"In 2000, he offended a Billings woman when he pointed to her nose ring and asked her what tribe she was from."

“Burns is "an accident that happens again and again and again.”

“The Helena Independent Record, noted that "The senator has drawn attention previously for his choice of words.”

“On February 17, 1999, while at a meeting of the Montana Implement Dealers Association in Billings, Montana, Burns referred to Arabs as "ragheads.”

“Burns stated that "We've got to remember that the people who first hit us in 9/11 entered this country through Canada.”

“In 1994, Burns told the editorial board of the Bozeman Chronicle that when asked by a constituent, "How can you live back there in Washington, DC with all those niggers?" he replied, " a hell of a challenge." When he was asked about the use of the racial slur, he said: "I don't know. I never gave it much thought.”