Madam President, I rise to call up amendment No. 284, cosponsored by Senators Kerry and Rockefeller, which is at the desk and ask for its immediate consideration. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report. The assistant…

Mr. President, I am compelled to answer because now I hear about fraud and $25 billion. You cannot have it both ways. You cannot say this amendment costs money--what the Joint Committee on Taxation said is it could not determine a revenue…

Mr. President, I know we often read that Democrats and Republicans cannot agree. Here is a news flash: We agree on repealing 1099. I have listened to my three distinguished colleagues spend a lot of their time talking about repeal of 1099…

The majority's proposed budget for fiscal year 2012 undermines our Nation's values and priorities, attacking our middle class and in particular our Nation's seniors. Today's seniors have a median income of only $19,000 a year. Both the…

I can't believe that John Adler's life was cut so short. I really want to reach out to Shelley, his children, and his friends. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the entire Adler family. John was a friend, my wife was a friend with his…

I know it's April Fool's Day, but I still am amazed by the jokes or the myths that are being relayed by my colleagues on the other side of the aisle. And I like my colleague from Georgia, but I just want to say three things. First of all…

I come to the floor to speak about basic notions of fairness and democracy. As a former member of the House Transportation Committee, let me acknowledge that I understand the importance of a strong and robust FAA Reauthorization Bill…

On March 30th, I was unavoidably detained and missed three rollcall votes. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' on rollcall vote #202 on agreeing to the Norton Amendment in the Nature of a Substitute. Had I been present I would…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Tester). Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. President, later, as we move to the bill on small business, I will be offering, I hope, a second-degree amendment to the amendment offered by Senator Johanns, and I speak today on behalf of middle-class families and on behalf of small…

The gentleman from Texas makes an excellent point. When you provide foreign aid, when you provide economic lifelines to dictatorships, it enables them to continue their repression. Years ago, we took a very principled stance against South…

I thank my very good friend and colleague for yielding. I do raise my voice today, and I join my friend from Texas and others in a bit of a celebration--although it needs to be a cautious celebration because the tyranny on the island of…

Well, I think you just made an articulate defense of why a consistent, transparent human rights, pro-freedom, pro-democracy foreign policy is absolutely essential if we want a world that is free of tyranny. Pope John Paul II once said: If…

You know, the date we lost China, in my opinion, was May 26, 1994. On that date, President Bill Clinton completely severed and de-linked human rights with Most Favored Nation status, after getting accolades when he linked it a year before…

The Republicans have had control of this Chamber for 11 weeks now, and yet there's still no plan to create jobs or spur our economic recovery. Instead of tackling unemployment, my Republican colleagues are again targeting vital programs…

As we continue to make our way through the budget process, we must ensure that all funding reductions we make are done in a responsible manner. While I strongly agree that we need to get our deficit under control, we cannot do it in a way…

Mr. President, I would ask the Senator from California how she sees the amendment we are discussing in terms of the lives of our countrymen as we see them. And I wish to first mention what I see and see if the Senator agrees with me.

The amendment that has been proposed by the Senator from Kentucky, Republican Mitch McConnell, is as dangerous an effort as we can imagine. It would undermine our children's health while helping polluters and their lobbyists. And what a…