Mr. President, I come to the floor today to talk about the advice and consent duties of the Senate. Our Constitution gives the Senate the responsibility to advise the President on high-level executive positions and judgeships. The Senate…

Mr. President, I rise to continue this debate on one of the great issues of our time, immigration, the bill that is before us. I thank the ranking member Mr. Grassley for allowing me to jump ahead of him in the schedule. I have a markup in…

if we slash our investments in infrastructure, like our roads and our bridges, we aren't really saving any money at all.

More Rigorous Up-Front Analysis Could Better Secure Potential Benefits and Protect the Public Interest.

if we don't make investments now, we'll be stuck with a much bigger bill down the road.

investing in infrastructure creates jobs today; it makes our families safer and lays down a strong foundation for strong economic growth.

The 60-vote threshold, as my friend from Utah knows well, was designed to protect this institution that has been called the world's greatest deliberative body and to ensure that the minority has a role in the discussions. On this issue I…

I think that is a reasonable question to ask. There are a number of points that are relevant. No. 1, there is a considerable history of the debt ceiling being raised through reconciliation, and, indeed, it has been done in 1986, 1990…

I thank my friend and note that a number of Senators have raised this objection and we have focused on one thing and one thing only, which is whether the Senate can raise the debt ceiling with just 50 votes or instead whether the Senate…

Of course we shouldn't halt the issuance of treasuries, and of course we shouldn't forswear any and all debt. The Constitution provides that the Federal Government can incur debt, and there has been a long history of incurring debt…

I thank the junior Senator from Utah for his overly generous comments and kind characterizations. I think the analogy he drew is quite apt, that any lawyer, in representing a client, has an obligation to zealously represent that client…

My friend from Utah asks a terrific question. It is a question of procedural rules--whether in a courtroom or in the Senate-- designed to protect substantive rights. Ultimately, the 60-vote threshold is designed to protect the substantive…

I think--even in the medium term--I think we ought to be hopeful.

Yes, with caution, because we have our foreign policy priorities that influence these kind of decisions.

I can see a Magnitsky Act for Iran, easily, because that regime is involved in gross violations of human rights.

I want to thank all of the witnesses for their continued advocacy for democracy, not only in Russia, but especially in Russia.

I think the effect is on the urban, younger generation, whom, by the way, Putin lost, I mean, by every public-opinion poll--the future of Russia is not with his constituency.

I share your comment, there, that these are five of the most respected people I know, in America, that have spent, literally, their careers, four of them, in behalf of human rights.