a janitorial service. Following graduation, he 
             went to work for Nickles Machine Corporation in Ponca 
             City, OK, where he later became vice president and general 
             manager.
               His career in public service began with his election in 
             1978 to the Oklahoma State Senate where he served 2 years. 
             In 1980--at age 31--Nickles was elected to the U.S. 
             Senate. And in 1998 he became the first Oklahoma 
             Republican ever elected to a fourth term in the U.S. 
             Senate. Nickles was selected by his colleagues to join the 
             Senate Republican leadership in 1988 as chairman of the 
             Republican Senatorial Committee. He was next elected to 
             the first of three terms as Chairman of the Republican 
             Policy Committee.
               In 1996, 1998, and again in 2000, he was selected 
             unanimously to be assistant Republican leader. It is the 
             highest leadership position ever held by an Oklahoma 
             Senator. Nickles was the first Oklahoman to chair the 
             powerful Budget Committee where he served from 2003 to 
             2004.
               Nickles also served on the Senate Finance Committee, 
             Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and Rules and 
             Administration Committee.
               Throughout his Senate career, Nickles worked toward a 
             more responsible and less intrusive Federal Government. He 
             was the principle sponsor of the 2003 economic growth 
             package which cut the tax on dividends, reduced the 
             capital gains rate, raised the child tax credit to $1,000 
             per child and reduced the marriage penalty. He led efforts 
             to reform the Internal Revenue Service; helped enact the 
             Nation's first balanced budget in three decades; and 
             passed laws to make Members of Congress accountable to the 
             same laws as everyone else.
               Nickles and his wife Linda were born and raised in Ponca 
             City. They have four children.
                                      Farewell
                              Friday, November 19, 2004

