A majority of the Senate agrees that Ms. Halligan is exactly the kind of person who should serve on this court.

Ms. Halligan has always practiced law with the highest ethical ideals, and her qualifications are beyond question.

Thank you, Mr. Larsen.

I urge the leadership of this committee to craft a budget that replaces the mindless cuts of the sequester with sensible investments.

As this committee prepares a budget for fiscal year 2014, I urge you to reverse the devastating cuts to education and R&D that have been enacted by sequestration.

I urge you to reverse the devastating cuts to education and R&D that have been enacted by sequestration.

By some estimates, the cuts from sequestration to R&D will result in a loss of 600,000 jobs over the next three years.

If even a fraction of this money returned to the State, we would not have a fiscal crisis in Illinois at this moment.

It is unreasonable and irresponsible to make these deep cuts in programs like investments in research and development.

We need a smart approach to deficit reduction that reduces spending and increases revenue responsibly.

I strongly support approval of the Honest Budget Act in its entirety, and I welcome any future hearings this Committee may hold to examine its various provisions.

No youth should be denied the opportunity to go to college; the federal Pell Grant is the federal program that helps low-income students access and succeed in college.

Rep. Danny K. Davis will reintroduce the Sickle Cell bill, 'To extend for 5 years the authorization of appropriations for the sickle cell disease prevention and treatment demonstration program,' in the 113th Congress.

At its current funding level, the program cannot begin to service the roughly 700 thousand citizens released annually.

It's no secret that I have and will continue to advocate for programs that empowers individuals to be self-sufficient.

We live in an increasingly complex and dangerous world that demands U.S. leadership.

Irresponsible cuts to this agency are short-sighted and will put our recovery at risk.

Next week, I plan to re-introduce the Honest Budget Act, an important piece of legislation that would address some of the most common accounting tricks used by politicians to hide the truth, confuse the public, and run up the national debt.