I am here to join my colleague Senator Warren to also express my frustration about what is happening with the nominees to these critical agencies that are being held up by our colleagues on the other side of the aisle. As Senator Warren…

Thank you, Connie. Now, Pete wrote this talk, and so I want to ad lib a little bit and say that, well, first of all, because it mentions my book, and I didn't put that in there. But I had the opportunity very recently to give a speech at…

Mr. President, I want to, first of all, commend the Senator from Utah for his comments. We all know the Senator from Utah, like myself, has a real interest in making sure our government is more efficient and more effective in its…

Reserving the right to object, simply as someone who has spent an awful lot of time on this issue, both sides need to be willing to comprise. We need to deal with both the revenue side of this challenge as well as the entitlement reforms…

Madam President, I simply want to again take a moment here, 52 days after we spent until 5 o'clock in the morning debating a budget--the budget that had over 100 amendments offered, a budget that had amendments from both sides offered and…

Madam President, I rise to make a few brief remarks. I will leave most of those remarks until after I make another request for unanimous consent. I think I know where this unanimous consent request is headed. I am disappointed. I think we…

Mr. President, I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California. Amendment No. 868

Mr. President, the Senator is absolutely right. I wish to thank him for emphasizing that point. It is very important. Again, that is why I encourage any of our colleagues to discuss this issue with us if they have any concerns whatsoever…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Without objection, the clerk will report the Hoeven amendment. The assistant bill clerk…

I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment is as follows: Amendment No. 909 (Purpose: To restrict charges for certain surplus…

Mr. President, with that, I wish to set aside the pending amendment and call up the Hoeven amendment No. 909. I wish to close with a couple other thoughts. Senator Baucus from Montana wanted to join with us in the colloquy, but the…

Mr. President, I wish to thank my colleague from South Dakota and turn to my colleague from North Dakota for any final thoughts before we yield the floor.

I wish to thank again my colleague for her comments in regard to the legal aspect; again, she brings a lot of direct experience working with this issue. So I thank her for her comments with regard to the legal aspect, but she makes another…

I thank the Senator from South Dakota for joining, and he is absolutely right. The cost to the States is significant. In actuality, the scoring number is reduced because the probability of them getting it is so remote. As I mentioned…

Mr. President, in response to the Senator's question, absolutely not. It doesn't change any of the authorized purposes for the reservoirs and for the system. This does not impact in any way any of the authorized uses for the mainstem dams…

I thank the distinguished Senator from South Dakota for joining me, and for his question. Of course, he is anticipating exactly what would happen. The States will initiate litigation against the corps if in fact the corps decides to impose…

Mr. President, I rise to speak on legislation in regard to surplus water fees. I call it the States Water Rights Act, the States water rights legislation, and I introduced this legislation as an amendment to the Water Resources Development…

Madam President, I rise today to talk about the continuing efforts by a minority of this body to block a Federal budget by blocking a conference with the House to find compromise. I spoke about this one week ago, but the stalemate…