               Mr. NICKLES. My wife and I, our families, were taking 
             our Christmas photo a few days ago and I was surprised to 
             realize that our two oldest children were actually older 
             than we were when we came to the Senate. They are in their 
             thirties and I think I was 32 when I was sworn in, just 
             turned 32, and now we have a couple of children who are 
             that age or more. It tells me we have been here a little 
             while. I am actually very surprised that I am concluding 
             24 years in the Senate.
               I have absolutely loved working in the Senate. The 
             Senate is a great institution. It is one of the true 
             pillars of democracy in the world, one which people look 
             to with great respect and admiration. I have always been 
             proud to be called a Senator and I have always been proud 
             to represent my State and my country. To me, it represents 
             a shining city on a hill, and a true beacon of democracy 
             for the free world which has stood for more than 200 
             years.
               My first time to visit the Senate and sit in the gallery 
             was in 1974 and I was coming to Congress as a businessman 
             to give my impressions on a bill that was pending before 
             Congress. The bill was called ERISA, Employment Retirement 
             Income Security Act. I ran a small business in Ponca City, 
             OK, and I thought the better title for the bill was 
             ``Every Ridiculous Idea Since Adam.''
               But that was in 1974. I happened to be here, it was a 
             coincidence at the time, and Senator McConnell will 
             appreciate this, being a political historian, it was a 
             time when an election was contested and it happened to be 
             the Senate election of Oklahoma. Henry Bellmon was 
             reelected by a very close margin over Congressman 
             Edmondson. As all of our colleagues know, the Senate is 
             the final arbiter in contested elections and it was being 
             contested on the floor of the Senate the time I was here.
               Senator Domenici remembers that. It was a very 
             contested, spirited debate.
               I was quite taken by the debate. I sat in the gallery 
             for hours. I remember Senator Allen, a Democrat. The 
             Democrats controlled the Senate at that time. Henry 
             Bellmon was a Republican. He won by a very narrow margin--
             I can't remember what it was, a couple thousand votes. 
             There were disputes on election-counting machines. That 
             sounds kind of familiar. It was a great debate. I remember 
             Senator Allen spoke on Senator Bellmon's behalf, and then 
             they had the rollcall vote and enough Democrats voted with 
             Senator Bellmon, and that was the end of it.
               I happened to ride back on the plane that day, and guess 
             what. I was riding with Senator Bellmon and Congressman 
             Edmondson. They were friends and they were shaking hands. 
             I was impressed. And I was impressed with this body. I was 
             impressed with the Senate. I was impressed with the 
             Senators. I was impressed with the conduct of the debate. 
             I was impressed with the fact that almost all Senators 
             were here during the debate.
               It was such a special occasion. I was so pleased because 
             Henry Bellmon was reelected and affirmed by the Senate 
             because I also considered him a mentor and a leader in 
             Oklahoma. He was the first Republican Senator elected in 
             our State in a long time and now he was reelected. Senator 
             Domenici served with him on the Budget Committee. He was 
             the ranking Republican on the Budget Committee, on the 
             formation of the Budget Committee in 1974. I served with 
             Ed Muskie and he did a wonderful job in that capacity.
               That was my first personal impression of the Senate. My 
             impression of the Senate was very good then and it has 
             been very good ever since. I have absolutely had the 
             greatest respect for this institution and for this body. 
             This body is composed of great Members.
               I remember the time coming into the Senate when I was 
             elected. It was 1980. That was a big election year. We 
             have had a few big election years in my time, but I'm not 
             sure we have ever had one quite as big, as dramatic a 
             change as we did in 1980. There were 18 new Senators 
             elected in 1980, and 16 of the 18 were Republicans. The 
             majority leader became Howard Baker from Tennessee. He was 
             nice enough to be my mentor, and I thought the world of 
             him then as I still do today. He is a wonderful Ambassador 
             to Japan, and he and Nancy Kassebaum were wonderful 
             Senators. It was a great time to serve in the Senate.
               I remember the highlight of my Senate career was on 
             Ronald Reagan's inaugural day on January 20, 1981. It was 
             a beautiful day, and I remember the hostages in Iran were 
             released that very day. They were held hostage for 444 
             days. They were liberated on that inaugural day. I will 
             never forget what a euphoric feeling it was for not just 
             those of us who were elected to the Senate and taking 
             control--the Republicans were taking control of the Senate 
             for the first time in decades. I think none of those 
             Republicans had ever been in the majority, and I don't 
             believe any of those Democrats had ever been in the 
             minority.
               That was a big change. It was kind of a fun change from 
             my vantage point. There were so many new people. I was one 
             of 18 new Senators, and it was a great time. That is a big 
             turnover any time in this institution. To think that the 
             hostages were released and Ronald Reagan was elected--it 
             was a big exciting time, and a lot was accomplished.
               I was coming to Congress as a businessman from Ponca 
             City, OK, with an agenda. Part of the agenda was not to be 
             here forever. Frankly, I told people I was running because 
             I thought our country had declined far too much 
             militarily, economically, and morally, and I wanted to do 
             something about it.
               I came here to cut taxes and to cut regulations, 
             particularly in the energy industry, and to see if we 
             couldn't make positive changes for the country. Economic 
             issues aside, I wanted to defeat the Communists. This was 
             of particular concern to me, as I thought our country had 
             declined way too much militarily.
               We did a lot of those things. We accomplished a lot in 
             the eighties under Ronald Reagan's leadership. I am 
             absolutely amazed when I look back at when Ronald Reagan 
             was elected, and when I was elected. The maximum tax rate 
             was 70 percent, and 8 years later it was 28 percent. I am 
             still amazed at that. What an unbelievable accomplishment. 
             I remember how it was accomplished. It took a lot of 
             strong leadership and work by Howard Baker and Bob Dole. 
             It took working with other people. I remember Bill Bradley 
             working on some of these tax bills. That was a big change.
               I came from a business background and, oh, yes, if you 
             made some money, you could be taxed all the way to 70 
             percent on the individual side, and 80 percent on the 
             corporate side. You were working more for the government 
             than you were yourself. To me, that represented a real 
             loss of personal and economic freedom. I wanted to restore 
             economic freedom for all Americans and be part of that 
             change.
               My father, unfortunately, died in 1961. We had a small 
             family-held business. The government contested, basically, 
             my mother and our family for 7 years over the value of 
             Nickles Machine Corporation. They wanted a big chunk of 
             that business. I always resented that. I thought 
             government was supposed to protect private property; not 
             confiscate it.
               On the 1981 tax bill, I remember talking to Secretary 
             Don Regan when I said: We really should eliminate the 
             estate tax on surviving spouses--and we made sure that was 
             included in the 1981 tax bill. I am probably as proud of 
             that as any other thing. I had a little something to do 
             with a very profamily, very probusiness, very progrowth-
             oriented bill becoming law. That success told me that we 
             could accomplish great things here.
               Of the 18 Senators who were elected with me in 1980, 
             there are only 3 left. Chris Dodd is still here, Chuck 
             Grassley is now chairman of the Finance Committee, and 
             Arlen Specter will be chairman of the Judiciary Committee. 
             Only 3 of the 18 are left.
               I respect them greatly, and I compliment them for their 
             many years of service.
               Over the years, I've had many great mentors. I mentioned 
             Bob Dole and Howard Baker. I'll mention one other one with 
             fond affection. That would be Senator Jesse Helms. I 
             remember one time when we were engaged in a filibuster, 
             and I encouraged the Senate not to have many filibusters, 
             but that is the first one I can remember. I believe it was 
             1982 or 1983. This was a little filibuster on the Nickles 
             gasoline tax. Some of us believed that the States should 
             do it rather than the Federal Government. Three of us were 
             opposed to that: Senator Helms, Senator East, and myself. 
             That was when the filibuster was a real filibuster. We 
             spent the night on cots outside the Senate Chamber.
               I remember laying awake at night somewhat nervous. The 
             heart was still beating, and I remember some grumbling 
             amongst some of our colleagues who weren't very happy 
             about the fact that we were here in late December arguing 
             over a Nickles gasoline tax. I remember that this wasn't 
             quite worth falling on the sword over.
               I communicated that to my friends and colleagues, 
             Senator Helms and Senator East. I eventually convinced 
             Senator Helms, and it took a little longer to convince 
             Senator East, and we dropped the filibuster.
               What I wanted to say about Senator Helms is I remember 
             that we had a lot of discussions during these times. We 
             were actually in session two or three nights around the 
             clock. He told me something I will never forget, which I 
             will pass along to our colleagues.
               He said: ``Don, when I am flying over North Carolina and 
             I look around and see all those lights, I am amazed at how 
             many people live in that State and how many people there 
             are, particularly in rural areas. And I wonder if those 
             people think they have anybody in DC who really cares 
             about them, and probably most of them don't think anybody 
             cares about them.'' He was just as genuine as he could 
             possibly be.
               ``When I am on a plane at night looking out at the 
             lights and see how big our cities, towns, and rural areas 
             are, I think about that. Do the people in those areas 
             really think somebody is fighting for them, working for 
             them?'' Jesse Helms is one of those individuals. He is 
             very special. He had a reputation of being kind of tough 
             and mean, but personally he is probably one of the nicest 
             Senators with whom I have had the pleasure of working. He 
             knew everybody who worked the elevators. He was nice to 
             the staff. He was a gentleman's gentleman. I understand 
             his health is not real good right now, so my thoughts are 
             with him, and I wish him all the best at this time. He was 
             a great Senator. He knew the rules of the Senate, and he 
             would fight for what he believed in, and he would fight 
             with tenacity. He also was a Senator's Senator, and I am 
             fortunate to say I have had the pleasure of serving with 
             many colleagues who fall into that category.
               I came here with a real interest in trying to change 
             things in the energy field. I served on the Energy 
             Committee, but I wanted to make some changes. I ran and 
             maybe was elected in large part because of some of the 
             things that Congress was passing in 1978 and 1979 and 1980 
             with which I just totally disagreed. One of those was the 
             windfall profits tax. I campaigned vigorously against it. 
             I wanted to repeal it. I was disappointed that I couldn't 
             get it repealed in 1981, or in 1982. I introduced 
             legislation every single year. We finally got it repealed 
             in 1986.
               As I told somebody last night, it was $77 billion too 
             late. But eventually it was repealed.
               We did some other things that I think were very 
             positive--undoing some of the things that were passed in 
             the last couple of years of the Carter administration.
               We deregulated natural gas. I did that working with 
             Wendell Ford and Bennett Johnston on the energy bill. That 
             was very positive, significant legislation that one of my 
             predecessors, Bob Kerr, had worked on 20 years before. We 
             got that done.
               We repealed the fuel use tax. We eliminated the Synfuels 
             Corporation. The Synfuels Corporation was run by an 
             Oklahoman who ran against me, Ed Nobel. He ran against me 
             in 1980. Ronald Reagan appointed him chairman of the 
             Synfuels Corporation. I campaigned to eliminate it, which 
             we eventually did.
               I have had a lot of fun in this capacity. In the mid-
             eighties, I was appointed to the Appropriations Committee. 
             I have great, fond memories of that. The Democrat leader, 
             Harry Reid, was my colleague on two or three committees. I 
             think we both were either chairman or ranking, and we 
             switched back and forth a couple of times on the District 
             of Columbia Appropriations Committee, our penance, and the 
             Interior Subcommittee, which either Senator Reid or 
             Senator Byrd was chairman and/or ranking members. We 
             worked together on those committees for years.
               We did a lot of good things together, such as reforming 
             the frank so you couldn't mail out thousands and thousands 
             of pieces of mail, particularly prior to election time.
               Harry Reid is my friend and his word is as good as gold. 
             He will be a good leader for the Democrats, and he will be 
             a good Senator for Senator Frist and Senator McConnell to 
             work with to get things accomplished. So I am excited 
             about his elevation.
               I was selected by our colleagues to be campaign chairman 
             back in 1989 and 1990, one of the tougher jobs. I 
             compliment George Allen for the fine job he did this year. 
             I compliment Bill Frist for the fine job he did in that 
             position, and Mitch McConnell when he had that position. 
             It is probably one of the toughest elected positions we 
             have in leadership, but one which I thoroughly enjoyed. 
             The reason I enjoyed it is you work hard, and you get to 
             know your colleagues. We get so busy around this place we 
             often don't get to know our colleagues. If you are 
             campaigning with somebody, if you are spending the night, 
             as I did at Gordon Smith's home in Oregon, or campaigning 
             in Maine with Senator Snowe or Senator Collins, or if you 
             are campaigning in Minnesota, or when you campaign with 
             people and you are traveling with them for a day or two, 
             or in Montana on a bus tour with Conrad Burns and his wife 
             Phyllis, you get to know them.
               I have gotten to know our colleagues well. I think I 
             have been in almost everybody's State, at least on our 
             side of the aisle, campaigning. I thoroughly enjoyed 
             getting to know my colleagues. The Senate is composed of a 
             great group of individuals, Democrats and Republicans, and 
             we need to get to know each other better. I think if we 
             get to know each other better, our body works better and 
             we will do better.
               After that, I was fortunate enough to be elected policy 
             chairman. I had that position for 6 years, and it was 
             another job I absolutely loved. I succeeded Bill 
             Armstrong, and I was fortunate to keep some of his staff, 
             some of the best staff on the Hill, I might add. They 
             stayed with me, and I appreciate that. Eric Ueland and 
             Doug Badger would fit in that category, and they were 
             outstanding.
               Bill Armstrong is another one of my mentors. I met with 
             Bill Armstrong and a couple of other Senators in a prayer 
             group once a week for 12 years. He is probably the most 
             articulate Senator I have had the pleasure of serving 
             with, an outstanding leader. I wish he would have 
             continued his service. He decided to return to the private 
             sector, and since I am doing that, I respect that greatly. 
             But I have always looked up to him because he was a man of 
             conviction, and he got things done.
               Let me add that Jon Kyl, who is now the policy chairman, 
             and there could not be a better policy chairman, is doing 
             a fantastic job, a very important job. I compliment him 
             for his leadership.
               After that position--and I thank my colleagues for 
             giving me that responsibility--I served 6 years as 
             assistant majority leader, and I guess at some point maybe 
             assistant minority leader. It was a great honor and a 
             pleasure to work with Trent Lott, which I enjoyed greatly. 
             Trent did a fantastic job as our Republican leader, and 
             I'd like to take this opportunity to commend him on his 
             outstanding service. Mitch McConnell has my old post now, 
             and he is doing a super job. Again, it is a position where 
             you get to know your colleagues really well. You not only 
             learn how to count votes, but you find out what makes 
             people tick and where they are coming from, what they are 
             trying to accomplish, and what they are trying to do. And 
             Mitch McConnell is doing a fantastic job in that capacity.
               During my tenure in the Senate, we have had the pleasure 
             of passing a lot of legislation. I am fortunate to have so 
             many colleagues who have helped me do some things that I 
             think have become good laws.
               The Republicans took control of the Senate in the 1994 
             elections, and in 1995 I think the first bill we passed 
             was the Congressional Accountability Act that Senator 
             Grassley and a lot of Democrats and Republicans passed. We 
             worked hard on that. I am glad to see that happened.
               We passed the Congressional Review Act. Senator Reid was 
             my principal Democrat sponsor on that legislation, where 
             we could review expensive and expansive Federal 
             regulations. We actually used that to repeal the 
             ergonomics rule which the Clinton administration tried to 
             pass in the last couple of days of their term. Although he 
             supported the regulation, Senator Reid, to his credit, 
             defended the Congressional Review Act which is still the 
             law of the land. We used that to repeal what I felt was a 
             very intrusive, expensive, and unwarranted regulation. 
             Again, that is another case where Senator Reid stated--he 
             did not agree with repealing the regulation, but he 
             defended the law we repealed it with, and some people were 
             trying to undermine that.
               Senator Lieberman and I passed the Defense of Marriage 
             Act, an act that became a little more noteworthy in the 
             last year or two. I thank Senator Lieberman for his help 
             and leadership on that issue. Bill Clinton signed that 
             bill. I am not sure he wanted to, but he did sign it in 
             the wee hours of 1996. That act is still the law of the 
             land. It basically says States do not have to recognize 
             other States' legalization of same sex marriage. Some 
             States have legalized gay marriage, which is their 
             prerogative, but due to our bill other States do not have 
             to recognize that. Some people presume that it will be 
             declared unconstitutional. I hope it is not. I would be 
             disappointed if the Supreme Court did overrule that. That 
             bill passed with 80-some-odd votes in the Senate and still 
             is the law of the land.
               We passed the International Religious Freedom Act. 
             Again, I say ``we.'' Senator Lieberman joined me in 
             passing that bill. We passed that in 1998, and it is now 
             the law of the land. It is very important that we note 
             countries that are very repressive and oppressive in 
             stifling religious freedom. Unfortunately, we have seen 
             such oppression in many countries around the world. That 
             kind of bigotry is the genesis of a lot of the hatred and 
             violence and the wars we are fighting today.
               We have ensured, with the passage of this act, that the 
             State Department will be much more proactive in not only 
             identifying cases of religious intolerance and 
             persecution, but will take proactive steps to change such 
             behavior as a matter of U.S. policy.
               Senator Landrieu and I passed, in 2000, the Child 
             Citizenship Act, which basically grants citizenship to 
             foreign-born children who are adopted. I think 150,000 
             children became citizens in 1 day as a result of that act, 
             and I am greatly pleased to have been a part of that 
             success.
               I have had the pleasure for the last couple of years of 
             being chairman of the Budget Committee. I look back at 
             some of our accomplishments, and I have to think maybe 
             those were some of the best in my career as a Senator.
               The budget we passed in 2003 was a real challenge. We 
             probably spent more days, more hours, and had more votes 
             on the 2003 Budget Act than any other Budget Act in 
             history. I think we had 80-some-odd votes. It took more 
             than a week. It took about a week and a half, almost 2 
             weeks, on the floor.
               I compliment Senator Zell Miller for his assistance in 
             that. We passed that budget with the Vice President 
             breaking the tie. That was not easily done. We defeated 
             numerous amendments, and were successful in passing a 
             budget that allowed us to have the opportunity to have an 
             economic growth package. President Bush was nice enough to 
             ask me to introduce the package and to try to carry it, 
             and we did. Again, Zell Miller was the principal co-
             sponsor with me of the bill, the growth package. We 
             introduced that package in January 2003. We passed it in 
             June 2003.
               When we first took up that legislation, the Dow Jones 
             was at about 7,700. Today, the Dow Jones is over 10,500. 
             We wanted to pass that package so we could stimulate the 
             economy because it was, at that time, pretty anemic. 
             Government receipts were still down. We wanted to get 
             something to grow the economy. We passed that package, and 
             not only did the stock market go up, receipts are up, and 
             we have created a couple million jobs since then.
               We accelerated the tax cuts that were slowly being 
             phased in from the 2001 tax bill. So now we have a maximum 
             rate of 35 percent. Although some people say that is too 
             much of a giveaway, it is the same rate the corporations 
             pay, and I do not think individuals or self-employed 
             people should pay a higher rate than Exxon or General 
             Motors. So we passed that.
               We also passed a 15-percent tax on capital gains and a 
             15-percent tax on corporate distributions, dividends, 
             which I firmly believe has greatly helped not just the 
             market but the economy. So I am proud of that.
               I am proud of Zell Miller because he had the courage to 
             be a co-sponsor, to stand up and fight for those things 
             and make them become law. It also made a $1,000 tax credit 
             per child become law. It also eliminated or greatly 
             reduced the marriage penalty on married couples. If they 
             have taxable income of $58,000, that is $900 of tax 
             relief. Those are positive things. It would not have 
             happened without Zell Miller.
               Zell Miller only served 4 years in the Senate. He 
             replaced a very dear friend of all of ours, Paul 
             Coverdell. I mourned Paul Coverdell's loss, and I stated 
             at the time he cannot be replaced; and he certainly cannot 
             be replaced. But Zell Miller has been one outstanding 
             addition to this body. He is a great patriot, not a great 
             Democrat or a great Republican, he is a great patriot, and 
             he stands for what he believes in, and he helped us enact 
             these measures which are vitally important.
               I also read in the Washington Post today that somebody 
             said, well, the Budget Act is not working, and so on, and 
             there is no discipline in Congress. Frankly, they don't 
             know what they are talking about. I hate to tell them 
             that.
               They also said we did not pass a budget this year. Well, 
             they don't quite know what they are talking about there 
             either. In the last 2 years, thanks to the collective will 
             of this body, we have made 82 budget points of order--in 
             the last 2 years--78 of which were sustained. I voted to 
             waive a couple of them. We defeated $1.7 trillion of 
             additional spending over a 10-year period on those 78 
             budget points of order.
               The Budget Act did work. We passed a budget through the 
             Senate earlier this year that had domestic discretionary 
             spending at $821.9 billion.
               I am confident that when the leader brings up an omnibus 
             bill this year, it is going to meet that goal of $821.9 
             billion. That is several billion dollars less than a lot 
             of people wanted.
               I thank my colleague, Senator Stevens. I have wrestled 
             with him every day on appropriations bills. But Senator 
             Stevens helped us pass the 821.9 cap on the DOD 
             appropriations bill. I could not get the budget resolution 
             to pass. We passed it through the Senate and through the 
             House. I could not get the conference report adopted. That 
             was one of my disappointments.
               One of our accomplishments, as most people didn't know, 
             was we did put in the spending cap on the DOD 
             appropriations bill and we are enforcing that cap and we 
             are abiding by that cap today. So I wanted people to know 
             that. I also thank people such as Thad Cochran and Senator 
             Specter, because they enforced the cap as chairmen of 
             their respective Appropriations subcommittees, probably 
             more than anyone. I didn't have to make the points of 
             order; they did it. It worked. We have non-discretionary 
             and non-homeland security growing at less than 1 percent 
             this year, compared to a 14-percent growth a few years ago 
             in President Clinton's last years. Yes, we are spending a 
             lot of money in defense and homeland security, no doubt 
             about it.
               Are the deficits too high? You bet. Are they coming 
             down? You bet. The deficit this year was finalized at 400-
             something, over $100 billion less than the administration 
             projected 9 months ago; and that is because revenues are 
             up and the economy is growing. The changes we passed in 
             2001 are working significantly.
               I project, and CBO projects, they will continue to climb 
             by another $100 billion in the next year or so. Is the war 
             expensive? Yes. Is it worth it? You bet. Is the war on 
             terrorism worth it? Yes.
               Earlier this year--I would say this was a real 
             highlight--I went to Iraq and Afghanistan with Senators 
             Sessions and Lieberman. I have done a lot of things, and I 
             have been to a lot of places around the world, but I 
             cannot tell you how proud I was to be in Iraq, basically 
             when there was a transition of power, when Mr. Allawi 
             assumed control of Iraq.
               We met with the Defense Minister and he said: Yes, we 
             want to protect our country. When we met with our military 
             leadership and theirs, we were in the process of training 
             210,000 Iraqis, and we had a chance to meet with Iraqis 
             there that are hungry for freedom and thankful for our 
             support and eager to assume and take control.
               They are talking about elections in January, and I am 
             hopeful and prayerful that those will be successful. I 
             believe they will be. Senator Sessions and I also went to 
             Afghanistan and met with now-President Karzai. It was 
             around July 4. They were scheduled to have elections in 
             October. They did that and he was elected overwhelmingly.
               The success we have had in Afghanistan has been 
             absolutely phenomenal. I remember well the debates here, 
             with many people saying: You are going to be involved in a 
             quagmire; you will never be able to have democracy. You 
             cannot get in there. The Soviets were there 10 years and 
             lost tens of thousands of troops. You are going to do the 
             same thing.
               Frankly, our military was successful, working with the 
             Afghan Northern Alliance and other Afghan people who 
             wanted freedom in Afghanistan. We basically helped them 
             take control of that country with a few hundred troops on 
             the ground and our Air Force. We have liberated 
             Afghanistan. They have had elections and they have proved 
             they can have a democracy. They will have parliamentary 
             elections early next year.
               So the success we have had and have seen in Afghanistan 
             is restoring freedom to millions of people there. I 
             believe we are in the process of restoring freedom and 
             liberating the Iraqi people for the long run so the Iraqis 
             can control their own destiny. If you look at those 
             things, we have had an outburst, an outgrowth of freedom.
               Abraham Lincoln said in the Gettysburg Address: ``This 
             Nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom.''
               This country is largely responsible for not only this 
             country having a new birth of freedom, but frankly 
             countries throughout the world, in our own hemisphere and 
             in the former Soviet bloc, and now even in places as 
             remote as Afghanistan and Iraq. To have been able to play 
             a small part in that over these last 24 years has been a 
             real pleasure.
               I thank my constituents, the people of Oklahoma, for 
             giving me the opportunity and the privilege to serve them 
             for the last 24 years. I thank my family, and especially 
             my wife for her tolerance in allowing me to do this for 
             the last 24 years. I thank my colleagues who I have had 
             the pleasure of serving with and working with and the 
             pleasure of knowing. Frankly, my best friends are my 
             colleagues. I have spent a long time here and I have 
             absolutely loved this work. I love the Senate.
               I think the Senate is in very good hands. My replacement 
             is Dr. Tom Coburn. I am honored that an active physician 
             would leave his career and serve in the Senate. We have 
             not seen it often. We saw it with Dr. Bill Frist, and I am 
             so grateful that he set aside his career as a talented 
             physician to serve in the Senate. I am delighted he is the 
             majority leader. He has done a fantastic job. I am 
             delighted Dr. Coburn has left his profession to serve in 
             the Senate. What a great addition to the Senate. I have 
             had the pleasure of working with Jim Inhofe, and I see Jim 
             and Tom Coburn doing an outstanding job in representing 
             our State.
               I look at the leadership in the Senate today with Bill 
             Frist, Mitch McConnell, John Kyl, and the rest of the team 
             on this side, and with Harry Reid and others on the 
             Democrat side, and I see good things ahead for the Senate, 
             positive things.
               I have been so fortunate also to have what I have often 
             said are the best staff on the Hill. I have truly been 
             blessed. I have many staff members who have been with me 
             for a long time.
               Looking to my left is Bret Bernhardt, my chief of staff, 
             who has worked with me for over 20 years. Hazen Marshall 
             came in as an intern many, many years ago, and he is now 
             chief of staff on the Budget Committee. Nobody knows the 
             budget or taxes any better than Hazen Marshall. Both of 
             these men are true professionals.
               I have so many people to thank. I cannot go down the 
             whole list. I will recognize some who have been with me 
             for over 20 years. In my Oklahoma City office, there is 
             Joey Bradford, who worked for me going back to Nickles 
             Machine Corporation in 1978-1979. She is still with me. 
             She will be the last person to turn out the lights. She is 
             a wonderful person. Jo Stansberry goes way back. She was 
             my secretary when I was a State senator in 1978, bless her 
             heart. She is the sweetest person you will ever know. She 
             is still with me today. Also, in my Oklahoma City office, 
             Judy Albro and Maurie Cole have been with me almost the 
             entire time. Sharon Keasler has been running my Tulsa 
             office for over 20 years.
               In my DC office, Zev Teichman and Cynthia Singleton have 
             been with me the entire time.
               They are wonderful people and true public servants, all 
             of whom could have done much better financially on the 
             private side, but they have stayed with us on the public 
             side, as well as many others.
               I look at our staff and we have most of the staff still 
             with us. I am grateful for that. They are all anxious 
             about new careers, and they have been generous with their 
             time and very loyal in their support, not just to me but 
             to the people of Oklahoma and to this institution called 
             the Senate. The Senate is a very special place.
               I also would be remiss if I didn't acknowledge two or 
             three other people who have had a profound and positive 
             impact on my life. One is Doug Coe. Some of our colleagues 
             know him very well. Doug Coe was a friend, brother, and 
             mentor whom I respect and love greatly. He is also a 
             golfer, and that is my favorite vice, I guess. Most 
             golfers play for a little money. Doug would say, ``I will 
             play you for a Bible verse.'' We would do it and, of 
             course, I would lose--predestined from on high. I will 
             never forget when Doug said here is a verse for you to 
             memorize. It was, I think, John 13:34: ``A new commandment 
             I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved 
             you, that you also love one another.'' He made me learn 
             that. I learned it in, I think, about 1981 or something. 
             He has been a very positive guiding light. I have tried to 
             keep that commandment in my heart when I am on this floor 
             and conducting my business, and it is good advice. I 
             wanted to thank him.
               Also, I will mention a couple of other people. One is 
             Dick Halverson, the first Senate Chaplain with whom I had 
             the pleasure working. He was maybe one of the most 
             Christlike persons I have ever known. Lloyd Ogilvie, who 
             succeeded him, was a great mentor. He led many of us in 
             our Bible studies for years. He is a wonderful, wonderful 
             brother and friend. And now Barry Black. Barry Black, when 
             he was giving the prayer today, said we may seek to 
             accomplish causes beyond our lifetime. And he is so right. 
             That is what the Senate is about. It is about causes. It 
             is about things that can have consequences, that can have 
             real meaning beyond our lifetime eternally.
               So I thank God for the opportunity and the privilege and 
             the pleasure to serve in this great body.
?

