I thank the gentleman from Maryland for yielding and also for his very bold and effective leadership. I rise in strong opposition to this unbalanced debt ceiling bill. This is an unbalanced approach. We all know that. We've heard that…

I have voted twice to raise the debt ceiling. In May, I voted with about 90 other people for a clear debt ceiling raise. I voted this past weekend for Leader Reid's program, which had cuts. But I can't vote for this program because the…

The House passed unprecedented legislation tonight. We passed a bill that put unprecedented limits on our President to act to protect our nation, to invest in our futures and to safeguard our poor and our vulnerable. I opposed this bill…

It's been a pleasure working with Chairman Smith, who yields the time, never as much as I may consume, but yields the time, which I'm always appreciative of, and we've worked in a bipartisan manner on this, and I appreciate his working…

Sometimes art imitates life. Sometimes life imitates art. I think today life is imitating art. I often reflect on motion pictures and learn from them. When I came up here, it was ``Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.'' But currently, watching…

Mr. President, a number of us, myself included, have been arguing since January--ever since we arrived here and were sworn in this very room--that the national debt is a permanent problem. The almost $15 trillion that we now owe as a…

Mr. President, I have a friend by the name of Ron McMillan, who lives in my hometown of Alpine, UT. He is the author of a number of books dealing with business negotiations, dealing with trying to figure out how compromise can be reached…

In that series of books, the crucial conversation line of the books, one of the things he encourages people to do is to find whatever common ground they can reach. I think there is common ground among the American people generally that we…

Madam President, I feel compelled to come to the floor this evening to refute some of the arguments that have been made by some of my colleagues, points that are important for the American people to understand, points that, if not…

That certainly appears to be the case. It is a reminder to us of the fact that no matter how much we might be tempted at times to demagogue this issue, no matter how tempting it might be for certain Members of this body to cast blame…

Thank you very much for yielding. I rise in opposition to this rule and in opposition to the bill that we will vote on later today. And, yes, the Bush economic policies have really now come home to haunt us. It's shameful that the…

OK. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the unanimous consent request for 3 minutes? Without objection, it is so ordered.

I was given an 11:10 time and saw that we were alternating. I have a conference call. I am glad for the Senator to finish, but if she could make it even shorter than that, it would be appreciated.

Mr. President, it is interesting. I have some of the same concerns, maybe with different outcomes, as the Senator from California, but I agree we have not done our work. Over the course of a little over a year, I have been traveling around…

I appreciate the time. Mr. Speaker, I think that the reputation of this United States House of Representatives and Congress is at a low ebb because of the fact that we haven't acted prior to this date, the fact that the reputation of the…

I was unable to cast my vote on House Resolution 375, the Rule providing for consideration of S. 627. Had I been able to cast my vote I would have voted ``no.'' ____________________

It's a difficult time to talk because Ms. Schakowsky has said just about everything that I was planning to say. She said it extremely well and synopsized the issue. It basically comes down to fairness and justice for the American people…

Madam President, I wish to speak for 10 minutes or so. When I have 2 minutes remaining, if the Chair could tell me, I would appreciate it. Madam President, I am here today with a sense of optimism. I know all of us are very concerned about…