President George Washington knew if we didn't do that, that we would not see the United States of America becoming a world leader or even putting its own people to work and being able to grow.

I wanted to go back to this theme of a robust middle class. It's really in the manufacturing sector. It's really making it in America that built the middle class in our country. Yet there are people--and you hear it all the time--who say…

I announce that the Senator from Louisiana (Ms. Landrieu) and the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Menendez) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, how much time is remaining on each side? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic side has 18 minutes remaining.

Mr. President, I wish to thank my colleague from Alaska and tell her that this week on National Public Radio there was a feature about Cordova and all the snow they have had to deal with there. I am sure this is perhaps commonplace in her…

Mr. President, I thank the chairman of the Finance Committee and my friend from Utah, the ranking member of the committee. Senator Coburn of Oklahoma, who just spoke, and I probably see so many things differently, but yet we see many…

Mr. President, I would like to ask the chairman if I could have 8 minutes or 10 minutes to speak.

Is there time remaining on the other side? The PRESIDING OFFICER. There is no remaining time on the other side.

Mr. President, each of us takes on an agenda in Congress, things that are important to us personally, and sometimes one or two of those issues become very personal and very important to us. The one that has become very personal to me…

Secondly, Mr. Speaker, I am a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. It's an organization designed around legislators from all of our NATO countries. It's been in existence over 50 years. Since the legislative bodies in most chambers…

I want to thank the leadership for allowing me this time to come to the floor. I'm going to do two short items, and then I'll address the weekly discussion on high-level nuclear waste and Yucca Mountain. First, because of this day and our…

I want to express my support for H.R. 3801, The Ultralight Aircraft Smuggling Prevention Act of 2012, and also my strong admiration of its sponsor, my colleague and friend Gabrielle Giffords. Gabby will be stepping down from Congress this…

The State of the Union address tonight is going to be very important, and I agree with President Obama that this is a make-or-break moment for the middle class and those trying to reach it. And what's at stake is the very survival of the…

Chicago is a city of many treasures. From the architecture to the museums and cultural institutions, from the sports teams to our food, there are many, many reasons to celebrate the Windy City. But with so much to do, see, and eat, some of…

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Georgia.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Presiding Officer of the Senate be authorized to appoint a committee on the part of the Senate to join a like committee on the part of the House of Representatives to escort the President of…

Mr. President, last week, I had the opportunity to visit two island nations near our shores, Cuba and Haiti. Each is facing enormous problems--in Cuba, how to reform a Communist dictatorship of over half a century into a modern democratic…

Mr. President, I listened to the speech just given by the Republican leader of the Senate. He expresses a sentiment Americans share; that it is time for us to work together in the Senate and the House, across the board in Washington, and…