Madam President, I rise in strong support of the Lee amendment, which is a sense of the Senate that this body and the House should pass a constitutional amendment requiring a balanced budget. Clearly, I think in the mind of every American…

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Amendment No. 115

Yes. We know we have the world's largest reserves in coal. We have potentially the largest reserves in the world in natural gas here in the United States. And some argue that the estimates of oil are vastly underestimated because of two…

Natural gas and petroleum products. And if you shut down our natural gas production, then our companies, which have a price--on a basis of price, we can compete because we have cheap natural gas here in this country compared to around the…

Well, it is bizarre. And again, Americans want to compete. And we know, if given the opportunity to compete, we can win in the global economy. And we've got to have energy production in this country to allow our companies to compete. Now…

These are private-sector jobs. They're good-paying jobs, and they help promote U.S. energy security. It's critical. So what we have is an administration that is proposing policies counter to what American interests are with regard to our…

It's ridiculous. And these taxes are indiscriminate; they hit oil companies, those drilling for oil, but also natural gas. {time} 1830 And there are many--even our friends on the other side of the aisle will admit that natural gas usage is…

We have basically shut down our production in the Gulf of Mexico, and it's a boneheaded policy to do that. But not only that, the administration in its budget proposal is now proposing nearly $50 billion in new taxes on small, independent…

I thank my friend from Missouri for giving me time to speak here. As we talk about American competitiveness and growing jobs, private sector jobs in this country, coming off the heels of this recession where we still have high…

Madam President, I ask for regular order on the Vitter amendment. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment is now pending.

Madam President, I will be happy to explain the context to the chairman of the committee. This modification simply merges what was previously a separate Toomey amendment and a separate Vitter amendment. We had hoped to have votes on those…

If I could yield to my colleague from Pennsylvania, I think he can help answer the question. But to clarify from my point of view, we are seeking a vote--a single vote, which I think we are very close to locking in--on the new modified…

Madam President, I thank my distinguished colleague. Again, this amendment, as modified, simply says that if we were ever to reach the statutory debt limit for the Federal Government, then revenue coming in would go first to service two…

Madam President, I rise in strong support of the Toomey- Vitter amendment, which we will vote on in the series of two votes starting at 5 p.m. The idea behind the Toomey-Vitter amendment is very simple. It says if we ever reach the debt…

Madam President, I think I control the floor and I yield to the Senator from Pennsylvania. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection to the Senator's request for unanimous consent to make a unanimous consent request?

On behalf of Senator Coburn, I object. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Objection is heard.

Madam President, I now send a modification to the desk. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The amendment is so modified. The amendment, as modified, is as follows: At the appropriate place, insert the following: SEC. ___. FULL FAITH AND…

Thank you, Dr. Gingrey. Now, Dr. Gingrey, I'm struck. Sometimes folks think that when we speak about health care, we're only speaking about health care. That seems kind of a simplistic statement. But let's think about it. Right now, States…