Mr. Speaker, this morning's announcement of the unemployment rate proves again the President's economic policies are failing American families. The unemployment rate has increased to a tragic 9.2 percent. The out- of-control borrowing and…

Mr. Speaker, the President says he supports nuclear power development, but his actions have sadly stopped construction at Yucca Mountain after more than $10 billion of ratepayer money has already been invested, killing jobs in Nevada…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the following: Sec. __. The total amount of appropriations made…

Mr. Chairman, I demand a recorded vote. The Acting CHAIR. Pursuant to clause 6 of rule XVIII, further proceedings on the amendment offered by the gentleman from South Carolina will be postponed. Amendment No. 71 Offered by Ms. Bass of…

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. By way of brief summary, this amendment would freeze the base Department of Defense funding at 2011 levels. It is roughly a $17 billion reduction, or a 3 percent reduction over the bill that's currently before us…

Just for clarification, the amendment only makes the change to the base spending. It does not change anything in title 9. It does not change overseas contingencies in any way. It is simply the base portion of the DOD budget. Thank you for…

In July of last year, we had the first IED explode in this hemisphere just south of the Mexican border.

I realize that the tunnels are mainly used for smuggling drugs. That is the most profitable thing.

Mr. Speaker, the University of the South Carolina men's baseball team ended the College World Series this season just as they did last year: The Gamecocks are national champions again, back-to-back victories, by beating the Florida Gators…

Well, I thank the Senator. I will give my thoughts as briefly as I can. My first thought is that we live in incredibly dangerous times--exciting and dangerous. What is the Arab spring about? What are people asking for in Libya? They are…

If I could try to answer the hostility question. When we are using Predator drones to bring down military targets, that, to me, is an acceptable situation in Libya. I do not want ground troops in Libya. The people in Libya do not want a…

If I may, we have our good colleague, a Naval intelligence officer, Senator Kirk from Illinois, and we will certainly yield to him now. But one last thought. America needs to do two things quickly: We need to get our fiscal house in order…

So let it be said that the policy going forward is that in July 2011 somebody in Afghanistan, even if it's just one guy, somebody's coming home, right?

I think our American military will be studying the Petraeus tactics and strategy that he implemented in Iraq and Afghanistan for generations to come. In January of 2007 when the surge was announced, I had had the pleasure of being over in…

Mr. President, there is a lot going on in this world. We have a mountain of debt and wars and rumors of wars, and people are nervous throughout the country. But I thought I would take a few minutes of the time of the Senate to acknowledge…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Congratulating the University of South Carolina Gamecocks

I did. And if I could respond to my colleague about his statement on the floor, I would like to associate myself with it. I thought it was a very well articulated statement about the times in which we live. For about 18 months, we have had…

That is a very good question. Who are these people and what makes them tick? Why would people who could leave by just not reenlisting keep going back to Iraq and Afghanistan? My view of our forces is that they see the face of the enemy…