Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of H. Con. Res. 96, which was received from the House and is at the desk; that the concurrent resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid…

I announce that the Senator from North Carolina (Mrs. Hagan), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg), the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Lieberman), the Senator from Maryland (Ms. Mikulski), and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders)…

I have no objection. May I have some suggestion about the time for each? Senators Wyden and Moran want to speak.

Mr. President, here is what I suggest to the Senator from Texas. Senator Wyden and Senator Moran already asked for time. I only ask for 3 minutes to speak about Senator Kirk, and then I will turn it over to them. I will not speak at…

I ask unanimous consent that that be the order. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

Mr. President, we have been gone for 6 weeks or so. It is great to see our colleagues back here. A lot of things have been exchanged about what we did back home during the break, but the focal point of most conversations on the floor this…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the text of the bill be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record, as follows: S. 2032 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 3237 and the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 264, S. 1134. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the bill by title. The legislative clerk read as follows: A bill (S. 1134) to…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported amendment be agreed to and be considered original text for the purposes of further amendment; that the Klobuchar-Johnson of Wisconsin-Franken amendment, which is at the…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 10 a.m. on Tuesday, January 24, 2012; that following the prayer and the pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the…

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 6:56 p.m., adjourned until Tuesday, January 24, 2012, at…

I had a previously scheduled meeting with constituents in Champaign County Illinois and was unable to attend votes this evening. Had I been present, I would have voted ``yea'' and ``yea'' on H.R. 1141, the Rota Cultural and Natural…

It's great to be back down on the floor, back to being in Washington, DC, to continue with what I spent most of my time last year doing, which was addressing the high-level nuclear waste issues in this country. Today, we go to the great…

You know, I'm a military pilot, and I've been overseas and executed this Nation's wars. And I'll tell you, one of the things I've seen firsthand is that the biggest threat to our national security is our national debt. This debt ceiling…

You know, when we look at what are some of the most important issues facing our country today, obviously economy comes very first. Next, we talk about energy, we talk about spending, and we talk about national security, all very important…

Yesterday, January 17, Muhammad Ali became 70 years old, so I rise to salute the champ and to wish him a happy birthday. Ali has taken a lot of hard licks during his lifetime, but has always gotten up and has always maintained his dignity…

It is important that as soon as we get back here today, it is our first day back, that we get back on the focus of creating jobs in this country. And not jobs that government says we can create, but sustainable jobs that are created by the…