I thank the Senator from Wyoming. It is my pleasure to be on the Senate floor with him and to talk about my experience in dealing with the reality of a balanced budget amendment. As I said a couple of weeks ago when I spoke on the floor…

I rise today to echo my colleagues in recognizing Dave Johnson for his commitment to public service. Having spent 23 years working on agriculture and food policy for the Federal Government, Dave has demonstrated a rare dedication to an…

It is so disheartening when I talk to veterans and I go around the room and try to figure out where they are out in their life and how they are transitioning into the workforce.

In my view of the world, part of the cost of war is caring for our veterans.

The day this Nation cannot afford to take care of her veterans is the day this Nation should quit creating them.

I want to start out today by complimenting the Senator from South Dakota. He has gotten it absolutely exactly right. I wish to associate myself with the comments he has made. We are 7 days away from literally a crisis in our country. We…

I yield the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Washington. ____________________

I stand here today as a cosponsor of the cut, cap, and balance legislation and as a supporter of that legislation. Here is the insanity that has gripped not only this body but all of Washington. We are literally in here where we will have…

So barring heavy rain, which can change everything very, very quickly, looks like still into the fall before we start to see the water recede.

You know, you are describing a problem that there are probably some Tribes out there that can address it if they make it a priority, but there would be so many Tribes that could not; they do not have the resources, the staff, the…

I think it is accurate, that 45 out of the total 565 federally recognized Tribes participate in the flood insurance program as a Tribe, which seems to me to be just an abysmal rate, not good at all.

It is not like you folks don't have a few things on your agenda at the moment, but I really would request that you put some brain power behind this one because it seems like a problem that is intractable.

it seems abysmally low

I ask unanimous consent that I be permitted to enter into a colloquy with my Republican colleagues for up to 30 minutes. Senator Alexander of Tennessee, Senator Hoeven of North Dakota, and Senator Risch of Idaho will participate with me in…

Let me wrap up this colloquy this morning by thanking each one of my colleagues for their comments. Governors are practical people. We have to be. We have no choice. If jobs are going to be created in our States, we must lead that effort…

Let me thank Senator Hoeven. I noticed today we are also joined by another former Governor. In fact, we were both elected to the Senate at the same time so we are both part of the same class. Senator Risch, at one point in his career…

Senator Alexander raises such a valid point. In the State of Nebraska we don't have any road debt either. If we wanted to pave a mile of highway we had to have the money in the bank or it did not get done. The other advantage of that is…

I rise today to speak to an issue that I believe has all the potential in the world to define the future of this great country. It is an issue with which all of us who are participating in this colloquy are very familiar, and that is a…

What is the market reaction going to be just in terms of this? It just seems to me that if I were a big trader in Treasuries, I would want a better deal.

We know we are borrowing 40 cents on every dollar.

Senator Sessions raises an excellent point. Having served in the executive branch pretty much exclusively until I came to the Senate 2 years ago, there is only one leader. I not only believe that the Executive--in this case, the President…

I appreciate the opportunity to speak about a topic that I think has made all the difference in the world for my State of Nebraska. I did have the privilege, a few years back, of serving as the Governor of the State of Nebraska. Until I…

We adopted the philosophy in the State of Nebraska that we wanted to be job creators. We wanted to have that low unemployment. So we recognized it is not government that is going to create the jobs. After all, people don't want a bigger…

I rise today to speak in favor of the balanced budget amendment. Let me offer a thought or two as I get started today. I had the privilege at one point in my political life to serve as the Governor of a great State, the State of Nebraska…

It is without question certainly that one element of a robust export system is a strong Export-Import Bank.