One of the things that has disappeared that I saw in the first years I was here in the Senate is the two leaders sitting down and perhaps coming to informal agreements that are then put into unanimous consent agreements to move forward…

The Senator from Utah has had a distinguished career in the Senate. His father did before him. He has an unusual perspective of this body. I wonder what his reflections might be upon Senator Byrd's thought about the importance of allowing…

This is a year above all years when there are voices in the country that seek to be heard. When through procedural means the majority suppresses those voices by suppressing their elected representatives, it only adds fuel to the fire…

Too many Americans are upset, even angry, that their voices are not being heard in Washington. The majority's abusive practice of suppressing debate undermines the Senate's debate traditions . . . We could start out by complaining that the…

I wish to go back to the point Senator Byrd made. He said in his address to new Senators in 1996: [A]s long as the Senate retains the power to amend and the power of unlimited debate, the liberties of the people will remain secure. What we…

My staff, in doing research and putting together my remarks, discovered that currently the single biggest source of revenue for State governments is to borrow money that is coming down from Washington. They are getting more from us than…

If I may say in response to the question and comment from the Senator from Kentucky, this country was created by States, and now has created a central government of limited powers. The central government makes the States the wards of the…

The Senator has been talking about education. There is another important part of the bill--$16 billion to Medicaid. This is the Federal program to which, now with the new health care law, more than 70 million people will belong in 2014…

The Lieutenant Governor of New York, Richard Ravitch, wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal on June 7 where he said he greatly appreciated the stimulus money...but because of these requirements that prohibit Governors and…

The National Association of Manufacturers says there are 22 million Americans who are hired by companies that do business not only in the United States but overseas. I say to the Senator from New Hampshire, I think we want companies that…

the vote we are having at 10:40 a.m. has the following problems with it: No. 1, it is $10 billion for the State to pay for teachers. That sounds pretty good except that it ties the hands of the Governors and the legislatures so they cannot…

I ask my friend from New Hampshire, the senior member of the Budget Committee and a former Governor of his State, what about the idea of sending money to States and then requiring them, in effect, to spend more money at a time when most…

Not long ago, the State of Tennessee was one of two winners in the race to the top in education funding. I was very proud of the State. This was not my doing. This was their doing--the teachers, the Governor, and the legislature. Both…

I suggested during the health care debate that anyone who voted for the new health care law ought to be sentenced to go home and serve as Governor for 8 years under the new law and try to make it work. The vote we are about to have this…

the President of the United States made an important speech this morning. He spoke to the National Urban League Centennial Conference on Education. Every speech a President makes is important, but this speech is especially important, and I…

Northrop Grumman recently announced that they would consolidate and close Avondale Shipyard by 2013. In the midst of economic downturn, the gulf oil spill, the drilling moratorium, layoffs from the NASA shuttle program, the decision to…

The 1.6 million of us who fly daily would not stop flying after a tragic airplane crash. We would find out what happened and do our best to make it safe. We cannot simply stop drilling after a tragic oilspill unless we want to rely more on…

There could be unlimited liability. But the President, in setting those risk-based factors, could take into account that there might be a company with a spotless record operating at drilling 500 feet for oil, but there might be a company…

I think the American people would rather we spend our time saving their jobs during a time of 10 percent unemployment. One way to save American jobs is to stop sending jobs overseas looking for cheap energy, which is what the Democratic…

I'm sorry I can't be at Senator Robert Byrd's memorial service in person because I'm celebrating the first family reunion with my eight children--and their children--from across the country. My wife will join me at this event, and I will…

is it not true that this request by Republican members of the Senate Appropriations Committee, since it comes at a time when many Americans and most Senators believe the level of the Federal debt is at crisis levels and threatens the…

40 years ago, at the time of the first Earth Day, Americans became deeply worried about air and water pollution and a population explosion that threatened to overrun the planet's resources. Nuclear power was seen as a savior to these…

Because Federal spending and debt are at crisis levels, Republican Senators on the Senate Appropriations Committee are asking our Democratic colleagues to join us in supporting the Sessions-McCaskill freeze on discretionary Federal…

I know we sometimes hear the American people say, or commentators say: Well, why don't those Senators work across party lines and get a result? My question... is this not a proposal that deserves respect as a serious attempt to restrain…

I wonder if I could ask the Senator another question. The Senator was talking about the increasing debt. Am I correct that it took the first 43 Presidents of the United States and the Congresses they served with about 230 years to run up…