Clarence William Nelson

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“[With] a need so great as unemployed veterans, this is not the time to draw a technical line on the budget," said Sen. Bill Nelson, Florida Democrat. (Associated Press)

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ASSOCIATED PRESS Interior Secretary Kenneth L. Salazar (right) is accompanied by (from far left) Sen. Bill Nelson, National Park Ranger Supervisor Al Mercado and Ron Bergeron of the Fish and Wildlife Service showing off a 13-foot python from the Everglades.

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Sen. Bill Nelson, Florida Democrat, speaks Friday in front of a painting by a Haitian artist at a Miami middle school about reconstruction in Haiti since a January 2010 earthquake there. Mr. Nelson is seeking a third Senate term this fall. (Associated Press)

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From left: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, Kentucky Republican; Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, Texas Republican; former astronaut Sen. Bill Nelson, Florida Democrat; and astronauts John Glenn and Buzz Aldrin stand under a statue of Abraham Lincoln on Nov. 16, 2011, during the invocation of a Congressional Gold Medal ceremony at the Capitol building in Washington. (T.J. Kirkpatrick/The Washington Times)