I am pleased to be here today to present the details of the 2011 budget request for the Department of the Interior.

I agree with Senator Dodd. Parents are first, but if parents are first, teachers and school leaders are second.

I think there is enormous reform fatigue that goes on in these school districts.

I do not think anybody in the Senate would accept those odds for any of our kids or grandkids.

I cannot tell you how much I look forward to working with you on this.

We as a country are going to rue the day unless we think about the children that are living in poverty.

Mr. President, it is with a heavy heart that I rise today to honor the life and heroic service of SSG John A. Reiners. Sergeant Reiners, a member of the 1st Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, CO, died…

Mr. President, I would like to take a couple of minutes this morning to talk about something that not only affects the legislation currently on the floor but everything we are currently working on in the Senate. Before coming to the Senate…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak for 15 minutes as in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Reforming the Senate

any major public land designation will be done through an open and public process that engages the public and Members of Congress.

We ought to look at those factors rather than just pumping, because I don't think the answer is as simplistic as turning off the pumps.

A solution is something we have to jump on right away.

we should work with the local communities and with the Members of Congress to essentially do what we did last year

Chairman Dicks has been an enormous and Herculean champion for all of the Interior missions.

I disagree with the Norton-Leavitt Settlement because I do not think it was an appropriate way to essentially cede the authority of the Bureau of Land Management.

Our motto, Chairman Moran, is to really be smart from the start.

President Obama has long said our energy program for the Nation has got to be comprehensive in nature.

We are getting close to the point where we will have an announcement on the Outer Continental Shelf.