Madam President, since I first came to the Congress back in 1997 as a freshman Member of the House of Representatives, I have been talking about spending and debt and deficits, and that was a key, central element of my campaign for my…

Mr. President, at some time in the not too distant future--there is some speculation about exactly when--our country will be dealing with the issue of exceeding our borrowing authority. In other words, we have maxed out our credit card…

Mr. President, today we are going to vote on last year's unfinished business. We are going to vote on a continuing resolution that will fund the government through this fiscal year, which ends on September 30. The proposal we have before…

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 President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded The PRESIDING OFFICER.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

I introduced this commonsense bill on April 15th of this year with my colleagues, Representative Robert Hurt, Larry Kissell and Leonard Boswell, because of the regulatory uncertainty that is facing rural America.

We thank the chairman and ranking member of the Committee on Finance, and agree that this unanimous consent agreement is designed only to apply to this nomination, and not to future nominees for this position.

Mr. President, the American credit card is maxed out. We continue to add about $1 trillion or $1.5 trillion to that credit card every single year to where it is now at $14 trillion. The amazing thing is, right now it is about noon, and…

Mr. President, tomorrow night at midnight, unless steps are taken, we will be facing a government shutdown. When I say steps are taken, steps are taken to avoid that. That can happen one of two ways: That could be an agreement that funds…

Mr. President, in a couple of hours from now the Senate will vote on the Inhofe-McConnell amendment which would prevent the EPA from moving forward with dangerous--I said ``dangerous,'' but certainly harmful to business and certainly…

I appreciate that, and thank the gentleman for yielding to me. I am one of the new Members of Congress that has first come here tonight, this is the first opportunity I have had to give a Special Order. And I cannot think of a better…

Mr. President, this Friday we run out of the current-- which is now the sixth continuing resolution--short-term continuing resolution which we have been operating under since the end of the fiscal year, which was September 30 of last year…

I thank the gentleman for yielding. Madam Chair, we have spent the last 3 months debating the need to get spending under control, and it's a good thing. That's why my constituents sent me here, and that's what I plan to continue to do. But…

Mr. President, as we pass the 1-year anniversary since health care reform was signed into law, I rise to recognize how much it has benefitted thousands in my State. South Dakotans now have a fair shake when it comes to buying health…

I would like to thank Senator Hutchison for her determination to improve bus safety. She and Senator Brown have been committed to advancing bus safety legislation since 2007.

Bus safety improvements have been delayed for too long, but I am encouraged that we can move forward to reduce preventable crashes and to protect passengers when accidents do occur.

This is the year this is going to happen.

These rulemakings would require updates to bus safety technologies.

I want to thank you for holding today's hearing on how increasing energy prices are impacting farm and ranch families across this country.