Last year, parts of the Missouri River basin faced some of the worst flooding in history. This devastation, combined with our dire financial climate and the aging waterways infrastructure, means that now, more than ever, we must be…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: At the end of the bill (before the short title), insert the following: Sec. __. None the funds made available by this Act…

Last year the United States was pummeled by severe weather that destroyed land, homes, businesses, and even lives. Families living along the Missouri River endured another year of significant flooding that left them physically and…

I have an amendment at the desk. The Acting CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: Page 6, line 18, after the dollar amount, insert ``(increased by $3,000,000)''. Page 7, line 4, after the dollar amount…

I thank the Presiding Officer for the time to speak on the Senate floor. I am supportive of the bill that has come out of the HELP Committee to reauthorize user fees for the Food and Drug Administration. We have tried these user fees in…

Madam President, reserving the right to object, I appreciate the leader's desire to get this done. I would like to get it done too. In fact, the original Iran sanctions language was drafted in my office when I was in the other body. This…

I think the law even requires it. I think the leader on the other side, the majority leader, has been pretty clear about it. It is bad politics to have a budget, bad politics to tell the American people officially what we are for, bad…

I would like to stay on this. Saying the Budget Control Act is a budget--as Senator Thune mentioned, if that was the budget, why did the President submit one? Nobody believes that is a budget. The Parliamentarian said it was not a budget…

Madam President, I am embarrassed that we are not serious about this issue. Senator Thune and I served in the House together while the Senator from Alabama was leading in these budget fights in the Senate, and we had a budget every year…

No, we cannot. Last year, for the first time ever, all of the money that came in was less than the money that went out automatically to these programs, where, if you meet the definition for the program, you get the money. It is at 60…

I thank the gentleman from California (Mr. Miller), and I rise today in support of H.R. 2072, the Securing American Jobs Through Exports Act. There's been a lot of distracting talk surrounding reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank. So…

Mr. President, I worked with Senator Bennet on this amendment. I think it does ensure that communities are not notified a facility is closed without having any opportunity to have input. It provides for advocacy and also gives the post…

Mr. President, I wish to talk for a few minutes about Chuck Colson, who was a friend of mine and the founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries. He died on Saturday at 80. Before Chuck Colson was 40, he was counselor to the President of the…

Mr. President, I thank my good friend for yielding and for taking consideration of my schedule. I rise to support Judge Brian Wimes as the nominee for the Eastern and Western Districts of Missouri. He spent his entire career working in the…

Tax season reminds us that small businesses are disproportionately affected by tax compliance and high tax rates. The Small Business Administration reports that the average tax compliance cost per employee for small businesses is almost…

Mr. President, I thank my friend and my congressional neighbor. When we were in the House, we represented adjoining districts in Missouri and Oklahoma, and it is good to be serving in the Senate with my friend and to hear his commonsense…

I just want to close with a few thoughts here. Again, I thank the gentleman from Connecticut for his hard work in helping to put this together, as well as the gentleman from California (Mr. Baca) for his help today. It's interesting. When…

I don't have any further speakers at this time, and continue to reserve the balance of my time.