I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller) are necessarily absent. I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Rockefeller) would…

I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) is necessarily absent. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 42, nays 57, as follows…

Thank you. I will be glad to concede the floor to one of my Republican colleagues if they come during this 5-minute period. When we wrote the health care reform bill, we relied on the best experts we could find. We were dealing with…

I ask unanimous consent for 5 additional minutes. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered.

Mr. President, America was alarmed to learn that Times Square was closed for business because of the potential of a bomb threat. A vehicle was discovered with smoke coming out of it. Some alert people on the sidewalks and vendors called it…

I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) is necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Bennet). Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 91, nays 8, as follows…

Right. And as we follow the now health care law, it's hard for some of us to really--I mean, the reality is that the people who are going to have the most difficulty are the small businesses in complying. And, again, when you talked about…

If the gentleman would yield, in small town rural America, a big company has 25 employees, maybe 40 employees. I mean, they are the massive job creators of rural America. And I know the Department of Commerce has their categories of what…

I thank my colleague for giving me some time. I am joined with some high school students from North City, Illinois, which is a small rural community. The thing that is worrying them and they are focusing on is, where are the jobs going to…

Well, we forget it, and we drive them out. You look at what we have done with the bailout of Wall Street. What we actually did was we established a premise of too big to fail, and then we bailed out the huge, powerful, big Wall Street…

And you have it up there too. I'm going to end with this: uncertainty, because uncertainty creates a disincentive for people to assume risk. And if they're going to assume risk, that's where bailouts are a failed economic policy because…

Mr. President, childhood obesity is a growing concern in the U.S. and I am pleased that the President and First Lady have decided to tackle this issue with the goal of solving the problem in a generation. Today, one in three children is…

I announce that the Senator from West Virgina (Mr. Byrd) is necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 43, nays 56, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No…

I announce that the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Bingaman) and the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) are necessarily absent. I further announce that, if present and voting, the Senator from New Mexico (Mr. Bingaman) would vote ``yea.''

I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) is necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 63, nays 36, as follows: [Rollcall Vote…

I announce that the Senator from West Virginia (Mr. Byrd) is necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 37, nays 62, as follows: [Rollcall Vote…

Mr. President, today the Senate will resume consideration of the Wall Street reform legislation. There will be no rollcall votes today. Senators should expect votes in relation to amendments tomorrow morning. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro…

Mr. President, for those who are here following the Senate today, as announced earlier, we are resuming consideration of this bill, and, of course, it is the Wall Street reform bill, the Financial Stability Act. It is over 1,400 pages…