I couldn't agree with the Senator more. I also wish to talk a little bit about Senator Frank Lautenberg. I have a picture here of him with his grandchildren. But let me first say, Senator Whitehouse, did you wish to mention your staff…

Earlier, before the Senator got here, this is what I showed everybody, which is a picture of Frank and his grandchildren. You know well how he always talked about his grandchildren--

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to engage in a colloquy until about 3:40 p.m. with Democrats and Republicans who are going to show up here--I think Senator Vitter, Senator Inhofe, Senator Whitehouse, Senator Manchin, and we may have…

This is a great example. Thank you so much. Once again, we could not have done this without your leadership, your chairmanship of the Environment and Public Works Committee. You helped us shape this and helped us move in a bipartisan way…

Mr. President, I thank Chairman Inhofe very much. I thank him for his leadership. He is the chairman of the Environment and Public Works Committee. I remember we came early on--Senator Vitter and myself--to him, and said: We have been…

I say to Senator Whitehouse, thank you so much. I just want to say about Senator Whitehouse--I mean, this bill would not be where it is today had we not had that trio working in the Environment and Public Works Committee. I really believe…

I say to Senator Whitehouse, I couldn't agree more. I think those are the delicate phases we have to go through. What we have been telling our House colleagues all along is we have worked long and hard on this, we have been more…

Fortunately, Senators Grassley and Casey, who are the lead sponsors of the Senate bill, wrote a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services asking if there was data to support CBO's assumptions.

Mr. President, my colleague from Utah purports to speak for westerners. I want to make it clear, he doesn't speak for New Mexico, he doesn't speak for me, he doesn't speak for my constituents, and he certainly doesn't speak for the…

Mr. President, from coast to coast the Land and Water Conservation Fund is the primary tool that our Nation uses to fund the protection of our natural and our cultural heritage. In my home State of New Mexico, the LWCF has protected some…

It is long past time for us to address this issue.

we should reform the 1872 Mining Law to make sure that mining companies pay royalties to taxpayers.

We need solutions, as Senator Gardner said, to address this pollution all across the West.

Thank you, Mr. President. Senator Merkley, I have listened very carefully, and I think you and I have worked diligently since we got into the Senate to try to make sure the Senate functions properly. What we want to see more than anything…

the legislation that both Congressman McMorris Rodgers and Congressman Israel have put forth is something that I am definitely very interested in.

These interruptions can easily be handled by entering into what is called a locum tenens agreement with another qualified provider.

I appreciate the work of Mr. Walden in this area, and I look forward to working with him and yourself, Mr. Chairman, and our members on this issue.

I appreciate you and the ranking member and all the members of the subcommittee for allowing us to be here today for this important conversation.