Madam President, I wish to bring to my colleagues' attention the work of the Employee Benefit Research Institute, EBRI, in acknowledgment of the institute's 35th anniversary. EBRI is a nonpartisan, objective, and reliable source of…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Molly Ganley, Katrina Rogachevsky, and Thomas Hecht of my staff be granted floor privileges for the duration of today's session. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered…

Madam President, again, I want to thank my colleague and good friend Senator Alexander for a great working relationship on our committee. Obviously, we have differences of views and opinions on matters--that is the nature of legislation…

Madam President, I note the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

Mr. President, here we are, it is October 14, and the government has been shut down for 2 full weeks. We are about 3 days away from a debt ceiling deadline. I keep hearing rumors that a deal is close. I certainly hope that is true, that we…

I thank the Presiding Officer. Mr. President, we are here on Saturday, and we just had a very significant vote in the Senate. The vote was on whether we would move to a bill, fully debatable, to raise the debt ceiling without any strings…

Mr. President. I understand that we are in session for Senators to speak for up to 10 minutes? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.

I thank the gentleman from Illinois for organizing this Special Order here today and for committing one hour of floor time to the discussion of the farm bill and the need to get one passed. Mr. Speaker, we don't get very many debates on…

Reclaiming my time, I would say that there are times when people that are in the political business will intentionally conflate terms and arguments because it suits their agenda rather than informs their constituents, Mr. Speaker. That is…

Mr. President, I heard the previous speaker plead for a solution. I think we are all pleading for that. We are now in our 10th day of a government shutdown--quite frankly, one that did not have to happen. To some extent, it seems that this…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The Senator from Iowa is recognized.

Negotiation means you are willing to give serious consideration to the other side's ideas.

If you look at long-term projections, spending on our health care entitlements demands our attention.

Since 1978, Congress has voted to raise the debt ceiling 53 times. In 27 of those, or 51 percent, the debt limit increase was tied to other reforms.

For the benefit of those on the other side of the aisle, I am not going to end my remarks with the issue of a unanimous consent, but I still have things I wish to say. No one supports a government shutdown, not my side of the aisle or the…

Both you and President Obama have repeated the talking point that negotiating deficit reduction policies on the debt ceiling increase is unprecedented.

Mr. President, the Senator from Florida, now wants to fund the Head Start Program. That is all well and good. We all recognize how invaluable the Head Start Program is. But I must say that listening to this request and the previous request…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to be allowed to speak before I object to the unanimous consent request. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the request? Without objection, it is so ordered.