                                           

                                      TRIBUTES

                                         TO

                                     DON NICKLES
                              Proceedings in the Senate
                                               Monday, October 11, 2004
               Mr. BYRD. Mr. President, the motto of the great State of 
             Oklahoma is ``Labor Conquers All.''
               How perfect this is for the senior Senator from 
             Oklahoma, Senator Don Nickles, who has accomplished so 
             much, and gone so far because of his willingness to work.
               As a young man, after the death of his father, Don 
             Nickles worked his way through college as a janitor making 
             minimum wage. After graduation, he returned to his 
             hometown of Ponca City to help run the family business, 
             the Nickles Machine Corporation, of which he became vice 
             president, and then general manager.
               In 1978, he was elected to the Oklahoma State Senate.
               Two years later, in 1980, he was elected to the U.S. 
             Senate as part of the ``Reagan revolution.'' When he took 
             office in 1981, he was just 31 years of age, the youngest 
             Senator in the 97th Congress. Seventeen years later, in 
             1998, he became the only Oklahoma Republican ever elected 
             to a fourth term in the U.S. Senate.
               During his 24 years in the Senate, for better and for 
             worse, Senator Nickles has remained consistently true to 
             his basic conservative principles. Congress Daily has 
             justly referred to him as, ``the keeper of the 
             conservative flame.''
               Being true to his conservative principles has sometimes 
             led him into taking some lonely stands. And his 
             unflinching commitment to his conservative principles has 
             led him to take positions that have angered constituents 
             of his own State. His principles have even led him into 
             positions on issues that have annoyed me. In addition to 
             his views on tax cuts, I could mention his efforts to 
             block the Patients' Bill of Rights, his efforts to defeat 
             increases in the minimum wage, and his effort to scuttle a 
             Democratic initiative to help unemployed workers to be 
             able to afford medical insurance coverage. Still, I have 
             always admired and respected him for the firmness of his 
             convictions and his beliefs, and his willingness to stay 
             with them despite the consequences.
               Even with the firmness of his convictions, he has never 
             allowed himself to be trapped or bound by dogmatic 
             partisan stands. Time and again I have watched and admired 
             his willingness to reach across the aisle and work with 
             Democratic Senators in bipartisan efforts to extend 
             unemployment benefits, to win passage of a regulatory 
             reform bill, and to secure passage of other measures that, 
             otherwise, may well have gone down in defeat.
               During his 24 years in this Chamber, Senator Nickles has 
             served on the Senate Finance Committee, Senate Energy and 
             Natural Resources Committee, Labor and Human Resources 
             Committee, Small Business, and Joint Committee on 
             Taxation.
               For 14 of his 24 years in the Senate, he has served in 
             Republican Senate leadership, first as chairman of the 
             Senate Republican Senatorial Committee, and then as 
             chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, which he 
             transformed from a lunch club into a ``conservative think 
             tank.'' In 1996 and again in 1998, he was elected 
             assistant Republican leader, Republican whip.
               In January 2003, Senator Nickles left the Senate 
             Republican leadership to become chairman of the Senate 
             Budget Committee, and this is where I really came to know 
             and appreciate what an outstanding legislator he is.
               As I attended Budget Committee hearings and markups held 
             by Chairman Nickles, I came to realize his appreciation 
             for the Senate as an institution, and his determination to 
             make this institution work. I saw, first-hand, his efforts 
             to accommodate differences and to restore bipartisanship 
             to the Senate Budget Committee. While he staunchly 
             advocated his beliefs, Budget Chairman Nickles emphasized 
             politeness, courtesy, cordiality, and amiability. These 
             qualities endeared him to Democratic and Republican 
             members of the Budget Committee.
               It was here in the work of the Budget Committee that I 
             really saw his personal side. I remember Senator Nickles's 
             first Budget Committee markup as chairman. Senator Nickles 
             arrived at the markup and announced that his daughter had 
             given birth to his first grandchild, Nicholas Fenton 
             Rossiter. I had seen many times the look of pride on a new 
             grandfather's face, and it inspired me to recite a poem 
             for his grandson. ``Dear Nicholas, first, in thy 
             grandfather's arms, a newborn child, thou didst weep, 
             while those around thee smiled, so live, that in thy 
             lasting sleep, thou mayst smile while those around thee 
             weep.''
               But at the same announcement of the birth of his 
             grandson, I could not help myself in reminding Budget 
             Chairman Nickles that, given his support for a budget that 
             embraces record deficits, his sweet grandchild was born 
             owing $24,000 on the national debt.
               Although I failed to disabuse him of his egregious 
             interpretation of the budget reconciliation process, 
             Senator Nickles, I am convinced, has come to understand 
             the importance of debate in the Senate. Earlier this year, 
             he devoted many hours to studying the budget rules for 
             ways to eliminate the so-called ``vote-a-ramas'' that 
             usually accompany the Senate's budget debates. To his 
             great credit, Senator Nickles demonstrated that rule 
             changes are not necessary. Together with Senator Conrad, 
             he orchestrated this year's budget debate in a manner that 
             allowed adequate time for all Senators to offer and debate 
             their amendments. For the first time in many years, there 
             was no ``vote-a-rama,'' thanks to Senator Nickles.
               It has been reported in the media that Senator Nickles 
             was discouraged and disappointed that, in his final year 
             as chairman of the Budget Committee, the Senate was not 
             able to reach a consensus with the House of 
             Representatives on a budget resolution. I hope Senator 
             Nickles realizes that the model of civility he created as 
             chairman of the Budget Committee will be remembered and 
             emulated, and that this accomplishment will survive in the 
             annals of the Senate longer than any budget document.
               While I must admit that I will not miss some of the 
             values that he so eloquently advocated, and for which he 
             so effectively fought, I do regret any time the Senate 
             loses a good person, and Senator Nickles is a very good 
             person. During his 24 years, this outstanding Senator, 
             through his hard work, his friendliness and his dedication 
             and determination, has helped make the Senate a better 
             place, and for that, I am grateful and thankful. Time and 
             again he has demonstrated that ``labor'' certainly does 
             ``conquer all.''
               I wish him and his wife, Linda, happiness, health, and 
             prosperity as they enter the next phase in their lives.
                                             Tuesday, November 16, 2004

               Mr. CONRAD. Mr. President, I want to take this 
             opportunity to pay tribute to and acknowledge how much I 
             will miss Senator Don Nickles in the U.S. Senate.
               Since joining the Senate in 1980, Senator Nickles has 
             been a forceful advocate for smaller and smarter 
             government, while at the same time tenaciously fighting 
             for the interests of the people of Oklahoma. In a body 
             filled largely with lawyers and career politicians, 
             Senator Nickles brought a small businessman's perspective 
             to the legislative table. Throughout his career he spoke 
             from personal experience about the need to relieve 
             unnecessary burdens on our Nation's small businesses.
               Personally, I have come to know Senator Nickles well 
             from our joint service on the Budget and Finance 
             Committees. Although we were often on the opposite sides 
             of policy debates, he was always a straight shooter, a 
             gentleman, and a pleasure to work with. In areas where we 
             disagreed, he was a formidable and articulate advocate for 
             his position. In areas where we agreed, he was a powerful 
             and determined ally. I am proud to say that, despite this 
             era of too much partisan division, I consider Senator 
             Nickles a good friend. His ability to maintain a civil and 
             respectful tone and demeanor in even the toughest policy 
             disputes has exemplified the finest traditions of the 
             Senate.
               In his role as Budget Chairman, I am particularly 
             grateful for the graciousness and respect with which he 
             treated me and my staff. His efforts to strengthen the 
             Budget Committee and the budget process will be an 
             important part of his legacy in this body.
               I have been honored to serve with Senator Don Nickles. I 
             join my colleagues in wishing the Senator and his family 
             all the best in the future and in paying tribute to his 
             tremendous contributions to the Senate and our Nation. We 
             will miss him.
                                            Thursday, November 18, 2004
               Mr. BURNS. * * * Don Nickles will leave this Senate in 
             this year, having arrived in 1980 with President Ronald 
             Reagan. The real voice of conservatism, a fiscal 
             conservative, who stood in this Senate and fought wasteful 
             spending and did it with grace, did it with knowledge, a 
             leader among all.
               There again, he being 8 years ahead of me, he was a 
             mentor and someone I could look to, study and learn from. 
             * * *
               As to all of these men, I want to say you do form 
             relationships here, and there is a certain bond that 
             attracts us all, as we learn that even though you may be 
             on the same side of the aisle or the opposite side of the 
             aisle, one could always agree or disagree without being 
             disagreeable. That is what makes the Senate a special 
             place.
               We will miss all of these men, but I am looking forward 
             to those who take their place as, there again, new 
             relationships will be developed, a new bond dealing with 
             the old challenges of a free society, with those who love 
             the Constitution and love this country who were prepared 
             to die for it and would if asked to do so today. No one 
             doubts the depth of their patriotism nor their service to 
             their country. We welcome them as we say goodbye to old 
             friends, old relationships that will never be forgotten.

               Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I am so pleased that I have a 
             chance a say a few good words about my colleague, Don 
             Nickles. It is hard to talk about Don Nickles. I remember 
             him when he was in the State senate. I believe Don Nickles 
             at that time was the president of the College Republicans 
             in Oklahoma. I remember going to Ponca City and giving a 
             speech at his invitation. Afterward, he showed just an 
             incredible interest in politics. This was back in the 
             seventies. He ran for State senate. I believe it was in 
             1978. And he won.
               Midway through that term, in 1980, a seat opened and he 
             decided he was going to run for the U.S. Senate. Everybody 
             laughed. Who is this kid, anyway? He was about 30 years 
             old. He still looks like he is about 35 years old. At that 
             time he looked like he was about 18 years old.
               He ran and defeated some of the real heavyweights in the 
             State. Then he came and served in the Senate.
               I understand that in those early years they wouldn't let 
             him ride the Members' elevators because they didn't 
             believe he was a Member. They thought he was a page.
               Nonetheless, Don Nickles started proving himself. I 
             watched him mature in this job. As the years went by, 
             every time a 6-year period ended, he would talk about 
             dropping out. But we talked him into running.
               Finally, he decided he needed to do something else with 
             his life and do what is in the best interests of his 
             family.
               But he grew with the ability to offer expertise that I 
             haven't seen in the Senate since I have been here, and I 
             have been here for 10 years. I have watched Don Nickles as 
             he matured, as he gained knowledge in areas and expertise 
             in not just one isolated area but in all areas. When he 
             stands up to talk, everybody is quiet. They want to listen 
             to him because they know he knows what he is talking 
             about.
               I can recall when Elizabeth Dole was first elected. We 
             were making a tribute to Don Nickles about 3 months after 
             she was here. She said: I have watched him talk about the 
             budget. I have watched him talk about how you finance 
             government. I have watched him go through all these very 
             difficult things, and I have been here 3 months and I have 
             to confess I don't even know what he is talking about. I 
             said: Elizabeth, don't feel bad. I have been here 10 years 
             and I still don't know what he is talking about.
               Don Nickles developed that level of expertise that other 
             people do not. It is because he studies. He works.
               He is going to be sorely missed by a lot of people 
             around here because of what he had to offer and because of 
             the contributions he has made.
               I am 15 years older than Don Nickles. I have been his 
             junior Senator. I guess it is now time I become senior 
             Senator.
               I will miss his expertise, his charm, his humor, and 
             most of all I will miss him because he is my brother. I 
             will miss him dearly. Don, it is going to be goodbye to 
             you but hang around. We look forward to working with you 
             and accepting your advice because I know it will be there 
             when we need it.

               Mr. SHELBY. One of my colleagues we all care about and 
             work with is Don Nickles of Oklahoma. He came here as a 
             very young man in 1980. He has been here 24 years. He was 
             the whip, assistant majority leader. He was right here on 
             this floor. He spent many days, many hours trying to herd 
             us together as one of our leaders. He is now at the moment 
             the chairman of the Budget Committee, and that is a feat 
             in itself. He is a senior member of the Finance Committee.
               We wish you had stayed around, but you chose to leave 
             the Senate on your own volition. Don, we will see you, we 
             will miss you, and I commend you for your service to the 
             Nation and to your great State of Oklahoma.

               Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, Senators follow many different 
             paths on their way to this Chamber. Some come from the 
             professions, others from a life in public service.
               Few have lived the American dream the way Don Nickles 
             has.
               At age 20, Don Nickles was paying his way at Oklahoma 
             State University, living in a trailer home, working as a 
             janitor, and raising his growing family.
               A few years later, he returned to his hometown. There he 
             pulled his family business from the verge of bankruptcy. 
             Pretty soon his neighbors elected him to the Oklahoma 
             Senate.
               Then, in 1980, at the age of 31, when few expected it, 
             he became a U.S. Senator.
               Don did not let his early success go to his head. He 
             worked hard to keep our country a place where men and 
             women can dream big and live those dreams.
               In the Senate he has been a friend to taxpayers, an 
             opponent of overbearing regulation, a voice for 
             traditional values, and an ardent advocate for Oklahoma.
               Don Nickles has worked to keep America a land of 
             opportunity--a place where everyone has a valued place and 
             nobody lacks the opportunities to succeed.
               Through all of his hard work, through all of his toil, 
             he has always put family first. He and Linda have been 
             married for 36 years. And they have raised four wonderful 
             children.
               In Don's favorite Bible chapter, Galatians 5, the 
             Apostle Paul lists a godly man's attributes. A godly man, 
             says Paul, works hard and lives a life of ``love, joy, 
             peace . . . kindness, goodness, faithfulness.''
               I could not think of a better description of Don 
             Nickles. He has had an amazing career--and I take comfort 
             in that he is just hitting his stride.
               We all wish Don and his family the best in what will 
             certainly be a bright future.

               Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. President, I rise tonight to make a 
             quick comment about a dear friend. The greatest thing 
             about serving in the House of Representatives and the 
             Senate is meeting the colleagues we have the opportunity 
             to serve with on both sides of the aisle. As a Member of 
             the House of Representatives, I had the opportunity to get 
             to know a number of the Members of the Senate, one of whom 
             is retiring at the end of this session.
               Don Nickles was elected to the Senate when he was too 
             young to serve in the Senate. He actually had a few months 
             after his election before he was old enough, but he was 
             old enough before he was sworn in. That was back in 1980. 
             He has now served with great distinction in this body for 
             24 years. He leaves with a record that not many Senators 
             are able to claim after serving in this Senate for 
             whatever period of time they may be here.
               Don Nickles has been a leader in the Republican Party, 
             but most significantly he has been a leader in the Senate. 
             He is a man who has provided strong leadership on any 
             number of issues, whether they are fiscal issues as 
             chairman of the Budget Committee and a long-time member of 
             the Budget Committee, which is where I first got to know 
             him in our conferences between the House and the Senate, 
             or whether it is on energy or social issues, Don Nickles 
             possesses all the assets that America holds dear.
               He is a strong family man. He is a hard-working 
             individual. He is a man of faith. He is a man who when he 
             looks you in the eye and tells you something, you can go 
             to the bank with it.
               I am going to miss Don Nickles. I will miss his quick 
             wit. I am going to miss his being able to stand up in the 
             Senate and quickly take on anybody on either side of the 
             aisle with respect to whatever the issue may be or 
             whatever the rule may be that applies to the issue that 
             comes up.
               I marveled at his ability to, off the top of his head, 
             take on folks on the other side of the aisle relative to a 
             particular issue and to point out issue by issue and point 
             by point what must be done. That is a unique capability 
             and something that must be studied and learned.
               My predecessor, one of the folks who held my seat many 
             years before I got here, was the master of that. That is 
             Richard Russell. Don Nickles knows the rules just as well 
             as Richard Russell did.
               I will miss Don in a number of respects off of this 
             Senate floor. He is a close personal friend. He and his 
             wife Linda are dear friends of Julianne and me. I will 
             have to find somebody else to get money off of on the golf 
             course because I have known Don so long now that I have 
             come to spend the money before I play golf.
               He is a terrific guy both in the Senate as well as 
             outside the Senate. He is a man of great integrity. He is 
             the kind of Senator who every citizen of Oklahoma should 
             and has been proud of for his 24 years of service to the 
             Senate.
               I went back to his hometown a couple of months ago, his 
             hometown of Ponca City, OK, a very small town in America. 
             Don was a football hero. As in my home State of Georgia 
             and my hometown, football is huge in Ponca City. They 
             still remember Don as a high school fullback and 
             linebacker.
               His old coach was there that night to talk about Don and 
             some of the things he did during his high school career. 
             It is those foundations that people all across America 
             build upon to come to the Senate.
               The things that were said about Don back then could 
             still be said about him today; that is, what a dedicated 
             person he was, what a hard-working person he was, and what 
             a student of the game he was, just like he has been a 
             student of the Senate.
               No one there was surprised at what a great job Don had 
             done as a Member of the Senate and what a success he was, 
             what a success he will be once he leaves. Don had the 
             right kind of foundation and the right kind of instincts 
             and the right kind of family stability, support, and love 
             to make sure he did the right kind of job in the Senate, 
             and he will continue to be successful when he leaves here.
               To Don and to Linda, we say thanks for the service to 
             our country. My children and my grandchildren are going to 
             benefit from the service of the Senate of Don Nickles. 
             That is something for which I will forever be grateful.
               Just as important, I have been a better Senator than I 
             would have been otherwise because of Don Nickles. In 
             future years, because of what I have learned from Don 
             Nickles, I will be a much better Senator.
               Don, we appreciate your service to our country. Thank 
             you. God bless you and Linda.
                                              Friday, November 19, 2004
               Mr. FEINGOLD. * * * I look forward to hearing the 
             remarks of my colleague, the Senator from Oklahoma, whom I 
             have enjoyed serving with very much, especially on the 
             Budget Committee * * *.
               Again, I commend the Senator on his wonderful service to 
             this body.

               Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, on leader time, I want to make 
             a few comments in tribute, not in response, to the great 
             man we just heard on the floor of this institution [Mr. 
             Nickles]. Over the last several days, all of us have taken 
             that opportunity for three of our colleagues on this side 
             of the aisle and others on the other side of the aisle, to 
             reflect on the past and how people have affected us 
             directly.
               All of us have prepared remarks, and we have taken the 
             opportunity to read them into the Record or enter them 
             into the Record. What we just heard does reflect in many 
             ways why so many of us have such strong feelings about Don 
             Nickles and his family--Linda and their children.
               For me, it boils down to two general areas. One is the 
             tremendous respect he has and continues to have and will 
             always have for this institution. He literally reveres 
             this institution. We heard it in his words today, the way 
             he closed referring back to Chaplain Barry Black's opening 
             this morning where causes beyond our lifetime is the 
             essence of this institution, and he has captured that in 
             his 24 years in the Senate--respect for the institution, 
             for its traditions, for its values, for its rules, for its 
             precedents, all of which he has manifested.
               The second general area when I think of Don is his wise 
             counseling that he has been able to reflect in different 
             ways to each and every one of us. For me, it is the 
             National Republican Senatorial Committee. When I was first 
             thinking about running, I went directly to Don Nickles 
             because in the early nineties he developed a model that 
             was revolutionary at that time. The model really did go to 
             what happens at the grassroots, and it applied both in 
             terms of politics and fundraising. That model is one that 
             has come full cycle.
               One thing he did not mention directly but touched me in 
             a very special way is what he did 2 weeks ago, and that is 
             run, whether it is marathons or short races or out for a 
             daily jog--I call it a jog; he actually runs. But for 
             about a year, at least once a week, sometimes several 
             times a week, we ran together with a few Senators--I think 
             there were more than 2--a few Senators, but more than 
             that, about 8, 9, 10, it got up to about 14 other people 
             who every morning at 6 o'clock would take off and go 
             initially for 30 minutes, an hour, an hour and a half, 2 
             hours, 3 hours, and Don kept going. But those are my 
             memories.
               What is interesting is that, of the people running with 
             us, there were some new people. Then there were also 
             people who had done this for years and years, and those 
             rich relationships were played out on the floor of the 
             Senate or with his golf, which everybody knows about, or 
             the running, which is touching me.
               A few weeks ago, he ran in the New York City marathon. 
             He ran it by himself. He probably ran it in 3 hours. I 
             would go much longer than that. I was back here, but I was 
             really with him, thinking of him when he was going to be 
             taking off and at each of those miles, as you run through 
             those boroughs. I was really with him because it brought 
             back memories of us spending time together.
               That was for, again, a cause that goes beyond our 
             lifetime because our running and the group that he put 
             together was for an effort that Linda, his wife, I think 
             introduced him to, the Lombardi Cancer Center. Again, it 
             shows how everything comes together, in ways beyond going 
             out to have a good run and working for this greater cause.
               He mentioned getting to know each other. In terms of 
             counseling to me, directly or indirectly, you cannot go 
             anywhere in this town without Don Nickles being 
             recognized, without him having touched or having a 
             relationship in some special way over the last 24 years, 
             and counseling in terms of the prayer breakfast. Don 
             Nickles was there every single week, and the Bible studies 
             again touch me directly in that those few moments every 
             week we have the opportunity to come together and share.
               He mentioned the positive and guiding light of Doug Coe 
             in the same way he has touched us in those prayer 
             breakfast meetings.
               He mentioned the budget, again the wise counsel that he 
             set in place that we will be using over the next several 
             years as we look at tax relief, but also the impact it has 
             had on the jobs and growth in this country.
               I have to mention his overall optimism because there is 
             nobody more optimistic in the Senate, even in very tough 
             times, trying times. There were times dealing with the 
             budget over the last 4 years that were tough, difficult, 
             hard, challenging, especially in 2003. Even through all 
             that, he was optimistic, upbeat, reaching out. He always 
             knew there was some way to get the best out of people 
             working together.
               I will close by mentioning--and we had this conversation 
             2 nights ago--his overall commitment to family. Everything 
             comes back to Linda and their four children--Don Nickles, 
             Jr., Jenny Rossiter, Kim Nickles, and Robyn Nickles. 
             Everything he does comes back through that unit, to Linda 
             who has--he used the word ``tolerance,'' and it does take 
             a lot of tolerance to put up with Don Nickles, I am sure. 
             Linda was there, I should also add, with support through 
             every one of his endeavors.
               It has been a real privilege for Karyn and me to get to 
             know them and their entire family.
               He used a Bible verse, his favorite Bible chapter, 
             Galatians 5. The Apostle Paul lists a godly man's 
             attributes. A godly man works hard, says Paul, lives a 
             life of--the words that are key--love, joy, peace, 
             kindness, goodness, and faithfulness. As we look at that 
             string of words, those nouns, I cannot think of a better 
             description of Don Nickles.
               So, Don, we will miss you. I say that recognizing all 
             our relationships will continue to grow. We will clearly 
             miss you on the floor of the Senate.

               Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, most Americans probably do 
             not know the Senate is a continuous body. From the day the 
             Founding Fathers established this marvelous institution up 
             until today, it has never had a termination point. It goes 
             on and on. Senator Byrd can tell us exactly how many 
             Members of the Senate there have been. The last figure I 
             heard was something over 1,500.
               Candidly, a significant number of those probably did not 
             make much difference. They filled the seats. They made 
             sure the continuous body continued. But very few left any 
             footprints on the sands of time. We have honored a handful 
             out here off the Senate floor, people such as Henry Clay, 
             Daniel Webster, John C. Calhoun, and just a couple of 
             others.
               I have been here now a couple of decades, a little bit 
             less than my friend from Oklahoma. I can say without fear 
             of contradiction, from the moment I got here until today, 
             the Senator from Oklahoma has been a leader in this body. 
             He has been involved in virtually every issue of 
             consequence in the 20 years I have been here in some kind 
             of leadership capacity or providing his inspiration or, as 
             the majority leader indicated, his enthusiasm for getting 
             a solution to the problems confronting America at that 
             particular moment.
               So I say to my friend from Oklahoma, he has left 
             footprints in this body.
               He is one of the great Senators in the history of our 
             country. We will always remember his service, and we wish 
             him Godspeed in the coming years and look forward to 
             seeing him again in his new capacity whatever it may be.

