Yesterday was a very important day as far as this Committee is concerned, and as far as Indian Country is concerned.

Mr. President, I ask for a division vote on each of the resolutions of ratification. The PRESIDING OFFICER. A division vote has been requested. On treaty document 111-1, all those in favor stand and be counted. All those opposed stand and…

Mr. President, I understand that H.R. 5712 has been received from the House and is at the desk. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct. The clerk will read the title of the bill for the first time. The assistant legislative clerk…

Mr. President, I ask for its second reading and object to my own request. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard. The bill will be read for the second time on the next legislative day.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, July 20, the Senate resume consideration of the House message to company H.R. 4213; that the motion to reconsider be agreed to and the Senate then proceed to vote on the…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Calendar Nos. 3 and 4, treaty documents 111-1 and 111-3; that the treaties be considered as having advanced through the various parliamentary…

Mr. President, I will vote for the conference report on financial reform. Before I describe why I think it is essential to vote in favor, let me compliment Senator Dodd. We have had some differences on some issues, but that is not unusual…

I ask the Senator from Connecticut, my understanding is Republicans have 10 minutes. I began the process because the Republican Senator was not here to claim that. I will be happy to cease at this point, if he wishes to take his 10…

I appreciate the courtesy of the Senator from Nebraska. We all understand why this legislation is trying to prevent this from ever happening again. I have shown this on the floor many times. This was from a credit company called Zoom…

Mr. President, sometimes on the floor of the Senate, good friends disagree--perhaps not as often as some would think, but on occasion that is the case, and it is the case today, when I observed and listened to a presentation by my…

Mr. President, I come to the floor to discuss the budget point of order that has been raised against the financial reform conference report. I will be voting to waive this point of order. As Budget Committee chairman, I do not take this…

Madam President, in 2 minutes or so, let me talk briefly about the FAA reauthorization bill, which we have passed out of the Commerce Committee and out of the full Senate--it passed 93 to 0 here in the Senate. Senator Rockefeller and I…

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business for such time as I may consume. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

Madam President, the to-do list in the Congress, and especially in the Senate, is long and difficult. We have witnessed all of this year a determined minority to act as a set of human brake pads. The minority has tried to stop almost…

Madam President, while I am on the floor, I wish to make a point about another piece of public policy I have worked on for some while. The House of Representatives last week passed legislation through the Agriculture Committee that would…

The hearing will come to order. I want to welcome everyone this morning to this hearing of the Senate Budget Committee.

I think all of us are concerned about the safety of local residents who use this highway.

Why don't we stop this sort of thing? It is unbelievable to me how dysfunctional this place is. I say to my colleague, we have worked on this issue for months and months. I wish it had been done in January, but it was not. But we are very…