I don't know how you define protected, but I don't know how you call that protected, when you're telling people they don't have to have this, they don't need it.

I wish to take a few minutes, if I may, and sort of review the events of yesterday, a historic day here in many ways in that we were able to bring up a rather comprehensive housing proposal, thanks to the work of Senator Shelby, my…

Madam President, let me deal, first of all, with the HOPE for Homeowners Program. I raised earlier this morning--and I will do it again, if necessary--that 8,427 people as of today will file for foreclosure. That number was for every day…

let me begin briefly by thanking our colleagues who have come and spoken on the bill already this morning. I thank Senator Bob Casey, of Pennsylvania, a member of Senator Shelby's and my committee, the Banking Committee, for his remarks. I…

It is truly a privilege and pleasure this morning to welcome to the Senate a remarkable individual who opened the Senate with a prayer this morning. He has lived an equally remarkable life and today resides in the community of Southington…

I return that compliment. To have a former Secretary of HUD as a member of the Banking Committee is a pretty good asset. When we talk about these issues, to have someone who ran that agency and knows these programs as intimately as Senator…

let the games begin. We are open for business. If Members have amendments they would like to raise, Senator Shelby and I are here, and we would like to move along. I know there are Members who have plans they would like to do later this…

I note this is a coin bill that was authored by Senator Nelson of Florida commemorating the 50th anniversary of the establishment of NASA, a historic moment. I commend Senator Nelson for his efforts.

I wish to add my voice to one of my dearest friends in this body, Senator John Warner, and to Jim Webb, who did a great job of this. All of us are grateful for the tremendous work they have done. Needless to say, millions of veterans…

I want to read this list into the Record to give our colleagues some sense of the broad support this proposal has developed. Let me quote from several of our major editorials as well as major economists representing the political spectrum…

I wish to speak, if I may, about the so-called Merida Initiative. This is a proposal which was made by President Bush, along with President Calderon of Mexico, to deal with the raging drug violence that is occurring along the Mexican…

I rise today with Senator Cochran and others to introduce legislation that will build on one of the best service success stories of the last quarter century: AmeriCorps. Fifteen years ago, as he swore in the first class of AmeriCorps…

This bill extends the flood insurance program for 5 years, while making commonsense reforms so that flood insurance remains available to millions of Americans who live in flood-prone areas. Though many people think of floods as confined to…

it is an honor to come to the floor today to celebrate Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel's 60th Independence Day. Today, on its 60th birthday, we recognize that Israel remains an island of openness. Its success belongs to all the Israeli people and is…

I am sympathetic with what my colleague is trying to achieve. There is an equity interest he has identified that I think has legitimacy. The question is, How do we satisfy that in a actuarially sound program? I commend him for the idea. I…

let me first of all say on this motion by our colleague from Oklahoma that Senator Shelby and I, and I believe most of us here, don't have a philosophical disagreement. I think we all appreciate the fact that we have ourselves in a…

I have strong feelings about whether we will be accountable and whether we pay for what we want to do. With this program, obviously the problem we are in is by attaching these additional costs onto the premium cost today, we make it…

Here is what we are doing. There are those who believe if you have any kind of a dike, dam or levee, that you should not have to pay for flood insurance. We cannot tolerate that in a sense. We have 130 dams, levees, and dikes that are at…

I urge you to come to the floor and offer them. Coming over at 3 o'clock, there is no guarantee that you are going to have the opportunity to make the case on behalf of the proposal, to the extent you would like. I urge Members on both…

It has been a half an hour since we had the colloquy about moving forward on the flood insurance bill. My commitment to the Senators from Louisiana and Mississippi was that we would move these amendments along. In fairness, I have to say…

I wish to thank him. For those who want to understand this, I think he is rather eloquent and knowledgeable. As a former insurance commissioner of the State of Florida, he has more than a passing familiarity with these issues. He has…

I commend Bill Nelson and the two House Members who crafted this legislative proposal to deal with the national catastrophe events. I commend them because they thought about this in a constructive way as to how they can possibly get…

The simple question, as pointed out by Senator Nelson from Florida, is that this amendment, as presently crafted, could end up costing billions more than we anticipated. There were $17 billion in claims in excess of the $1.5 billion in…

I express my gratitude, first of all, to Senator Reid, the majority leader, for insisting that this flood insurance matter come before the Senate. This is an important bill. There are a lot of issues that our constituents are facing,--the…

This is a matter that deserves our attention. We are only a few weeks away from hurricane season. We are literally having to pay on a debt of $17 billion. That is causing the rise in the cost of insurance to a point where people have a…