The one thing that will stick with me forever is BP's permit application. When they were asked to describe the likelihood of a spill and the likelihood that it would cause damage, it was shocking. It just said, absolutely impossible.

Americans, we are people who like to be able to control things. When every day we watched BP explode there in the ocean, we had no sense that we could do anything about it.

We do need that legislation.

I support efforts to restore the Gulf Coast and look forward to working with colleagues on a proposal that promotes the restoration of economically and environmentally important ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico.

I would not have called on you to end except we do have a vote pending.

Nobody felt it more than the two Senators from Louisiana.

This is astounding when total damages for the BP Deepwater Horizon spill could total in the tens of billions of dollars.

Legislation introduced by Sen. Menendez, the Big Oil Bailout Prevention Unlimited Liability Act of 2011 (S. 214), has been referred to the EPW Committee for consideration.

We need some type of a dedicated source of funding so that independent science work can be deployed without hesitation.

I think it's important that we continue to advocate for justice in regards to Alan Gross and to bring him back to the United States.

Should we condition assistance to Egypt? How can we be most effective in encouraging private sector development and growth?

I think my own view is that conditions are sometimes useful to focus the attention of the host government on what they need to do.

The United States is committed to supporting those in Russia pressing for free, fair, and participatory electoral processes.

Tomorrow the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will be holding a hearing on Afghanistan and the effectiveness of the U.S. participation in that foreign assistance program.

I think it's the right way.

So few people and certainly so few children understand the terms of service.

It would seem to me just one of the problems is, as we all know under the best circumstance it takes so long for us to get these laws done.

I think it behooves all of us to make sure that we get objective review of the material and assessment.