Mr. President, I surely join Senator Inhofe in the plea that his time and much of the time between now and the 30-hour end point be yielded back. Somehow or other, I hope our leaders can manage that for not just Senator Inhofe's 54th…

Finally, we have managed to pass a national defense authorization bill for 52 straight years, including a number of recent years when we were unable to pass a bill in the Senate, and therefore unable to go to a traditional conference. That…

She is the hero. But in any event, I surely join in that request. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a full list of our minority and majority staff who have given so much of themselves and their families be printed in the Record…

Mr. President, a century ago on December 24, 1913, hundreds of miners and their families had gathered for a Christmas Eve celebration in the small Upper Peninsula town of Calumet, MI. Their community was under tremendous stress; the miners…

Mr. President, our men and women in uniform sacrifice much to keep our Nation strong and free. They are well-trained, extraordinarily capable and are some of our country's best and brightest. One of them is a man I want to help recognize…

Mr. President, I am very pleased to join Senator Inhofe, the ranking Republican on our committee, in bringing to the floor the agreement between the Armed Services Committees of the Senate and the House on the National Defense…

I appreciate your courtesy. I always enjoy coming before the Rules Committee. Just two points. First of all--maybe three quick ones--SGR was outside the budget agreement. It was decided to place it within it. All we are asking is for a…

I am glad we are talking about unemployment insurance. We are not showboating--we want to vote--and you misunderstand, if I might say so, the issue. If we don't act on December 28, 1.3 million people will lose every cent of unemployment…

The Senator points out the reality, which is what is likely to happen in January. There is another reality that what will happen in January is it will be very difficult to get to this bill because of the crushing business of CRs and other…

The point of the Senator from Arizona is extremely well taken. There is, relevant to his point, a list of expiring authorities which we have just received from the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, General Dempsey. I put that letter in the…

Special pay and bonuses, combat pay, travel and transportation allowances, nonconventional assisted recovery capability, the authorities to do MILCON, which were mentioned by the Senator from Oklahoma. It is a long list. There will be a…

Mr. President, before we left for the Thanksgiving break, Senator Inhofe and I said we would come to the Senate floor today to update Members on the status of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2014. Before the break we…