The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Crapo), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Scott), the Senator from North Carolina (Mr. Tillis), and the Senator from Pennsylvania (Mr. Toomey). The PRESIDING…

I have been to the Sahrawi people's refugee camps twice. I was impressed by their strong desire for independence.

I think sometimes their offer of assistance to a contrary is seen as a first step in where, later on, they will start asking for small favors and then move into more demands.

Somalia's successful revolution, socially, politically and economically, is vital for our interests in the region.

As you know, Somalia is wracked by a political crisis over the September 17th agreement.

I am very pleased to see such a qualified panel of nominees before us today.

This is an important moment for the United States to take a leadership role in that area, and so many others.

I am concerned about, I guess, the ongoing and, in some cases, increasing Chinese and Russian engagement in the Western Hemisphere.

If we keep up business as usual we will give China a free pass to use that leverage to export its model of authoritarianism.

Algeria has supported the political process led by the U.N. and by the U.N. Secretary General's personal envoy for Western Sahara.

We have shared values, and we need to point out to the peoples of the region the shared values that we have, and the difference between what we consider important and what the real costs of the engagement that the malign actors from…

What are the reasonable benchmarks the United States should expect with regard to Somalia's democratic development?

Republicans traditionally have believed that we ought to reduce spending; that we need to reform entitlement programs.

the massive amount of debt that we continue to rack up as a Nation.

I ask for the yeas and nays. The VICE PRESIDENT. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk called the roll The result was announced--yeas 7, nays 92, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 2 Leg.] YEAS--7 Cruz Hawley Hyde-Smith Lummis…

I have not seen the Tax Policy Center, but I know math, and I know as a basic principle that when you stick bigger numbers in there and you are using the same formula to phase something out, you are going to make it available to people who…

Well, I just think that you are making a point in the statement which is not accurate because you are saying the formula is the same. The formula is the same, but the inputs change, and so the way it ramps down means that somebody who…

The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Gardner), the Senator from South Carolina (Mr. Graham), the Senator from Georgia (Mrs. Loeffler), the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Perdue), and the Senator from…