I ask unanimous consent that the pending amendment be set aside, and I call up my amendment No. 859. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?

Mr. President, I rise in support of amendment No. 859, which is a germane amendment to the underlying bill. It is one I introduced that would restore fairness, encourage competition, and prevent many States around the country from seeing…

I thank my colleague for his comments and look forward to working with him. Again, it is a simple amendment. It is a jobs amendment. It is perfectly germane to the bill. It is exactly the type of amendment that I think should not be…

Mr. President, I would like to speak on a second amendment. Since a peak in 2006, housing prices, as we know in this country, have fallen by nearly one-third. Total homeowner equity slashed in half with the loss of more than $7 trillion…

Mr. President, I would like to speak about two amendments, if I could. One is about basic civil rights and fair housing organizations and the other is about counseling and I would like to speak on both of them. Our Nation's fair housing…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Peter Wisner, a detailee from the Treasury Department, be given the privilege of the floor during the consideration of H.R. 2112. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. President, I rise to speak about the prescription drug abuse epidemic sweeping my State and the Nation. The rampant abuse and trafficking of prescription drugs represents a major threat to public health and to law enforcement. In…

Mr. President, I rise today to recognize Bruce H. Akers, mayor of Pepper Pike, OH, for many years of outstanding leadership and service to the Greater Cleveland community. Mayor Akers has done remarkable work during his distinguished…

Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the Strengthening Medicare and Repaying Taxpayers, SMART, Act with Senators Wyden, Burr and Ben Nelson. This bi-partisan effort will help strengthen and protect Medicare by ensuring greater…

On October 5, civil rights legend Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth passed away while residing in Birmingham, Alabama. From 1961 to 2007, Reverend Shuttlesworth lived in Cincinnati, and when I first came here in '95, I had the distinct pleasure…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak up to 20 minutes in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

Last week we witnessed shocking, shocking hypocrisy from President Obama. His Justice Department filed a lawsuit, a frivolous lawsuit, to block the State of Alabama from enforcing a law that would keep illegal immigrants from taking…

Mr. President, this Chamber considered trade measures this week for the first time in about 4 years. First, and most important, the bipartisan currency measure passed by an overwhelming majority, 63 to 35. This action on China's currency…

Mr. President I rise to talk about our Nation's flawed approach to trade and its damaging effects on economic growth and job creation. Yesterday, this body approved three trade agreements that will do far too little to create manufacturing…

I say thank you to Senator Levin. Yes, I try to explain this. I was on some radio calls this morning with stations in Dayton and Cincinnati and all over the State, and the questions they asked were just that: Wait a minute, OK, I…

I rise to speak against this agreement. This, my friends, is the Panama trade agreement. There are 1,600 pages. If we want to get rid of tariffs and level the playing field, we would pass about three pages of tariff schedules and build in…

Mr. President, this is the same story. This is Panama's agreement, but Colombia's is even longer--hundreds and hundreds of pages of rules. I admire the Colombian people. They are our allies, but the Colombian Government not so much…

Mr. President, I would like to speak in opposition to these three pending free-trade agreements. The bills look like they are about this size. These are the actual implementing of the three free-trade agreements. But one of the bills, and…