please join me as we celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month this May. Asian Pacific American Heritage Month was originally established as Asian Pacific American Heritage Week in 1977 by a congressional resolution. In 1992…

5 years ago today, President Bush stood on the deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln in front of a banner that said ``Mission Accomplished'' and he told the Nation that major combat operations ended in Iraq. Those were his words. Now, listening…

I take this opportunity today to solemnly observe the 93rd anniversary of the Armenian Genocide. The Armenian genocide was the first genocide of the 20th century. From 1915 until 1923, 1.5 million Armenians were brutally killed by the…

I wanted to add my voice to their voices because, as I stand on the floor of the Senate some 45 years after passage of the Equal Pay Act, it is unfortunate that workers throughout the Nation will suffer pay discrimination based on gender…

I think if neither amendment gets 60 votes--and I certainly hope the Boxer amendment does, and I expect it would, but I don't know, it might not--I am already working on an alternative I would talk to my friend about right now, which is…

we have a very simple amendment. Sometimes in simplicity is strength. Sometimes in simplicity is power. Sometimes in simplicity you get to the place you want to get. I do not like a lot of words. I believe a few words will say it. Look at…

I have committed to my colleagues, both Democratic and Republican--I have spoken to Senator Lincoln, Senator Landrieu, Senator Ben Nelson, Senator Hutchison, only a few moments ago--that our committee, myself working with Senator Inhofe…

for the interest of all Members, we have been working now since Monday to pass a technical corrections bill, which, it seems to me, should have been passed very quickly. It basically makes some corrections to the last big highway and…

What we all want to do is get to the bottom of what happened with this Coconut Road situation, where it appears as if there may have been some activity that merits punishment. When we heard that Senator Coburn wanted to take on this issue…

This amendment is, first, wrong on its face and, second, it is going to kill the bill. Of all times to try and kill what I consider a mini-economic stimulus plan, this is not one of them. We have a lot of people out of work. Many people…

This is a bill that overall creates not one more penny of new spending. It will unleash into our economy, however, a billion dollars already budgeted for. That is why so many people are supporting this in real life: Construction companies…

We call attention to the exact problem that occurred in the bill, the exact project, without naming it. It is explained here. We know it is the Coconut Road project. This is not a sense of the Senate. This is a very direct amendment that…

I don't see the Senator from South Carolina here, and I don't want to presume to describe his amendment. That wouldn't be fair because he views his amendment as something that will help this bill and I view it as something that will kill…

when I learned about this whole issue of what went on in a very devious way related to a highway project, I was very glad Senator Coburn called it to our attention. Where we are right now is the best way to handle this, and this is where…

The President says we should halt the growth of greenhouse gases by 2025--``halt the growth,'' which means 18 years of nothing. What a pathetic response to a crisis that has united evangelical groups, scientists, businesses, and much of…

All of these will bring jobs and improve transportation in the State of South Carolina. That is why I supported it, as did Senator Inhofe. That is why we all supported it. There is a number of projects contained here, 13 projects, $110…

I am sitting here and listening to Senator Klobuchar, and I am so proud of her work on the committee that I am fortunate enough to chair, the Environment and Public Works Committee. This committee is so interesting because we do everything…

The organization that does the evaluation of our Nation's bridges, highways, and all of our byways, has run out of funds. The funds they had have been oversubscribed. What we do, without adding any new funds, is enable them to get funding…

I am very hopeful that our Republican friends had a good meeting about this SAFETEA-LU technical corrections bill and that they decided to work with us to get this job done. This, as we say, is definitely not rocket science. It is a bill…

I was pleased to see this dialog back and forth. Because, frankly, I have been wondering, as chairman of the Environment Committee, what was going on. We have a very straightforward bill on the floor. I didn't understand. We have a few…

I thank my friend for that, because this bill before us is a job producer. There is tremendous support for it. I wanted to make sure my friend was aware--because I have to ask him a question--of the support we have. The thing is, when you…

I am very hopeful we can move this bill. When my kids were a little younger, they used to say: Mom, it is a no-brainer. This is a no-brainer. This is something we need to do. We passed a very important bill several years ago that funds our…

I am happy to do it, I say to my friend, and I am glad she asked me when we passed this bill out of committee--June 2007. June 2008 is fast upon us. The House also passed it a year ago. This is a long time in coming. You are so right, we…

I just wanted to thank Senator Lautenberg for his extraordinary leadership on this and so many environmental issues.

Have they made the documents public? It is my understanding they have made no documents public.