I wonder whether we could not benefit from an effort to simplify our tax system.

The Federal Government has failed under two different types--very different types of administrations to wean our way off of the need to import oil from overseas.

I thank my colleague. He sums it up pretty well, is all I can say. For our children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren, we need to get this done. Frankly, it ought to be done in the Budget Committee and not by rule XIV on the floor…

That is right. I think the distinguished chairman of the Budget Committee, Senator Conrad, wants to do it. But in their caucus they cannot get together because they all want to spend and tax more. They want to keep spending and taxing the…

That is a good question. I tell my friend from Alabama that it amazes me how much our friends on the other side are hard wired to increase taxes. As the ranking member knows, if current tax policy is left in place, including today's low…

Our corporate rate is 35 percent. That is the highest in the world, other than Japan's. It is causing a lot of corporations to leave our country. In the 1970s, 39 of the top 50 multinational corporations in the world were based in the…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to move to the nomination, if the leader has no objection, so I may give my opening remarks. I withdraw my unanimous consent request and suggest the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro…

My friend from Alabama, as he always does, has arrived precisely at the critical point. We need a fiscal policy that is balanced. Its remedies must respond to the causes of our current fiscal calamity. In the most recent fiscal year…

The ranking member, my friend from Alabama, summed up the fiscal predicament perfectly. It comes down to a lack of balance. Our friends on the other side simply cannot agree among themselves at this time, and the reason they cannot agree…

That is a good question. The distinguished ranking member of the Budget Committee has asked a fundamental question. The answer, to me, and I think everybody else, is as clear as a bell: The American people overwhelmingly expect the Senate…

I sure do. They actually worsen the deficit by $2.2 trillion in relation to the CBO baseline. Until one sees the numbers in black and white, the budget is just talk. Democrats and Republicans have an obligation to produce fiscal blueprints…

There is no question about it. The chairman has the responsibility for holding hearings that lead up to a budget resolution, the structure of the budget resolution, in accordance with his party's belief, it seems to me, and then bringing…

Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum, and I ask that the time be divided equally. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Brown of Ohio). Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk proceeded to call…

There is nothing more important in our lives now than coming up with a budget that would put us on a downward trend for spending. We are spending around 69 percent of the GDP. Our national debt of $14.3 trillion is 90 percent of the GDP…

Is it time to move to the Liu nomination? The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Not until 11 o'clock. There are a few minutes remaining.

I ask unanimous consent to be permitted to continue my statement. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Cindy and Bruce write: Our family returned to the Vernal, Utah, area . . . after being absent for 10 years. We realized we loved the area and wanted to be back with our families. . . . At that point we decided we wanted to do more than…

Madam President, I rise today as a cosponsor of the Republican leader's Offshore Production and Safety Act, S. 953. I have to say it is a breath of fresh air to be discussing a substantive energy policy proposal. Last week in the Senate…