               Mr. DOMENICI. Mr. President, I have not been coming to 
             the floor for a lot of speeches about our fellow Senators, 
             nor have I given very many as they are departing. I do 
             intend to do that in the next few months for all of them, 
             but I would not dare let this Record go today without my 
             having an opportunity to share some remarks with the 
             Senate about the Senator from Oklahoma.
               There is nobody here who has served on as many 
             committees together as Senator Nickles and Senator 
             Domenici. We have been thrilled to work on the Energy 
             Committee. He has told us the facts about energy. He has 
             told us the impact that was made by that committee, and 
             nobody can doubt that to have the Senator from Oklahoma 
             come to that committee, having lived with the 
             ridiculousness of the rules on natural gas, having him 
             there was a great stimulus to change, once and for all--we 
             did a little bit and we opened the floodgates--to give the 
             country a great supply of energy called natural gas.
               More important than that, he is one who takes an 
             opportunity to come forth with an idea, with a cause, and 
             set it forth when people do not even think it has a 
             chance. All of a sudden it gathers some more momentum, and 
             then it is a big issue, and nobody believes it but pretty 
             soon it passes and becomes law. There are so many that we 
             cannot talk about them. The Senator has talked about some 
             of them.
               When you came here, your senior Senator was kind of the 
             opposite of you. He was a great hulk of a man. He was 
             older than you by far. If he ever bragged, it was about 
             being a marine lieutenant tank commander. He used to look 
             at me and tell me: Well, I do not know. This Nickles is 
             just too young. I am not sure he can do this job.
               Well, I am sure he told you some of those things when 
             you were running or preparing to run, but your youth had 
             nothing to do with your success. You were going to get it 
             done because you have a great capacity to lead and to work 
             with people. It has been my privilege to have you as my 
             teammate.
               There is one thing for sure, this place does not succeed 
             without people who have talent. We can all look that over 
             and say it is not so, but it is so. You are a very 
             talented man, but talent is not enough. You have to be 
             loyal.
               Senator Nickles is the second most senior serving 
             Senator on the Budget Committee, 20 years. I am the one 
             who was goofy enough to serve more, but he was there 
             during most of my time. Many times, Senator Don Nickles 
             did not get exactly what he wanted, but when it came to 
             the time of getting something for this Senate that would 
             permit us to follow that Budget Act, you never worried 
             about Don Nickles. He may have pushed and shoved and maybe 
             held out to the end, but when the time came that you said, 
             We have to do this, Don, he understood. That is because of 
             what he just said here today. He really loves this place. 
             He learned how to love it. He did not love it when he came 
             here. He might have told his colleagues that he started 
             liking it, but he did not love it the first few years like 
             he does now.
               I had the privilege once of nominating him for a 
             leadership job. He will not ever forget that introduction 
             because he was thinking I was not going to be speaking on 
             behalf of him, but I surely was. I said something like, 
             Don Nickles came here and he was just too young. Then I 
             proceeded to say, however, I have never seen a Senator 
             mature as much and as fast as he has in terms of acquiring 
             the skills and the capacity and understanding to be a 
             Senator, after which time I suggested that he should win 
             that particular job he was seeking. He did, obviously. I 
             did not have anything to do with it, but nonetheless that 
             is sort of the way I saw him for the first 8, 10, or 12 
             years.
               Senator, you never stopped. You never stopped growing, 
             and I think to grow in this place, besides the qualities I 
             have just described, you have to end up understanding what 
             the Senate is.
               I have heard you many times in the last part of your 
             career talk about what a great place this is, and I really 
             believe you understand it. I think you understand that it 
             is not just some legislative body. You have many times 
             cast your vote, done your work, chastised and begged, 
             cajoled people to do things because you would tell them 
             sometimes when it was urgent that this is the Senate and 
             we cannot be all on our own. We have to be a part of this 
             place, and sometimes you have to do things to make it 
             work.
               I commend you for all of that and the policies and 
             philosophies that you brought here. We did not agree on 
             some of them. We have not agreed on everything, but I say 
             the Senate was better off for every single day that you 
             were here, and it will not be quite as good until somebody 
             comes along and fills your seat. As our distinguished whip 
             said, it is a continuing place, and we will go on. But I 
             honestly think there will be sort of a place here for you, 
             and we will remember how you used to do things, and, yes, 
             Senator, you will know how you grew in terms of working 
             with the other side. I mean, all of a sudden you would 
             have something and we would wonder what is going on, and 
             you would announce your co-sponsor and we would say, well, 
             he started with something that was not going to work, but 
             he has been working at it and it is going to work. I 
             commend you for that. That is the end product of real 
             growth and a real ability to get done what you thought was 
             good.
               So I will miss you and your wonderful family and your 
             wife. You have been through some tough problems with the 
             family just like many of us. You have come through it 
             strong and robust, and your children are beautiful and 
             successful.
               As far as the prayer breakfast is concerned, you have 
             stated this morning in beautiful terms, just as a matter 
             of fact, with Doug Coe and other names, but I can remember 
             talking to you many times about that, how it made you 
             mature also in terms of your faith, in terms of how we 
             prayed and how we did other things. For that relationship, 
             I thank you. It has little to do with the Senate, but if 
             it were not for the Senate, we would not have had that 
             experience together.
               So this is a good day because we get to say something 
             about a great Senator, but on the other hand not so good a 
             day because we say goodbye. He is young enough to honestly 
             spend another 24 years here. I am 72 and I have been here 
             33 years, so I clearly could have left a while ago. Then I 
             would be out there doing whatever you are going to be 
             doing; I am sure you will have a lot more leisure time. 
             You can hit the ball. Me, maybe I could play with my 11 
             grandchildren now, and growing.
               Thank you, Don. It has been great to be your friend.

               Mr. COLEMAN. Mr. President, I rise after listening to 
             the words of our distinguished whip, who has been here 
             more than a couple of decades, and the distinguished 
             Senator from New Mexico, who has been here more than three 
             decades. I have only been in the Senate a couple of years, 
             but I do want to let the distinguished Senator from 
             Oklahoma know and say very publicly what an impact he has 
             had on me and what deep respect I have for him.
               When he came here, he talked about having respect for 
             the Senate, and I certainly understand that. It is 
             somewhat overwhelming to me. As he kind of recapped the 24 
             years, talking about the love that he has for this 
             institution, I want to let him know what that means to 
             somebody like me who comes here certainly with that 
             respect--that love is something that grows. Love is 
             something that is in the heart.
               As I reflect upon a colleague who has been here, who has 
             had some tough things he has had to do, I say to my 
             friend--truly my friend from Oklahoma, the chairman of the 
             Budget Committee--he is in an institution, surrounded by 
             folks who like to say yes, who like to spend money. We 
             like to take care of those around us who have needs. That 
             is a good thing. But we also have to have a fundamental 
             understanding. As in any family, you have to know what you 
             earn and you have to know what you can spend. You have to 
             have some discipline and you have to have some values and 
             you have to do the right thing. It is hard, because 
             naturally we want to say yes to those who come and say, We 
             need help.
               Because of the integrity of the Senator from Oklahoma, 
             because of and help us understand what it meant to hold 
             the line, to do the right thing, in the end, to build a 
             stronger America.
               His philosophical foundation, framework, ``restoring 
             economic freedom for America,'' is something he said he 
             started thinking about early, and that he always believed 
             in it when he got here. Certainly in each and every thing 
             I have seen him do here, it has been part of his core 
             value, restoring economic freedom for America, so in fact 
             we produce hope and opportunity and greater times for moms 
             and dads. He has done it.
               I cannot say I always thought it was the right thing to 
             do. I can't say that every time we voted the same way. But 
             I do want to let the Senator from Oklahoma know how 
             important his words and his values and his integrity were, 
             what they meant to me.
               I have been going to the prayer breakfasts since I came 
             to the Senate. I have listened to some of his helpful 
             suggestions for strengthening faith. They have made a 
             difference. They have made an impact.
               You are going to be gone, physically gone, and the 
             Senate will be different. But I have no doubt, and I feel 
             part of that, that your faith and your love and your 
             strength and what you have been about has had a profound 
             impact on so many of us here. It has had a profound impact 
             on me. Although you will not be here, know that as I go 
             about making the decisions I make, I have no doubt I will 
             reflect upon your words, reflect upon what you might think 
             is the right thing to do, and then make the decisions I 
             have to make.
               You may be gone. You may move from this body. You are 
             still a relatively young man with a great family, a 
             magnificent wife. You are a person who can look back on 
             all you have accomplished and still have the opportunity 
             to accomplish so much more. But I do want to thank the 
             Senator from Oklahoma for his service. I thank him for the 
             opportunity he has given me to serve with him. I thank him 
             for the impact he has had on my life, hopefully making me 
             a better Senator, a better humble servant, a person better 
             able to contribute with a deeper appreciation of how 
             important faith is to the service we give. I want him to 
             know what he is about certainly will live with me in the 
             time I have to stay. I simply want to say for all of that: 
             Thank you and God bless you.

               Mr. SESSIONS. Madam President, Don Nickles has been 
             truly one of our great Senators for almost a quarter of a 
             century. I join with the remarks of others who came before 
             me, and particularly Mitch McConnell's belief that Don 
             Nickles is one of the best of all times in this body.
               He rode into Washington at the age of 30, determined to 
             fight for a heartland vision of America with all his 
             strength and energy. As he leaves here, still a young man, 
             limping a little bit from that New York marathon he just 
             ran a few days ago, every one of us can say he was true to 
             those ideals and extraordinarily effective in advocating 
             them. This Senate and this Nation is losing a tremendous 
             champion. We are losing one of our most valuable Members.
               Don was a small businessman who had seen personally the 
             oppression of mindless regulation and taxes and rules that 
             make creating a business and creating jobs difficult and 
             frustrating. He knows taxes stifle growth and human 
             creativity and taxes mean a transfer of power and wealth 
             from the people who have earned it by the fruit of their 
             labor, sending it to Washington for governmental 
             politicians to dispense.
               He knows government spends too much and is too wasteful. 
             And he knows as a true man of faith that ultimately it is 
             the families, the hearts, and the faith of America in 
             which our strength resides.
               Those values he holds and he holds them very strongly. 
             For those values he has worked ably and courageously to 
             his last day in the Senate. As his service here comes to 
             an end, he can know that in each of these areas where he 
             has committed himself, to a remarkable degree our country 
             has made real progress. We have. He can and should take 
             great pride in knowing he was a key player in effecting 
             the historic transformation of this country from an era of 
             big government to an era in which even President Clinton 
             would say: Big government is over.
               The battle hasn't totally ended. The roaches will come 
             back. No doubt we will have to continue to spray. But 
             tremendous progress has been made. Don's critical role in 
             this historic reversal of the liberal big government 
             vision as the answer to all our problems can be seen, in 
             part, by examining the key positions he has held. He 
             chaired the Budget Committee, the Republican Policy 
             Committee, the National Republican Senatorial Committee, 
             the Republican Platform Committee for the Republican 
             National Convention, and he held a critical position of 
             assistant Republican leader, the second person in charge 
             here in the Senate.
               During his career he has been involved in many key 
             battles. One of the most crucial was the lead he took in 
             opposing the Clinton administration one-size-fits-all 
             health care plan in 1993. He offered a countervision of 
             consumer choice and for Americans he won that battle by 
             blocking what I think to be ill-advised legislation. I 
             know he took great pride when Congress passed the Medicare 
             prescription drug bill last year that included his vision 
             for medical savings accounts and for more competition in 
             the health care industry. I didn't agree with everything 
             in that bill, but the good parts he and I battled for are 
             going to be important for years to come in health care in 
             America.
               Two years later, in 1995, he secured passage of the 
             Congressional Accountability Act, which made Congress 
             abide by the same health and safety standards that 
             employers around America did. That was an important 
             psychological victory for those who suffered under 
             government regulation, that those of us who write the 
             regulations have to abide by them, too. In 1995 he 
             authored the bill for families to receive $500 per child 
             tax credit. Now it is $1,000 per child tax credit. When I 
             campaigned in 1996, it was one of the primary emphases of 
             my campaign. I strongly believed, and believe to this day, 
             that nothing has been done to strengthen families more 
             than allowing the working families trying to raise 
             children today to have an extra $1,000 in their pockets to 
             take care of their children and their families. Don 
             Nickles was the one who drove that home.
               In 1998 the International Religious Freedom Act that he 
             referred to in his remarks became law. He has been a 
             champion of religious freedom and rights. He worked to 
             establish this commission to develop appropriate responses 
             to violations of religious liberty worldwide. Since the 
             bill's passage, the commission has issued four annual 
             reports on religious freedom and persecution around the 
             world. This act will become more and more important as the 
             years go by, as we are now seeing a rise in religious 
             intolerance and persecution around the world. Now we have 
             an authoritative source so the world can know how serious 
             this problem is, and that knowledge can help us lead to 
             positive change.
               The next year, the Senate passed the Patients' Bill of 
             Rights legislation.
               Throughout 1998, Senator Nickles chaired a task force of 
             Republican Senators, on which I served, working to better 
             understand and respond to the concerns about managed 
             health plans. His group wrote and introduced the Patients' 
             Bill of Rights-Plus, a responsible alternative to the plan 
             that would have dramatically increased health care costs. 
             It was a terrific battle. Don called us together daily to 
             prepare on how to carry out the debate. The opposition 
             said a massive intervention into the American private 
             insurance market by the Federal Government was necessary, 
             and anybody who dared oppose this huge Federal mandate 
             would just be run over by them. But Don proposed 
             legislation that targeted the real abuses, with minimum 
             cost increases and limited Federal regulation.
               His bill would have, in fact, impacted the cost of 
             premiums only a fraction of what was proposed by the 
             opposition.
               It may now seem a small matter. At the time of that 
             debate it was a central issue before the Congress for 
             months, and pressure from the liberal news media to pass 
             an expansive bill was great. There could be no doubt that 
             his personal leadership on behalf of individual citizens 
             and small businesses was a key factor in the successful 
             effort to avoid a fundamental takeover of private 
             insurance in America.
               In 2003 he became chairman of the Budget Committee, and 
             I had the honor of serving as a member. During his 
             chairmanship he made great strides to protect the fiscal 
             sanity of our country. He led the Budget Committee during 
             the time of war when our homeland was attacked and when we 
             had a serious economic slowdown. He faced a surging 
             national debt, and it was a time of heated partisanship in 
             an evenly divided Senate. I was doubtful that anything 
             could be accomplished because of the partisan atmosphere, 
             and I told Don of my doubts.
               I said: I am not sure we can produce a budget. He 
             understood the difficulty he was facing but was convinced 
             that a responsible budget was essential for America. He 
             set to work with his usual skill and determination and 
             commitment to principle and courtesy. He knew his budget 
             depended on many. There was, indeed, much political 
             posturing on all sides as all maneuvered to promote their 
             interests. But Don never wavered. He was confident, funny, 
             gracious, and determined.
               The result was a very responsible 2004 budget with good 
             spending limitations and caps. Wisely, he managed to make 
             sure there would be a cap for fiscal year 2005, which we 
             are in now, in case the budget would have failed this 
             year. Without doubt, this was a good plan. It was critical 
             that the Senate at that time pass a budget in a time of 
             national insecurity and great deficits. It impacted 
             positively, I believe, the economic situation of our 
             country.
               We didn't produce a fiscal year 2005 budget, although 
             Don gave it his all. I have never seen him work so hard. 
             He tried everything that could be done to achieve a budget 
             for this year. That effort failed, but his fiscal year 
             2004 cap still made sure that we could maintain spending 
             control.
               I could say more, but I will just close with the remarks 
             that were shared by Phil Gramm as I talked about Don one 
             time. I said something good about him. And Phil Gramm, an 
             astute observer and great Senator, shook his head and 
             said: I am always amazed that this machine shop operator 
             from Oklahoma is so consistently right on every issue that 
             comes up.
               I agree. He has been consistently right for every year 
             he has been here. He has been the leader in the values 
             that the American people share. He has played a critical 
             role in the development of a new vision for government in 
             America. He has produced regulations; he reduced taxes; he 
             has empowered people around the globe. It has been an 
             honor and a pleasure for me to call him a friend and serve 
             with him. I admire him greatly.

