Well, certainly I will tell you that Senator Byrd stood on this floor and said the Senate cannot be bound by the dead hand of the past. You can imagine that any particularly bizarre rule that might have been passed by our predecessors that…

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak on the issue of Senate rules. I will be joined by a few colleagues in a few minutes. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is recognized.

Mr. President, for purposes of having the resolution go over, under the rule, I object. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection is heard. The measure will go over, under the rule.

Mr. President, I submit a resolution on behalf of myself and Senator Tom Udall to amend rule XIX and rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, and I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the…

Certainly. This provision about a talking filibuster says rather than having a situation where a Senator objects to a majority vote and then we delay the work of the Senate for a week, though nobody is here explaining their position to the…

I want to note this is important to both the majority and the minority. For example, we recently had a bill on the floor of the Senate which was a major bill regarding the compromise struck by President Obama with our Republican colleagues…

I wish to note, as Senator Udall observed, Senator Wyden, Senator Grassley, and Senator McCaskill have worked hard on a much more detailed version than we have in S. Res. 10, but the basic notion is the same. If a colleague is going to…

Mr. President, I submit S. Res. 24, on behalf of myself and Senator Tom Udall, proposing a standing order of the Senate, and I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of the resolution. The PRESIDING…

I think what the Senator from New Mexico has set forward is that we would save 28 hours on each nomination. If the Senate goes around the clock, that is a bit more than a day. If we are doing 10- hour days, that is almost 3 days. We save 3…

It is not only secret to the public, it is often secret to fellow Senators, greatly complicating our effort to dialog with fellow Senators as to why we are pursuing something and get their partnership in it.

Mr. President, tonight's State of the Union Address is a unique opportunity for the President to speak directly to the American people and offer his course for the country. The President is promoting trade as part of his agenda and I…

As one who is firmly in the camp of not just supporting the benefits but the necessity of government regulation, I nonetheless welcomed the President's recent op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and his executive order to review the…

42.7 percent of Oregon's seniors--that's about 200,000 in Oregon, nearly 41,000 in my district--were enrolled, at the time this law was established, in Medicare Advantage programs. You know, under this bill, under this new law, Medicare…

You may miss it in the rhetoric, but both parties agree the current path of Medicare threatens to bankrupt the country. Some parts of America are spending twice as much per Medicare patient as we spend in Portland, Oregon, for example, but…

And I think that's one of the big arguments here that I get from the people out in my district is: Why did the government take over this, put all of these other provisions in, ram a bill through the House that creates this new trillion…

I thank the gentleman. People deserve a serious debate on a serious subject. Unfortunately, while serious in tone, what we are hearing from my colleagues is not serious in content. I have listened to people come to the floor repeatedly…

We are having debates about health care because Americans are nervous about changing something so important to their families, and that, of course, makes politicians nervous about reform. This skepticism is understandable. Attempting to…

I rise on behalf of the people of Oregon's Second District to offer my deepest sympathies to the families of the victims of Saturday's senseless shooting in Tucson. Americans see each of us taking this personally, because Congresswoman…