The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Kirk). The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Franken). Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 68, nays 31, as follows…

The following Senator is necessarily absent: the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Kirk). The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Hagan). Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 97, nays 2, as follows…

Mr. President, I note my colleague from New Jersey was also standing. I have about 5 minutes of remarks. Did the Senator from New Jersey wish also to speak?

Again, I hope we all come together in plenty of time to take care of this important business. I bring it up now, well before the deadline, because the clock is ticking. A Senate bill would have to be reconciled with the House. We need to…

Madam President, I rise to talk about another vital program we must reauthorize and continue before it expires; that is, the National Flood Insurance Program. Right now, that is due to completely expire at the end of May. So I wanted to…

Madam President, when my wife Frannie and I decided that I should run for the Senate, we were greatly influenced by the example set by Senator Paul Wellstone and his wife Sheila. The Wellstone example serves as a constant reminder of what…

Mr. President, I compliment the Senator from Massachusetts for taking so much time to praise a person who clearly deserves praise, who has worked so hard for him and for the people of Massachusetts and for her country. Clearly, Mary is an…

Mr. President, I note the Senator from Massachusetts has a very tight schedule and a close timeline to catch a flight overseas. I think it appropriate that I defer to the Senator from Massachusetts. He has a very tight schedule, and I can…

Mr. President, on this floor we talk a lot about the critical importance of family. I frequently speak about my family, my 10 grandchildren and 4 children, who are the foundation and inspiration for everything I do. But for some Americans…

I remember when I was in Congress when I wanted to stop something from happening, I used to offer an amendment to do a study, or maybe to do a demonstration program, hoping it never got completed.

My opinion is that in order to ever reach an agreement between the two parties, Congress is going to have to combine the best of what government can do with the best of what the private sector can do and put the two together.

The great challenge today I would just suggest to both my Democratic colleagues and my Republican friends and colleagues... is how do both political parties bridge the gap between the different political philosophies and produce health…

I think the whole debate politically about ending Medicare as we know it, I think we want to change Medicare.

My answer would be yes, but you don't have to take my word for it.

Let me suggest it is a program that is more popular today than the Congress that wrote it.

We want to keep Medicare. I think we want to improve the delivery system.

Just like my Chevy II, things have changed, things have improved, so our recommendation is that we keep Medicare of course.

I will complete my statement in a moment. If an abuser is not from the tribe, there is no recourse--no recourse--in a place where 39 percent of the women will face domestic violence, and we have colleagues on the other side of the aisle…