Mr. President, I have a series of amendments that will, I believe, give some direct relief and support to individuals and businesses that are struggling with the disaster that is going on in the gulf area, as the Presiding Officer and…

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: (Purpose: To provide authority to the Secretary of the Interior to…

Mr. President, this is another I think smart action this Congress could take to help the gulf coast and particularly the State of Louisiana. Before the Presiding Officer got to the Senate, in one of our last energy bills we were able to…

This amendment will cost $19 million, but in some ways it is simply advancing what the President already has in his budget for these very important projects. President Obama should get a tremendous amount of credit for being the first…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment is as follows: (Purpose: To establish a program, and to make available funds…

Mr. President, this is an amendment that will provide some additional funding for technical assistance grants--disaster assistance--for the gulf coast. The President had a fairly robust package represented in this bill--I think $118…

Mr. President, I know my good friend Bob Casey is here to speak, so I will be just a few more minutes. This is on a separate subject, but one that is very important. We have several disasters going on in this country and around the world…

Mr. President, this is a very important amendment, and it is something that our delegation has actually been working on for quite some time, and we have actually passed it before in the Senate, which is a happy circumstance. This language…

I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment, as modified, is as follows: (Purpose: To require the Secretary of the Army to maximize…

I ask unanimous consent that my amendment No. 4184 be modified with the changes at the desk. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: The…

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: (Purpose: To allow the Administrator of the Small Business Administration…

Mr. President, this amendment is another tool we can use to give help to these businesses along the gulf coast. It would actually set up a relatively new procedure but based on past action. This procedure would allow the SBA, in giving out…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. (Purpose: To require the Secretary of the Army to use certain funds for the construction of…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Amendment No. 4179

Mr. President, 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: (Purpose: To defer payments of principal and interest on…

Madam President, reclaiming my time, I am obviously disappointed. I think we are seeing that maybe there is a difference when your State is in the nexus of this and your State is under attack from this oil. I want to fix a problem, not…

These people are crying. They're begging for something down here. And it just looks like he's not involved in this. Man, you've got down here and take control of this thing and put somebody in charge of this thing and get this thing moving.

I don't think so, no, sir. There's -- there's -- it's inexplicable that this man, as smart as he is, as talented as he is, would have the real word and saw what we saw today, and not be furious and not tell people to get into action now.