Madam President, this is a historic vote. It is one that has involved a lot of emotion and soul searching and a lot of hard work. The leaders are on the Senate floor--the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate, Senators Reid and…

Madam President, although this bill reflects a balanced approach, Americans also expect a balanced budget. We need to apply the common sense of the heartland to spend within our means, as each family does with their monthly budget. The…

Mr. President, I rise today in honor of the fallen soldiers from Hero Street USA in Silvis, Illinois and ask that the Senate recognize the memorial park on Hero Street as Hero Street Memorial Park. In 1967, 2nd Street in Silvis, Illinois…

I am not coming down here to blame one side or the other for the financial position that we are in because we all have a part to play in the story, but this is a great day. I was also asked earlier about how I felt about today, and I told…

We are in an historic heat wave in this country, and I'm not talking about the debate on the debt limit, I'm actually talking about the temperature outside. And what's noted is that many leaders throughout this country--whether they're…

Mr. President, many of us undoubtedly remember the heart wrenching images of starving Ethiopian and Somali children in the 1980s and 1990s. Those haunting images are hard to forget. Unfortunately, I am compelled to come to the floor to…

Mr. President, let me say a word about the leadership in the Senate. I have the good fortune of working with Senator Harry Reid, our majority leader. In my role as whip, or assistant leader, I have been close at hand when most of the major…

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum and ask that the time under the quorum call be equally divided between both sides. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will call the roll. The assistant…

I hope so. Mr. McCAIN. Does the Senator from Illinois agree that, most likely, that agreement will not have an increase in taxes associated with it, at least in the short term?

Amen. Mr. McCAIN. No. 2 is that to insist that any agreement is based on the passage through the Senate of a balanced budget amendment to the Constitution of the United States, as I said before, is not fair to the American people because…

I am going to give the Senator a chance to speak again. Does the Senator believe that defaulting on our national debt for the first time in our history, which has been the threat looming over us from the House Republicans and others for a…

If the Senator would yield for a question. Mr. McCAIN. I would be glad to just hear the Senator's comment.

I would like to respond to my colleague from Arizona, through the Chair. Does he recall what happened with the Reagan tax cuts? Because what happened was we tripled the national debt during that period of time, and President Reagan came to…

The second point I would like to ask the Senator from Arizona, I think one of the real bedrock beliefs among Republicans is that if we cut taxes, particularly on the wealthiest people in America, the economy will prosper. We hear that over…

First, during the course of the Senator's Presidential campaign, Mark Zandi, his economist, helped him formulate some positions. His opinion of President Obama's stimulus is, it stopped a precipitous decline in our economy. Did it achieve…

First, I wish to thank my colleague from Arizona. For those who are witnessing this, this is almost a debate in the Senate. It rarely happens. I thank the Senator for coming to the floor. Mr. McCAIN. May I say that rather than having the…

I wish to make sure we have some stimulus to the economy to create jobs and help those out of work find work with training and education. Mr. McCAIN. So one would have to assume that the Senator from Illinois believes the last stimulus…

I honestly am not party to this. But I can tell the Senator, as the Gang of 6 and fiscal commission, we believe everything should be under consideration to reduce our national debt. Mr. McCAIN. So I assume that would also mean the Senator…