               Mr. ALEXANDER. Madam President, I came here primarily to 
             listen this afternoon and show my respect for the Senator 
             from Oklahoma.
               My remarks will be very brief.
               I want to begin with a story that I told the Senator 
             from Oklahoma before. My mentor in politics is the former 
             majority leader of this body, Howard Baker. I got involved 
             in politics because of him in the sixties, when we were 
             building a two-party system in Tennessee. I remember the 
             campaign of 1980. Senator Baker was the Republican leader. 
             He changed the name on the door from ``Minority Leader'' 
             to ``Republican Leader'' because he didn't want the 
             Republican Party thinking of itself as a permanent 
             minority. Many people thought he was just whistling 
             ``Dixie,'' so to speak.
               At that time, there were 37, 38, or 39 Republican 
             Members, and no one saw much prospect of getting much 
             further ahead of that.
               Then came a tidal wave in 1980 with the election of 
             President Reagan and 13 or 14 new Republican Senators. It 
             went from fewer than 40 to more than 50. Senator Baker had 
             predicted that. I had learned to pay attention to him.
               I saw him after the election. I said: Well, you were 
             right about that. You were about the only person who was. 
             He said: I will tell you one thing.
               I said: What is that?
               He said: Pay attention to Nickles.
               I said: Who is Nickles?
               He said: He is this young, 32- or 33-year-old new 
             Senator from Oklahoma, and he is going to be a real force 
             to deal with.
               I have paid attention to Senator Nickles ever since 
             then. I have served in the Senate with the Senator from 
             Oklahoma, and during that time I have seen him a lot. We 
             have known each other. I think Senator Baker was correct. 
             A lot of people have paid attention to Don Nickles ever 
             since 1980. I am delighted to have had the privilege of 
             serving 2 years with him in the Senate.
               In my experience, I have found him highly intelligent. 
             He has been a big help with the complex issues that we 
             have here. He is principled. That is important. And he has 
             been easy to work with from the point of view of a 
             colleague.
               I heard his remarks to the new Senators that he was 
             meeting with; he and the Senator from Louisiana spoke to 
             them as they were stepping down. He was suggesting that 
             even though he is known as a principled, effective, and 
             conservative Senator, he reminded them that in order to 
             get things done in the Senate there has to be a consensus. 
             And that usually means finding ways of dealing across the 
             aisle with colleagues we respect.
               I am simply here today to show respect, not to make a 
             speech.
               I am glad to have that opportunity and finally to say 
             something that may be a little different from what some of 
             your other colleagues have said.
               I admire your decision, and from my perspective I think 
             it is the right one. Life is big. It is more than 
             politics. It is more than government.
               This is a big wonderful world in which we live. We live 
             in a magnificent country. There is a lot to savor.
               For example, when I have been in and out of public life 
             at different times and leaving the governorship, going 
             into the private sector was liberating. I found that my 
             focus had been narrow and that there were a great many 
             things about my personal life, about my family's life, 
             about my country's life, and about the private sector that 
             I could get involved in and found very interesting. Over 
             time I found I could come back to the public sector with a 
             new energy, a broader experience and a different 
             perspective.
               I don't know what the future may hold for you.
               I think it is wise to make such an enormous contribution 
             here, and at the peak of that, to step out and take that 
             to other places. For one, I hope the future will include, 
             in some way, a contribution in the public arena. But you 
             certainly deserve a chance to explore the private arena.
               It has been my privilege to know you and to serve with 
             you, and to know, once again, that Howard Baker was right 
             in 1981 when he said, ``Pay attention to Nickles.''

               Mr. KYL. Mr. President, obviously, in the brief time 
             here I am not going to be able to say everything that 
             comes to mind about the Senators who are retiring but to 
             summarize a little bit of the information for the benefit 
             of those who might be watching.
               When you have long, distinguished careers of Senators 
             and they decide not to run for reelection but leave the 
             body, there is a lot that comes to mind about their 
             service. I think it is good to remind ourselves of just a 
             few of these things because of the service they have 
             provided, both to the people of their own States and to 
             the United States.
               Starting, for example, with our colleague from Oklahoma, 
             Don Nickles, he served both in the leadership of the 
             Senate Republican Conference as well as chairman of the 
             Budget Committee. The last 2 years of his time, during his 
             chairmanship of that committee, he was deeply involved on 
             behalf of taxpayers in saving literally hundreds of 
             billions of dollars in taxpayer money that might otherwise 
             have been spent but for his hard work in ensuring that we 
             had the procedural mechanisms in place to object to excess 
             spending.
               Second, ensuring that taxpayers could keep more of their 
             money. Helping to get passed significant tax reform, 
             especially during the first term of President Bush, the 
             2001 and 2003 tax cuts in particular, coupled with the tax 
             cuts of this past year, has meant substantial savings for 
             all American taxpayers.
               The marginal rate reductions accelerated in 2003, and 
             the reduction in capital gains and dividend tax rates, 
             have been a substantial reason that the economy has moved 
             forward as quickly as it has.
               Senator Don Nickles was significantly involved in every 
             one of those, and his leadership in tax policy is going to 
             be sorely missed when he leaves the Senate.
               He got his start in Nickles Machinery back in Ponca 
             City, OK, and he understood early on the lessons of how 
             government involvement in business could make it much more 
             difficult to not only grow a business but to employ people 
             and to contribute to the economy. It is one of the 
             reasons, when his father passed away, that he began to 
             understand how the estate tax can act in a pernicious way 
             on American families when his business had to actually 
             sell off part of its equity in order to pay the estate 
             tax, to make it more difficult for them to stay in 
             business, to employ the people they did, and do the work 
             they did. He understood, therefore, from practical 
             experience why we needed to reform the Tax Code, and he 
             was instrumental in the reformation of the estate tax as 
             well with the spouses' deduction, which was largely his 
             work.
               There is so much more one could say about the efforts of 
             Senator Don Nickles. He is a great friend of all of us. In 
             addition to being very focused on getting the work done, 
             he always managed to do so with a smile on his face and a 
             slap on the back in a way that made it hard for people to 
             disagree with him even when they didn't particularly 
             follow his legislative agenda.
               Don Nickles will be very much missed in the Senate. He 
             leaves, even after 24 years, at such a young age that he 
             will be in Washington and around this country in a way to 
             continue to have interaction with us. We all cherish that 
             because of our friendship with Don Nickles.
               It is bittersweet that Don will be leaving the Senate, 
             but we know after his significant contributions to this 
             country he certainly deserves an opportunity to move on. * 
             * *
               These are only four of the colleagues who are going to 
             be leaving us at the end of this session. These are 
             Senators whom I became particularly close to. I wanted to 
             say a word about each one of them, to wish them all the 
             very best, bid them farewell, also to know they have too 
             many friends around here to ignore. And we are going to be 
             staying in touch with every one of them.
               We thank them for their service to the people of their 
             States, to the Senate, and to the people of the United 
             States of America.

               Mr. FITZGERALD. Our whips on the Republican side, Don 
             Nickles and Mitch McConnell--Don Nickles has done such a 
             good job for the taxpayers of this country. It has been an 
             absolute pleasure to watch him fighting excessive spending 
             and confiscatory taxation. I have been pleased to join him 
             over and over again to hold the line on spending and to 
             vote against tax increases and for tax relief, something 
             that I view as very important.
               I am retiring at the same time as Senator Nickles. I 
             will miss him greatly as part of this body, but I hope to 
             see him often in life outside of the Senate.

               Mr. LAUTENBERG. Mr. President, * * * I am going to yield 
             the floor, but I do want to talk about our other 
             colleagues who are retiring in a few minutes. There are a 
             lot of good people here on both sides of the aisle.
               We are going to miss all of our friends over here, but I 
             am going to miss Don Nickles. I have had a lot of fights 
             with him, but I know he always knew where he wanted to go. 
             I respected that.
               Peter Fitzgerald, newer among us, but a gentleman to be 
             noted, and Ben Nighthorse Campbell comes from a State I 
             love. I have two grandchildren there. He is a decent 
             fellow. We are going to miss all of them. I will talk 
             about them later.

               Mr. NELSON of Florida. Mr. President, while the Senate 
             is holding in abeyance for the final omnibus 
             appropriations bill that the House is getting ready to 
             file sometime tonight, I want to take the opportunity to 
             pay tribute to our retiring Senators: Tom Daschle, Fritz 
             Hollings, Don Nickles, John Breaux, Ben Nighthorse 
             Campbell, John Edwards, Peter Fitzgerald, Zell Miller, and 
             Bob Graham.
               I wish to make a speech about each one of these Senators 
             who has become a dear friend, in some cases, over the 
             years, such as Fritz and Peatsy Hollings, who took special 
             interest in me as I came to the Senate and made sure I got 
             on his Commerce Committee, which has been just an 
             extraordinary experience with him as chairman, as well as 
             with the present chairman, John McCain.
               Don Nickles, whom I have known over the 24 years he has 
             been in the Senate, for I was in the House at the time, 
             has been a regular in our Wednesday morning Senate prayer 
             breakfast. He is a good friend. * * *
               So for all of these names I have mentioned, in the great 
             poem ``Ulysses,'' he says, ``I am a part of all that I 
             have met,'' and I am a part of all these great Senators. I 
             am much richer for it and for having been their friend.

               Mr. LAUTENBERG. I talked before about Tom Daschle. I 
             also will discuss the rest of our colleagues who are 
             leaving the Senate.
               When the 109th Congress convenes in January, nine of our 
             current colleagues will not be here. I take a few moments 
             to pay tribute to them. Collectively, our colleagues have 
             served in the Senate for 144 years. We will miss them. * * 
             *
               Mr. President, I will talk about a couple of my friends 
             on the Republican side.
               I have had my differences with Don Nickles. We both have 
             served on the Budget Committee, and it is hard to believe 
             that he, at his tender age, has been here for 24 years. He 
             is still so youthful looking. As a matter of fact, the two 
             Senators from Oklahoma at one point in time did not equal 
             the age of one of the Senators from South Carolina. They 
             are both very young. But he was so young when he came here 
             in 1981. He was barely 32.
               On the subject of age, if I might digress, after 30 
             years of business I never dreamed I was going to be here 
             24 years, Lord willing. And for my friends on the 
             Republican side, don't count me out at the end of 24 
             years.
               I worked with Don Nickles for many years on the Budget 
             Committee. He has been a passionate, articulate spokesman 
             for conservative causes, but he has always been a good 
             opponent, a gracious opponent. The Senate is going to miss 
             his energy and his knowledge. * * *
               I close my remarks by noting that these men have made 
             remarkable contributions to our society, and all Americans 
             should be grateful. I would tell those who are retiring, I 
             retired 4 years ago, and I did not like it. So here I am. 
             Perhaps there is hope for any of them who want to rejoin. 
             If you want to come back, I am here to tell you it can be 
             done. Just make sure that you get to keep your seniority.
               Mr. President, I yield the floor and thank my colleagues 
             for their indulgence while I made my remarks.

               Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, let me say--this is probably 
             the first and only time I have ever said this--I have been 
             listening carefully to my friend from New Jersey, and I 
             agree with everything he said.
               I have had a chance to talk a little bit about some of 
             these people who are retiring, and at some length about 
             Senator Nickles, and I certainly appreciate the Senator's 
             remarks about him.

               Mr. DODD. Mr. President, I know the hour is getting late 
             and others want to be heard, but I briefly want to express 
             some thoughts about our colleagues who are leaving this 
             wonderful body. Today we have heard some very compelling 
             speeches, particularly the one given by my good friend, 
             Tom Daschle of South Dakota, our Democratic leader.
               I was pleased to see so many of our colleagues remain on 
             the floor to listen to the departing Democratic leader. 
             The words he expressed about his State, his staff, his 
             colleagues, his feelings about the country, and the 
             future, are instructive. I know it can sound repetitive 
             when people hear us talk about our colleagues this way, 
             but I think it is important for the public to note that 
             while they might hear only about the bickering, the part 
             that you do not often see is the deep respect, affection, 
             and caring that goes on among the Members of this body. 
             This affection comes despite the differences that exist in 
             red States and blue States, or being strongly conservative 
             or strongly liberal.
               There is this weaving of a common denominator through 
             each and every one of us, particularly after years of 
             common service in this remarkable institution we call the 
             Senate. There is a deep and abiding respect for those who 
             have come here, those who have served here, those who have 
             tried to make a difference for our country.
               It may seem like it is inside discussion, but I hope the 
             public understands how deeply felt these comments are 
             about colleagues who will no longer have the pleasure of 
             spending each and every day in this Chamber, but whose 
             friendship and collegiality will continue in the years 
             ahead as we encounter each other in different walks of 
             life. * * *
               Mr. President, Don Nickles and I arrived here on the 
             same day in January 1981. There were 16 Republicans and 2 
             Democrats. If you think we had a sweep one way or the 
             other a week or two ago, in 1981 there was truly a sweep. 
             There were 16 Republicans and 2 Democrats. The other 
             Democrat was Alan Dixon of Illinois, my good friend. Of 
             the 16 Republicans who were elected, there will now only 
             be 2 left in the 109th Congress. Today there are 3 of the 
             16 Republicans elected in 1980. Don Nickles is the third, 
             and he is leaving. I always say 50 percent of the 
             Democrats are still here after 24 years.
               It was an interesting class. Don Nickles certainly was a 
             remarkable public servant. Here he is after 24 years. I 
             think Don is barely over 50. He was one of the youngest 
             people ever elected to the Senate. He looks even younger. 
             I think he ran the marathon just a few weeks ago, and is 
             certainly in great health. He is truly a remarkable 
             person.
               We have disagreed on issues and have different points of 
             view on many questions facing our country. But there has 
             been no tougher, tenacious fighter for policies which he 
             holds so dear, particularly in budgetary matters.
               He has been a staunch supporter of lower taxes on 
             business, of free markets, of limited government 
             regulation. He is as tough a competitor as you are ever 
             going to find.
               I will tell you that when the battle is over--again, 
             this is my advice to the new Members coming in, if you 
             want a real role model to look to on how to serve--you 
             could have one of the most fierce debates in your life out 
             here on the floor with Don, but the minute that debate was 
             over, you wouldn't have a better friend when you walked 
             off the floor. He knew how to separate differences on 
             public policy and not have it contaminate personal 
             relationships.
               Again, the new Members arriving here, as you get 
             involved in debates, if you have disagreements with your 
             colleagues on matters, don't let it become personal. That 
             very colleague you are having the fight of your life with 
             today, tomorrow may be your most significant ally on 
             another issue. Don Nickles is a wonderful example of that 
             kind of stewardship in the Senate.
               So to Don, Linda, and their family and children, we wish 
             them the very best in the coming years. I am confident one 
             way or the other that Don Nickles is going to be directly 
             and deeply involved in the public debate and discourse in 
             our country in the coming years. * * *
               I apologize for taking this extra time. It is important 
             that the public hear Members talk about each other, even 
             those who disagreed on matters, that they understand why 
             this institution works more than 230 years after the 
             Founders created it.
               I, as a Senator from Connecticut, take unique pride in 
             the Senate because it was Roger Sherman and Oliver 
             Ellsworth, both of Connecticut, who offered at the 
             Constitutional Convention the idea of the Senate 
             representing small and large States. Arguing over a 
             unicameral system, Sherman and Ellsworth said, how about 
             having a second body with equal representation, regardless 
             of the size or the population of the State. As a result, 
             this institution was created. It has been a great place 
             that has served our Nation for so long and I am confident 
             it will in the future.
               We have been blessed by the participation of those who 
             are leaving. All of us wish each and every one of them the 
             very best in the years to come.

               Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the year was 1980. 
             Inflation was 13 percent, mortgage rates were hitting 15 
             percent, unemployment was 7.1 percent, and the economy was 
             suffering its 4th year of recession in 10 years.
               The Soviet Union was on the march in Afghanistan, its 
             puppets were leading insurgents in Central America and 
             South Africa, and U.S. Embassy officials were being held 
             as hostages in Iran.
               ``Stagflation'' and ``malaise'' were the new words of 
             the American lexicon.
               Then the Reagan revolution swept across this Nation and 
             into this town. And while Ronald Reagan was the leader, he 
             was not alone. Across this broad Nation, ordinary people 
             came to this city with similar vision and they helped 
             President Reagan accomplish extraordinary things.
               One of these ordinary people was a young businessman 
             from Ponca City, OK. At the tender age of 31, Don Nickles 
             was the youngest Republican ever elected to the U.S. 
             Senate.
               But while he might have been young, it didn't take long 
             for the Senate to discover that this young man--a former 
             janitor who worked his way through college--was wise 
             beyond his years and as solid as the Rock of Gibraltar.
               Freedom has had no greater defender than Don Nickles. He 
             has been a strong proponent of the free enterprise system. 
             On budget, tax, debt matters--in fact on almost every 
             conceivable question of fiscal policy, Don Nickles was 
             dead on target.
               He was absolutely committed to the bedrock Republican 
             principles of cutting taxes, reducing the size of the 
             government, and slaying the budget deficit leviathan.
               And to these seemingly insurmountable goals, he brought 
             a relentless yet cheerful determination.
               He has served this Nation and the people of Oklahoma so 
             very well, with distinction and unwavering courage.
               Too often, public servants come to Washington to drain 
             the swamp until they see it as a hot tub. Not Don Nickles. 
             He changed Washington rather than letting Washington 
             change him.
               When he came to the Senate, he wanted to rein in 
             government so people could keep their hard-earned dollars, 
             and when he leaves now, his belief is the same today as it 
             was when he placed his hand on the Bible.
               That is the way it was then and now, and every day of 
             his almost quarter of a century of Senate service. And he 
             still looks like he is 31.
               Back then, he fought to eliminate the inheritance tax on 
             spouses and now he works to eliminate the inheritance tax 
             altogether.
               Back then he fought natural gas price controls which 
             contributed to our energy crisis and now he fights price 
             controls on prescription drugs.
               Back then he fought the windfall profits tax and now he 
             fights to ease the tax on profits and wages of businesses 
             and families alike.
               Mr. President, there isn't a Member of this body who 
             doesn't respect Don Nickles as a man of strong conviction, 
             character, and deep faith.
               I think there is good reason why he is seen that way. 
             When the Founding Fathers designed the Senate to be one of 
             the central pillars of American democracy, I think Don 
             Nickles is exactly the sort of citizen legislator they 
             envisioned.
               He has been a strong but happy warrior, and used the 
             rules of this body to bring honor to the Senate and good 
             service to our country. He loves the Senate and it showed 
             every time he spoke. And we grew to love him in that 
             process.
               Through it all, he has never forgotten where he came 
             from, or the people who put him here 24 years ago, or 
             those who supported him, especially his wonderful wife 
             Linda and his four children.
               He will be remembered as the ``keeper of the 
             conservative flame,'' and like Ronald Reagan, should enjoy 
             the legacy of freedom and economic prosperity he has 
             created for all Americans in the years to come.

               Mr. COCHRAN. Mr. President, the decision of the 
             distinguished Senator from Oklahoma, Mr. Nickles, to 
             retire from the Senate will deprive this body of one of 
             our most trusted and insightful leaders. I will miss very 
             much the pleasure of serving with such an honest, 
             forthright, and diligent colleague.
               He brought to the Senate the valuable experience of 
             running a family business which was translated through the 
             use of his legislative skills into public policies that 
             strengthened our economy by improving our tax and labor 
             relations laws.
               As chairman of the Budget Committee he was successful in 
             his efforts to curb unnecessary spending. He was 
             fairminded in his dealings with Senators on both sides of 
             the aisle.
               He was a true friend to me in the Senate and a great 
             help as a coach on the golf course. I wish him and his 
             wife, Linda, much happiness and success in the years 
             ahead.

               Mr. SMITH. Mr. President, I am reminded of the words of 
             Will Rogers, that great Oklahoman whose statue is a few 
             steps removed from the old Senate Chamber, who once said, 
             ``The income tax system is the only thing that has made a 
             liar out of more of the American people than golf has.''
               Coincidentally, the tax system and golf are passions of 
             another great Oklahoman whom I am proud to honor at the 
             end of this Congress--our friend and colleague Don 
             Nickles.
               Don has accomplished a great deal during his 24 years in 
             the Senate. Chief among them is the fact that he somehow 
             has managed to look almost exactly like he did when he 
             first entered the Senate at the ripe old age of 32 in 
             1981.
               But the accomplishment of Don that I admire the most is 
             the remarkable record of success he has achieved in 
             putting more money in the pockets of America's families by 
             reducing their taxes and by restoring some fairness to the 
             system.
               To paraphrase Will Rogers, Don never met a tax he liked. 
             And from reducing and then repealing the death tax to 
             equalizing the tax system for the self-employed to being 
             the guiding force behind the child tax credit, lowering 
             the capital gains tax, and reducing tax rates for all 
             Americans, no Senator has done more in the past 20 years 
             to earn the enduring respect of our hard-working taxpayers 
             than Don Nickles.
               Don will be greatly missed as a legislator, but he will 
             also be greatly missed as a friend. I have long believed 
             that you can learn a lot about someone by playing golf 
             with them, and I've been privileged during my 8 years in 
             the Senate to play a little bit of golf with Don.
               And it should come as no surprise that his actions on 
             the golf course are very much like his actions in the 
             Senate.
               He is good, very good, at both.
               And yes, there are times on the golf course like here in 
             the Senate where he can be found on the right, the far 
             right, but for the most part he plays it straight down the 
             middle.
               It is on the golf course where Don and I became more 
             than colleagues, we became friends. And I know I am not 
             alone in saying that I will miss Don's friendship, and the 
             friendship of his wife Linda, on a day-to-day basis. When 
             tragedy befell my family last year, Don was at my house 
             within the hour. Don and Linda have been incredibly kind 
             and supportive to Sharon and me.
               Don, as a taxpayer I thank you for your service, as a 
             golfer I thank you for more good memories than I can 
             count, and as a friend, I thank you for being there when I 
             needed you most.
               I know your contributions to your State and your country 
             are far from complete, and all your colleagues join with 
             me in wishing you and Linda Godspeed as you begin this new 
             chapter in your life.
                                            Saturday, November 20, 2004
               Mr. ALLARD. Madam President, I take a moment to talk 
             about four colleagues whom I have had an opportunity to 
             serve with in the Senate. * * *
               Madam President, I also want to take a moment to talk 
             about another colleague, Don Nickles, who has had a long 
             and distinguished career as we move into the waning days 
             of the 108th Congress.
               He brought to this Congress a perspective from the 
             private sector. I am a small businessman. I grew up in the 
             private sector. In my view, too few of us have had to meet 
             the challenges and meet a payroll. I think it affects how 
             you view rules and regulations and taxes.
               Senator Nickles from Oklahoma became a strong advocate 
             of small business issues and worked hard to hold down the 
             tax burden and regulatory burden.
               I had an opportunity to serve with him when he was 
             chairman of the Budget Committee, and I very much 
             appreciated his leadership on that committee.
               I also appreciated the opportunity to be able to work 
             with him in holding down and actually eliminating the 
             death tax which has such devastating effects on small 
             business.
               During his many years here in the Congress, he has been 
             an individual who maintained integrity in the process.
               I view these four individuals as four individuals who 
             have distinguished themselves in my mind and whom I have 
             appreciated having the opportunity to serve with in the 
             Senate and whom I hold in great esteem. I wish them the 
             very best as they pursue life's journey, having served in 
             a distinguished way in the Senate. I wish them the very 
             best and Godspeed.

               Mrs. HUTCHISON. Madam President, I rise to say goodbye 
             to several of my colleagues, dear friends with whom I have 
             had the pleasure to work in the Senate.
               I start with Senator Don Nickles. We say goodbye to Don 
             Nickles of Oklahoma who leaves after spending 24 years in 
             the Senate, but not spending much else. As chairman of the 
             Budget Committee, his philosophy of smaller government and 
             fiscal prudence often reminded this Chamber of our duty to 
             be good stewards of the taxpayer dollars. Don did not back 
             down but always held his ground, demonstrating his 
             perseverance and conviction.
               He was first chosen by his colleagues for a leadership 
             position in 1988 as the chairman of the National 
             Republican Senatorial Committee. He was next elected to 
             the first of three terms as chairman of the Republican 
             Policy Committee, and in 1996, 1998, and 2000, he was 
             elected unanimously to be assistant Republican leader.
               He was the principal sponsor of the 2003 economic growth 
             package which cut the tax on dividends, reduced the 
             capital gains rate, raised the child tax credit to $1,000 
             per child, and reduced the marriage penalty. My friend 
             also led efforts to reform the Internal Revenue Service. 
             He helped enact the Nation's first balanced budget in 
             three decades and passed laws to make Members of Congress 
             accountable to the same laws as everyone else.
               On a personal note, he worked with me on the marriage 
             penalty. I could not have passed my bill to reduce the 
             marriage penalty on married couples in our country without 
             Don Nickles's strong backing and leadership.
               I will never forget the first time I met Don. It was at 
             the Republican National Convention in Dallas, TX. Don was 
             a young man and he had just been elected to the Senate, 
             and everyone was referring to him as Senator. I assumed, 
             because he was so young, that he must be a State senator. 
             As I left, I said to him, you must have a long and great 
             career ahead of you. I am sure you will run for higher 
             office some day, thinking he was a State senator. But, in 
             fact, he was a U.S. Senator already and was the youngest 
             Member at the time.
               He is the gold standard for principled conservatives who 
             stand tall for their beliefs and work hard for their 
             constituents.
               As a Texan I may say there are times I am not fond of 
             certain Oklahoma college football teams. I have always 
             been proud of Oklahoma's Don Nickles and honored to call 
             him a neighbor. * * *
               Madam President, I will miss all of my colleagues. As we 
             take the opportunity to go forward in a new Congress, we 
             will make new friends, but we will never forget the old 
             ones.

               Mr. ALLEN. Mr. President, I want to share my views, as 
             did Senator Hutchison and others, about our colleagues who 
             are leaving for new adventures in life.
               I wish all the best to Senator Hollings. We will miss 
             his booming voice. We will miss Senator Edwards, Senator 
             Graham of Florida, and Senator Daschle. We will also miss 
             John Breaux, a man we know will enjoy life with his good 
             common sense and sense of humor. He is a good friend.
               I want to speak about four others, though. * * *
               Don Nickles--Gosh, what a smart, principled leader. He 
             will be missed. He is a taxpayer's hero. Last night, my 
             wife and I enjoyed the Allen Jackson concert in DC. And 
             that makes me think of country music. Don Nickles is one 
             of the reasons God made Oklahoma. We will miss Don 
             Nickles.

               Mr. REID. Don Nickles and I have done some things 
             together in the Senate that I will always remember. There 
             are laws on the statute books of this country. One of the 
             things we did, and people said we could not do, resulted 
             because we were concerned about regulations and how 
             burdensome and overbearing they can become. So we 
             introduced legislation that basically said if the 
             administration promulgates a regulation that we do not 
             think helps the country, then we can overturn that 
             regulation. That is the law.
               We have overturned regulations that have been burdensome 
             to this country. I have not always liked the result of the 
             legislation that has been overturned, but it is my law 
             along with Senator Nickles's. He is a great legislator.
               We worked together on the Appropriations Subcommittee on 
             Legislative Branch. We really did some things that have 
             changed what goes on. We have changed things a great deal, 
             such as how Members of the House and Senate do their 
             franking. We changed that.
               Senator Nickles and I were the first to talk about how 
             bad the East Front of the Capitol looked, and we did a 
             number of things. We got the automobiles removed from the 
             East Front of the Capitol. This was what first got me 
             interested in doing something about having a visitor 
             center on the East Front of the Capitol, which is now in 
             the process of being completed.
               I have so much respect for Senator Nickles. He and I 
             have a different political philosophy, no question about 
             that, but I think the work we have done together sets an 
             example of how Democrats and Republicans of totally 
             different political philosophy can work together for the 
             betterment of this country.
               Don Nickles is a good man. He is a young man. He has a 
             great future in the private sector. I personally will miss 
             him a lot. I care a great deal about Don Nickles and wish 
             him the very best.

               Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute 
             to departing Senators for their service and devotion to 
             the U.S. Senate. They are not only my colleagues but my 
             friends.
               The reality of elections for the Senate is that every 2 
             years we experience change--current Members depart and new 
             Members are welcomed. At every transition I am reminded by 
             the reality that life is more than just politics. I am 
             certain the departing Senators are experiencing a 
             tremendous feeling of sorrow, yet anticipation of things 
             to come, as they leave their friends, colleagues, and this 
             great nurturing institution.
               Though we may fight hard during campaigns, we return to 
             the Senate after the election to realize that we are not 
             just losing Senators--we are losing friends. There is a 
             bond--a collegiality and friendship in the Senate that 
             crosses party lines. We face long hard battles on the 
             campaign trail and sometimes things can get ugly. But 
             after all is said and done, after election day, we must 
             all come back to Washington and work together to do what 
             is best for our country.
               I will certainly miss my colleagues with whom I have 
             worked for several years. I have had the honor to serve on 
             the Finance Committee with four of my distinguished 
             retiring colleagues, including Senator John Breaux and 
             Senator Don Nickles. Both of these men were instrumental 
             in leading the fight to reform Medicare.
               Senator Don Nickles has been a valuable comrade in 
             protecting intellectual property rights of pharmaceutical 
             companies and reforming health care, specifically working 
             hard to pass the Patients' Bill of Rights. He also 
             sponsored commendable legislation to create the Office of 
             International Religious Freedom at the Department of 
             State, which I co-sponsored. Senator Nickles as whip and 
             chairman of the Budget Committee has done more to advocate 
             fiscal conservatism than any other Senator during my 
             tenure. He has true expertise in these issues, and I thank 
             him for his guidance and leadership.
               More important, Senator Nickles befriended me when I 
             first came to the Senate and encouraged me to get involved 
             in the National Prayer Breakfast and the Senate bible 
             study. If it were not for his friendship, my time in the 
             Senate would have been drastically different.
               Our departing Senators have been lights of inspiration 
             and men who went above the call of duty to serve our 
             country in their congressional capacities. They each have 
             their own unique political perspective that has served the 
             Senate well. Although my philosophies may differ from some 
             Senators, we do not disagree on the greatness of America. 
             We can all agree that we live in the greatest nation in 
             the world, and we all believe that without democracy, 
             life, liberty, and justice cannot flourish.
               My departing colleagues are great men and great 
             Americans. They have contributed immensely to our 
             country--making their States and our country significantly 
             better than when they first stepped foot on the Senate 
             floor.
               We are all going to miss their presence and wisdom here 
             in the Senate. Their departures will surely leave a hole 
             in expertise and leadership that will be hard to fill. I 
             wish them health and happiness in their future endeavors--
             wherever the road may take them. May God continue to bless 
             them and their families.
               Come January, as we face another transition, I welcome 
             in the new Members and look forward to forging new 
             relationships as we continue to work toward making 
             Americans safer, healthier, and more financially secure.

               Mr. HATCH. Mr. President, I rise today to express my 
             sincere gratitude for having had the opportunity to serve 
             with Senator Don Nickles, and to wish him the very best as 
             he retires from the Senate.
               A lot of descriptive words come to my mind when I think 
             of Don Nickles. Among the most prominent are courageous, 
             knowledgeable, and engaging. All three of these, as well 
             as many other of Don Nickles's qualities, will be sorely 
             missed in the U.S. Senate.
               I can think of no other Member of the Senate who has 
             been a more rock solid beacon for conservatism than Don 
             Nickles. His is the kind of courage that leads him to 
             speak up alone against the whole world, if necessary, for 
             what he believes. No matter what the issue or whether it 
             is brought up on the floor of the Senate, in one of his 
             committees, or in some other forum, Don Nickles is willing 
             to speak up in his earnest yet friendly manner to ask 
             questions, raise concerns, and stand up for conservative 
             principles. Senator Nickles has been one of the most 
             articulate Senators I have seen in my 28 years of service 
             in the Senate. His voice, in defense for what he and many 
             of us believe to be right, will be noticeably absent in 
             the months and years to come.
               Senator Nickles is also one of the most knowledgeable 
             Members of this body. I have long been impressed with his 
             grasp of minute details of economic, tax, and budget 
             issues. His major committee assignments, Budget, Finance, 
             and Energy, all cover complex issues that can take a huge 
             amount of effort to master. Yet Don clearly does his 
             homework and seems totally at ease in discussing details 
             of the budget or a comprehensive tax bill. As chairman of 
             the Budget Committee, Senator Nickles has served with 
             distinction. With all the challenges facing the budget in 
             the recent past, Don has presided over that committee in 
             particularly trying times. Yet he has exhibited patience 
             and perseverance in the midst of a number of very 
             difficult problems. Every citizen of this country owes him 
             a debt of gratitude for his service on our behalf.
               Don Nickles is also one of the most engaging individuals 
             I have had the privilege of knowing. His quick smile and 
             friendliness to not only other Senators, but also to 
             Senate staff and to everyone he meets marks him as a 
             genuinely fine individual. I know Don has a deep faith in 
             God and strives to do his best to live according to his 
             convictions.
               As Senator Nickles moves on toward the next stage in his 
             impressive career, I wish him the very best and hope that 
             we have the opportunity to see him regularly and to have 
             the benefit of his wisdom and knowledge for many years to 
             come.

               Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, Don Nickles first came to 
             the Senate in 1980 as a young man of 31 with a vision. He 
             now leaves us, 24 years later, with a record we all can 
             envy and a reputation we all should emulate. There are a 
             lot of words that can be used to describe this man. 
             Perhaps these five describe him best: ``As good as his 
             word.''
               In his eloquent eulogy to Ronald Reagan this summer, Don 
             said that those who came to Washington after the watershed 
             election of 1980, ``considered ourselves part of the 
             soldiers in the field trying to get an agenda done to 
             expand freedom.''
               There is no more noble an agenda than the expansion of 
             freedom, and he has been a devoted soldier to that cause. 
             He has been a strong advocate for our Armed Forces, 
             dedicated to the defense of our Nation and to the 
             expansion of liberty around the world.
               He has been equally devoted to the freedom that comes 
             from responsible, less intrusive and more accountable 
             government. He is a champion of effective economic-growth 
             policies, and of tax reform that encourages investment and 
             helps build strong families and communities. Don Nickles 
             has always been on the side of the American people. His 
             tenure as chairman of the Budget Committee will long be 
             held up as a model of effective leadership, a cooperative 
             spirit wedded to rock-solid principles.
               Don comes from a small State and from a background in 
             small business. That we have not always agreed on every 
             issue is insignificant. What does matter is the values we 
             share and the friendship that is the result.
               Don is much more than just an especially effective 
             legislator and a very good friend. When Oklahoma City was 
             struck by a heinous act of terrorism in 1995, he was there 
             for the people of his State, offering comfort and support. 
             The rebuilding, both material and spiritual, would not 
             have been so quickly and thoroughly accomplished without 
             the strength of Don Nickles.
               He came here as a young man and, despite the passage of 
             24 years, leaves as a young man. And, I might add, as a 
             pretty fast man. In the New York Marathon last weekend, 
             Oklahoma's senior Senator finished in the top half of a 
             field of more than 36,000 runners. If there was a caucus 
             for Senators able to run more than 26 miles in less than 
             4\1/2\ hours, I believe it would be the smallest in the 
             history of the republic.
               Thank you, Senator Don Nickles, for your service to this 
             institution and to this country. Whatever path the future 
             sets before you, I know you will be at the front of the 
             pack.

               Mrs. DOLE. Mr. President, it is an honor to pay tribute 
             to a good friend and colleague who has had such a stellar 
             and effective career in the U.S. Senate. I am so proud to 
             have worked alongside a man of such character and 
             knowledge, and I am certain that I speak for all my 
             colleagues when I say his leadership in Congress will be 
             sorely missed.
               Don Nickles's career is the classic American success 
             story. After working his way through Oklahoma State 
             University by starting a janitorial service, he was 
             elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980 at the age of 31. While 
             serving in Congress, his peers have consistently shown 
             their confidence in his abilities, electing him to several 
             leadership posts including senatorial committee chair, 
             chairman of the Republican Policy Committee, assistant 
             majority leader and Budget Committee chairman.
               The day after Don announced he would not seek a fifth 
             U.S. Senate term, the Oklahoma City Daily Oklahoman stated 
             that his retirement ``will leave Oklahoma without its most 
             powerful Washington advocate.'' How true that is. Over his 
             two-decades-long career, the good that Don has done for 
             his constituency is immeasurable.
               As a Senator, Don has amassed a tremendous record as an 
             advocate for taxpayers. When our economy was in need of 
             recovery because of a recession compounded by the events 
             of September 11, Don was a leader in pushing the economic 
             growth and tax relief package through Congress. Thanks to 
             his efforts, today our economy is on the upswing with jobs 
             being added, homes being built and small businesses 
             expanding. Don gets great credit for his role in making 
             that happen.
               I will always remember Don coming down to eastern North 
             Carolina to campaign with me at a tobacco warehouse. Asked 
             to speak on stage in favor of the tobacco quota buyout, 
             which of course he did not support, he graciously spoke 
             about how hard I would work to get this done for the 
             State. Don demonstrated his character that day, as he did 
             on so many other days during his many outstanding years as 
             a servant of the public.
               Don has always used the power of his office for good. I 
             admire the way that he has stood for what he believes, no 
             matter the challenge. He has brilliantly served the people 
             of Oklahoma and all Americans with courage and conviction, 
             a stellar example for those who follow in his footsteps. 
             May God bless Senator Don Nickles and his family for many 
             years to come.

               Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, I rise to join my colleagues 
             today in paying tribute to a man whom, in the President's 
             words, ``has left his mark on virtually every major 
             issue'' during his service in this body, the senior 
             Senator from Oklahoma, the Budget Committee chairman, our 
             colleague Don Nickles.
               For more than two decades, Senator Nickles has served 
             the people of Oklahoma and America with strength of 
             conviction, wisdom, and hard work, every day. I have had 
             the good fortune of serving with the Senator from Oklahoma 
             for a decade, particularly closely on the Budget and 
             Finance Committees, and for 6 years as his counsel while 
             he was majority whip. I have gotten to know well Senator 
             Nickles's passion and insight, his firm understanding of 
             policy matched with ability to plainly articulate it, and 
             his generous sense of humor and warm personality that have 
             made him a colleague no one will soon forget.
               Oklahoma sent Don Nickles to the Senate in the year of 
             the Reagan revolution--1980. In many ways--and I know the 
             Senator has said so himself--his start in public service 
             was molded and defined by President Reagan's inspiring 
             vision and love of freedom. Our new 69-year-old President 
             projected a contagious, even youthful optimism. So did the 
             new Senator from Oklahoma, but in Don Nickles's case, it 
             was the optimism of youth. At 31, he was the youngest 
             Republican elected to this Chamber in American history.
               Senator Nickles's contributions shepherding the Reagan 
             agenda through Congress were immediate and his rise was 
             meteoric. After 6 years he had served as NRSC chairman and 
             was at the helm of the Republican Policy Council.
               I must say that as chair of the Small Business 
             Committee, I think it is an invaluable asset to the Senate 
             to have a colleague such as Senator Nickles who has been 
             there on the front lines of job creation as an 
             entrepreneur--starting his own janitorial service to work 
             his way through Oklahoma State. Before Senator Nickles 
             came to Washington, he was a small businessman from Ponca 
             City, OK. He was already allergic to needless redtape and 
             gridlock. So when Senator Nickles sees a problem, he sets 
             out to solve it--guided by his deeply held principles and 
             informed by a firm grasp of the legislative process.
               Like the leader he counts as his mentor, President 
             Reagan, the Senator from Oklahoma brings to public life 
             his firmly rooted beliefs, a can-do Heartland optimism, 
             and that rare ability to disagree without being 
             disagreeable. Senator Nickles is a colleague I will miss, 
             and I wish him, his wife Linda, and his family much 
             happiness in the new endeavors that lie ahead.
               I am pleased to join my colleagues in thanking and 
             honoring Senator Nickles for over two decades of 
             distinguished service to the country he loves and the 
             State he has made proud.

               Mr. DASCHLE. Today, I would like to say a few words 
             about eight Senators with whom I have served these last 
             historic 6 years, all of whom will be leaving when this 
             Congress ends.
               Senator Nickles, Senator Campbell, Senator Fitzgerald, 
             and Senator Miller, it has been a privilege to work with 
             each of you. You have each sacrificed much to serve our 
             Nation and I am sure you will continue to serve America 
             well in the years to come. * * *
               I have to be honest, Mr. President, it was not my wish 
             to depart with these fine Senators. But it has been my 
             honor and a joy to serve with them, and one that I will 
             remember all the days of my life.

               Mr. McCONNELL. We cannot conclude the 108th Congress 
             without a sense of sadness. There are many--in fact there 
             are too many--great Senators who are leaving this 
             institution. I have already had an opportunity to express 
             my goodbyes to Senator Nickles, Senator Campbell, and 
             Senator Fitzgerald.
               I also wish a happy and healthy future to our colleagues 
             across the aisle, Senator Daschle, Senator Breaux, Senator 
             Hollings, Senator Bob Graham, Senator John Edwards, and 
             Senator Zell Miller. Each of these men has made a lasting 
             contribution to this marvelous institution.

               Mr. STEVENS. Mr. President, I have served here long 
             enough now that I have witnessed a lot of the comings and 
             goings of many fine public servants whom I have known on 
             the floor of the Senate.
               Today, I would like to comment about those who are 
             leaving us. * * *
               Mr. President, another Senator who is leaving us is 
             Senator Don Nickles. Senator Nickles is a man I first met 
             when I was traveling through Oklahoma with my friend, 
             Senator Bellmon, who served here as a Senator and as 
             Governor of his State.
               Senator Nickles, obviously, is a man of great 
             capability, too. As a matter of fact, he is the first 
             Oklahoma Republican Senator to be elected for four terms. 
             He has had a commitment to his constituents and to his 
             colleagues. He, as I, served as assistant Republican 
             leader. That is the highest leadership position ever held 
             by a Member of the Senate from Oklahoma.
               I particularly remember his role as chairman of the 
             Budget Committee and his role in the Finance Committee 
             because no one has been more strenuous in expressing his 
             views concerning the level of spending in the United 
             States and the necessity to have firm budget control over 
             the processes of the Senate, particularly the 
             appropriations process where I have served a great many 
             years.
               I do believe his commitment to making Federal Government 
             more responsible and less intrusive, his commitment to the 
             basic Republican principles that government nearest the 
             people is best, has been demonstrated by his service in 
             the Senate. We are going to have a tough time without his 
             guidance. He, I am sure, will be somewhere near us--at 
             least that is indicated.
               But having met him even before he ran for the Senate, I 
             felt really a great warmth of friendship for him because I 
             know how hard he worked to become a Member of the Senate, 
             and I know his commitment, having left his business and 
             coming here to make a new life.
               Linda and their four children have been known to all of 
             us in one way or the other. I think he has a wonderful 
             family, a wonderful wife, and we wish them well.

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