Mr. President, let me first thank Chairman Levin for the immense amount of work and passion and good thought he has put into trying to accelerate the day when we can say good riddance to the sequester. He sees firsthand, as chairman of the…

That is a guarantee of total gridlock and failure. That is why it is so important that no one in this body try to use that kind of hostage-taking extremist tactic, rather than allowing the regular order to continue.

Nobody has spent more time and more energy and put more effort into the way in which American income gets hidden offshore so people can avoid paying taxes and corporations can avoid paying taxes than Chairman Levin. He is our expert. There…

Let me thank the chairman for allowing me to join him today. He has shown great leadership in this area, and I am privileged to be here with him today. I yield the floor. ____________________

@DannyZucker, are you ready for the deal?

Mr. President, in ``Gulliver's Travels,'' Swift told us of two fictional lands--Lilliput and Blefuscu--that had been at war for years over which end of the egg to open first. In Lilliput they opened the big end of the egg, and in Blefuscu…

Mr. President, today I am reintroducing the Effective Teaching and Leading Act to foster the development of highly skilled and effective educators. In the upcoming reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, ESEA…

Mr. President, we rely on our public schools to prepare the next generation for success as citizens, workers, and innovators. We have asked educators to raise the bar and educate all students to internationally competitive college and…

Mr. President, today I pay tribute to Ms. Anne G. Murphy. Ms. Murphy, a Rhode Islander by birth and a strong advocate for the arts, passed away in April at the age of 74. Throughout her distinguished lifetime and career, Ms. Murphy worked…

Mr. President, it is important for the United States to continue its efforts to promote a close relationship with Puerto Rico and its citizens. That includes supporting a fair and democratic process for Puerto Ricans on the perennial and…

Madam President, as I make my first remarks on the Senate floor, I have the honor of occupying the same Senate seat, and in fact occupying the very Senate desk, once used by Senator Robert M. LaFollette, Sr. ``Fighting Bob LaFollette,'' as…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Ian Mulcahy, Emily Smail, and Donald Rausch, legislative fellows on my staff, be granted the privilege of the floor during the remainder of this Congress. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without…

Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business for as much time as I may consume. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

Mr. President, I rise in strong support of this resolution because Iran represents the single largest threat to freedom and peace in the Middle East. Our State Department classifies Iran as the most active state sponsor of terrorism…

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg) is necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Blumenthal). Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 45, nays 54, as…

I will yield the floor, because others wish to speak, but I will say that at this point in time we have passed a Senate budget resolution. We were challenged by the Republicans to do it, and we did it. It wasn't easy. It was a close vote…

I will in one moment, as soon as I finish replying to the Senator from Texas. So the notion this debt ceiling is something we can casually say whether it is approved and extended makes no difference--it makes a big difference. And whether…

But to condition the granting of the unanimous consent request to go to conference on the concern du jour of whichever Senator comes to the floor is unproductive. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Tennessee.