Today, I want to honor a legendary man, a loyal soldier in the battle for freedom in this great country--Chip Gerdes of my neighboring State of Illinois. Chip suddenly passed away this morning in his home, where he was a loving father and…

We have seen these political games played before with sequestration, and the American people have responded unfavorably every time. This decision to furlough air traffic controllers by the FAA is no different. Staff shortages as a result…

Thank you, Congresswoman Hartzler. It's always good to work with another fellow Member from Missouri, the Show Me State, where we can give some folks a little insight as to what's going on. Mr. Speaker, when I was growing up in rural…

I say congratulations to Ms. Sewell and Mr. Bachus. I had returned home from a movie. If we went to church, we had the opportunity to do other things; and I went on to church, and so my parents allowed me to go to the movies. When my…

As my good friend from Arkansas said and for the benefit of the Senator from Oregon, we haven't made a request yet for this amendment to be moved to the front of the line to be debated, but we are here to say that we would like to have…

Let me quickly yield to my friend from Oklahoma for a unanimous consent request. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oklahoma.

This is not very complicated. All the Essential Services Act says is that the people whom the government said had to show up if there is no money to run the government would also be the people who would be prioritized and would be allowed…

That letter from Alice Rivlin, the Director of OMB, says: Here are the people who have to show up for work if the government shuts down. The government did shut down, we all remember, in 1995, and these people did show up for work. On…

Mr. President, first of all, I wish to talk about the bill that is on the floor. I agree with Senator Franken--this is a bill that enjoys bipartisan support. We saw in the budget debate just how broad and how bipartisan that support is. It…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business as my remarks will not relate to the business at hand. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

I'd be pleased to. Thanks so much for sponsoring this Special Order and talking about making life better and for working Americans across this country. I'm a proud freshman Member of the 113th Congress, and we were elected to tackle the…

There are tens of thousands of Americans who have been turned away who are suffering and sick and ill with preexisting conditions, and I hope we're going to address this tomorrow. Do you know what we're going to do? We are going to defund…

We thank the gentlelady from Alabama for putting the Special Order together, for really caring about all Americans and about what's important to them, as you said, sitting around the kitchen table. It's about making life work. And at the…

Absolutely. We're all reminded, with tax day having just passed, that we do need a Tax Code that is fairer, that is simpler, that we don't have to hire accountants and lawyers and go through thousands of pages of code in order to comply…

Absolutely. And I will tell you, it puts the job back in the people's House--we, the people. This is not governance by fiat. We were sent here by our districts across the country to pass commonsense legislation and to get the government…

I thank the gentleman from Kentucky for yielding and for hosting this Special Order on the importance of America's coal industry. Mr. Speaker, I rise to discuss the importance of coal in Missouri. There is no denying that coal has played a…

The President's just-released budget calls for higher taxes, more spending, and bigger government, all of which would make it more difficult for hardworking Americans, like those in the Third District of Missouri, to find jobs. More…

Madam President, I would just say these entities would allow basic research to come together with product development. It brings the research elements, the universities, and others together with private capital, and even some government…