It is very easy for some Members of Congress to blindly advocate across-the-board cuts to our investments in people. But I join those today to ask my colleagues to open their eyes to what these cuts really mean. They aren't abstract…

Mr. President, I come down here frustrated and hopeful. I want to see the glass half full even though we have been through a frustrating number of days and months dealing with our debt crisis, and here we are careening toward another…

It would be my expectation that we would not yield the jurisdiction of constitutionality exclusively to the judiciary. Throughout American history, it has mostly settled there, but we contain it as well. But ultimately it would put the…

I thank Congresswoman Jackson Lee. Mr. Speaker, voting is a fundamental right of every American. Yet here we are, decades after the civil rights movement, watching as States across this great Nation pass laws that threaten the ability of…

I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker, I rise as a cosponsor and urge strong support of my colleagues for the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act, H.R. 2560. I really believe if you owe debts, pay debts. We must find a way to honor the…

Mr. President, I congratulate Senator Kirk for bringing this legislation to the floor and getting it through committee in a way that is indicative of where we need to go. We were sent here not to increase spending. We were sent here to try…

I was on record last night, speaking to the Cut, Cap, and Balance Act of 2011 and as to what the many merits are of this legislation. I think it is a fine bill, and I commend its consideration to those on the other side of the aisle; but I…

We need a plan from the President. We need more certainty restored to these markets. Let's reject this Alice in Wonderland sort of leadership. Don't bring me problems, I say to my colleagues. Bring me solutions. One solution is the Cut…

I thank my colleague from Arizona. He said a couple of things that I would like to pivot off of. They certainly struck a chord with me. First, the notion that markets deal with perception, as opposed to always reality. I thought it was a…

I thank the gentleman from Arizona. Just an observation here. I know our President said earlier today that we had--frankly, we don't need a constitutional amendment to do our jobs. He was referring, of course, to this debt limit debate and…

I thank my colleague from Arizona for his learned words and eloquent words, quoting, Madam Speaker, Shakespeare. I'll begin by quoting Yogi Berra, that great fount of wit, wisdom, and good old American common sense. More recently, Yogi…

America is facing a fiscal crisis of unprecedented proportions--a $14 trillion national debt, another $1.6 trillion deficit, and now a debt ceiling crisis looms. As negotiations go forward, Members of Congress have a choice to make. We can…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will designate the amendment. The text of the amendment is as follows: Page 62, after line 2, insert the following new section: Sec. 609. None of the funds made available by this…

Our Nation's unemployment rate currently sits at 9.2 percent, a full 1.6 percent higher than when President Obama took office. I am hearing from my southern Indiana constituents, and I've heard this for months now, that the President's…

Mr. President, I am in somewhat of a unique position as a returning Senator after being out of Congress for 12 years. I never contemplated running for the Senate again or being back on this floor in any capacity except as a former Senator…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Carlos Algara, an intern in the office of Senator Merkley, be granted privilege of the floor for the duration of the remainder of today's session. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is…

Well, negotiations over the Nation's debt ceiling have reached an impasse. After more than 2 years in office, trillions of dollars in borrowing and spending and bailouts and takeovers, the President now says the failure to reach an…

Mr. President, today Congressional leadership on both sides of the aisle is meeting with the President to try to break the current impasse on the debt talks. As the President said in a press conference earlier this week: ``Right now, we've…