Mr. President, I am pleased to introduce the Public Officials Accountability Act, to ensure that our elected leaders cannot use their office for their own personal benefit. Public corruption has turned the ``Land of Honest Abe'' into the…

We had a historic vote in the Senate last December on the DREAM Act. Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, promised that we would bring this measure for consideration on the floor of the Senate. Some people on both sides of the aisle…

I want to thank the Senator from West Virginia for his comments on our dependence on foreign oil. We import about $1 billion worth of oil a day. That does not make our Nation any stronger. In fact, it makes us more dependent. For our…

Madam President, closer to home in Illinois, we are fighting the floods. It happens regularly, and we have had a tough time with it. The Ohio River, the Illinois River, and the Mississippi River have all been threatening communities such…

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. 952 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of…

Madam President, I rise in support of the comments made by the majority leader. I was in Chicago over the weekend, and downstate as well in Illinois, and saw these gasoline prices and understand the hardship they cause. At a BP filling…

Madam President, let me say a word very quickly about the President's speech today in El Paso. I have said on the Senate floor many times, because it is a source of pride to me, I am a first generation American. One hundred years ago, my…

I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller) is necessarily absent.

Mr. President, I am pleased today to join the Illinois chapter of the American Association of Intellectual & Developmental Disabilities, AAIDD, in recognizing the recipients of the Illinois Direct Support Professional Award 2011. These…

Mr. President, more than 2 months ago, a popular uprising in Egypt swept President Hosni Mubarak from power after 30 years in office. The Egyptian military is now charged with reforming that country's political system in preparation for…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 10 minutes as in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer), the Senator from Louisiana (Ms. Landrieu), and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, I rise today to honor an outstanding Illinoisan, Alice Saudargas, and to thank her for her many years of service as she ends her term on the Rockford School Board. Alice Saudargas is a remarkable public servant. She has…

Thank you, Mr. President. Let me quote a few words from it. This is a letter to me, dated May 2: Dear Senator Durbin: We understand that some in the financial services industry are claiming that the Durbin Amendment exemption from…

Thank you, Mr. President. I haven't had a reply yet from Mr. Dimon. He called me. I called him back. That seems to be the end of our exchange. But I would like to hear his response. I encourage him to share my letter with the same…

Mr. President, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the average price of gasoline is $3.96 a gallon nationwide. I have my own specially appointed monitor of gasoline prices in the State of Illinois: my wife. I called…

Mr. President, there are many issues which come before the Senate, and some are simple and some are complex. The issue I am going to speak to today is one which you are personally aware of, Mr. President, as the Senator from West Virginia…

Madam President, hundreds of local first responders, 500 National Guardsmen, and hundreds of volunteers in southern Illinois are working around the clock to try to protect homes and communities from the rising waters of the Ohio River and…