I thank my friend from New Mexico. I also thank him for his great leadership on the constitutional option. I am a cosponsor of his resolution, which he sent to the desk earlier today. He is right on target. The dead hand of the past cannot…

Mr. President, hopefully, I say to my friend from New Mexico, when we come back on the 25th we will engage in more of this discussion. I should yield the floor. I wanted to raise that question about consensus because it sounds so good, and…

Mr. President, I thank the Senator from Oregon for his leadership. I want to rephrase my question that I left hanging when I yielded the floor the last time. I see our great friend from New York is here to speak. I will not take more than…

Madam President, I wonder if the Senator would mind a slight modification to that. One of the things I thought we were kind of getting into today were colloquies wherein we could ask a question and have a response in a reasonable manner. I…

Madam President, my colleagues and any of the public watching the debate today know there is a great partisan divide thus far. Senator Wyden has already referred to the motion he and I are putting before the Senate. Senator Wyden, a…

Mr. President, as we begin the 112th Congress I want to discuss one of my continuing concerns with the Medicare Program. For the last 10 years, I have served most recently as ranking member and previously as the chairman of the Senate…

Madam President, before I begin my remarks on the New START treaty, I would like to point out to my colleagues that in 2002, I voted in favor of the Moscow Treaty. I was also one of 93 Senators who voted in favor of START I in 1992. I…

Mr. President, it is with great sadness and concern that I report that more and more kids are turning to drugs. Recently released annual studies that track drug use trends among youth and adults are indicating rapid increases in drug use…

Madam President, although I don't have anything written, I was listening to the leader speak and the whip talk about Lula Davis and all she has done here in the Senate. I, too, wish to pay my respects and give my thanks and my best wishes…

Mr. President, time and time I have come to the floor to give a few remarks about Senators who are retiring and leaving the Senate. They all contributed in their unique way one way or the other to the Senate. Now I find myself with two…

Mr. President, I listened very carefully to my friend from Illinois as he went down his list. I admit it is a pretty thorough list. I may have missed one. I was conversing with another Senator briefly. Did I miss the higher education bill…

Mr. President, very shortly, the Senate will be voting on the continuing resolution that will fund the operations of our Federal Government through March--I think, if I am not mistaken, through March 4. I want to take this time to take a…

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that a Cardin amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the third time and passed, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or…

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 715, S. 3481. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will state the bill by title. The assistant legislative clerk read as follows: A…

Madam Speaker, it's always a privilege and an honor to address here on the floor of the House. And we're in the waning days, waning hours perhaps, of this 111th Congress as many are prepared to go home for Christmas, and by the count of…

Mr. Speaker, I move that the House do now adjourn. The motion was agreed to; accordingly (at 10 o'clock and 40 minutes p.m.), under its previous order, the House adjourned until tomorrow, Wednesday, December 22, 2010, at 11 a.m…

Mr. President, today, I rise to thank a longtime member of my staff who is retiring from the Senate. Mary Day began working in my Cedar Rapids office in 1987 as a constituent services specialist, and in 1996 rose to become the regional…

Mr. President, I rise today to pay tribute to a friend and a trusted adviser, Wythe Willey, who lost a 2-year battle with cancer on Saturday. Wythe Willey was a person who left a mark. If you ever met him, you would be hard pressed to…