Mr. President, I wish to say to the Senator from California, many of the points she made are valid. I came back for the purpose of addressing our overspending and that involves all kinds of tax expenditures and all kinds of subsidies. It…

Madam President, I know the Democratic side has not used its full allotment of time, but because another speaker is not here, I will go ahead, and hopefully we will be able to yield time if someone else does come forward…

The Senator from Oregon is exactly right. I took three tax courses in law school. I cannot do my taxes with any assurance that I am doing it right because this code has become so incredibly complicated. The alternative minimum tax adds an…

Absolutely not, I would say to the Senator from Oregon. Clearly, if you go back to the origin of the alternative minimum tax, it was designed to go after those handful, in comparison to the total number of taxpayers in this country, who…

I ask unanimous consent for 2 more minutes. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Madam President, I have been on the Senate floor several times now during the last few weeks to discuss our grave economic condition, the need to reduce Washington's out-of-control spending, and, most importantly, the urgent need to start…

This amendment is quite simple. The amendment would simply reduce by a modest 10 percent that part of the USDA's budget used for ``general administration and miscellaneous supplies.'' This category of spending is so broadly defined that…

Let me skip forward here. Despite the President's own recognition of this problem, we have not taken this plan forward. There are do-nothings who think that if we do not act, Medicare will be secure. Actually, the do-nothings are the ones…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: Page 6, line 11, insert after the dollar amount the following: ``(reduced by $2,390,000)''. Page 80, line 2, insert after…

Madam President, I want to thank my colleague from Oregon, Senator Wyden, for working with me, and particularly working with Senator Gregg who is now retired from this Chamber. They spent an extraordinary amount of time, very productive…

Americans awoke this morning to the heartbreaking news that unemployment has increased to 9.1 percent. The U.S. economy added only 55,000 jobs in the last month. The American people are understandably concerned. But the numbers don't tell…

I rise in support, as so many of my colleagues have, of House Resolution 292, because this Congress is a coequal branch of government, and we must never be a quiet coequal branch, especially on military matters. When the U.S. sends its…

I feel exactly the same way, Dr. Roe. For me, again, I've never seen a Democrat or a Republican patient. I see a patient. In fact, in my practice as a heart surgeon, frequently, I didn't even know what type of health care coverage that…

Thank you, Dr. Roe, for yielding. I was a cardiothoracic surgeon just recently, last year, prior to coming to Congress. I helped patients and their families make informed decisions regarding the care they needed or the care their loved…

Throughout its illustrious history, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has served as the proving ground for many innovations that have become mainstays in automotive production and at raceways around the world. But it is the 500-mile race…

Mr. President, I wish to thank the Senator from North Dakota for allowing me to go first. I will be relatively brief. I have spoken on the floor on a number of occasions regarding my frustration about the Senate not spending enough time…

Every year, thousands of troops return home from deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan prepared to separate from military service and begin their civilian lives. Many of these service members enlisted right out of high school or college and…

On February 19, 2010, a constituent of mine, Marine Lance Corporal Joshua Birchfield of Westville, Indiana, was shot and killed while on patrol by a local Afghan security contractor who had been hired, with six other colleagues, to guard a…