while presiding for a couple of hours just now I listened to some very powerful and eloquent debate organized by the Presiding Officer--I thank him for doing so--regarding the migrant unaccompanied children who are coming across our…

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m. on Thursday, July 24, 2014; that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be…

if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that it adjourn under the previous order. There being no objection, the Senate, at 7:26 p.m., adjourned until Thursday, July 24, 2014, at 9:30 a.m…

The rights of people who suffer as victims of crime while at sea are completely inadequately protected.

I don't understand why the cruise industry doesn't spend the money to fix some of these problems, because it would inure to their benefit.

To keep them safe is a minimal obligation.

I'm going to ask that a letter from my Connecticut colleague Congressman Jim Himes be entered into the record in support of this legislation.

We are really trying to impose minimal protection on cruise ships.

Thank you for championing this bill, which I am very, very proud to co-sponsor.

One of its very distinct assets is its very dedicated people, its trained professionals who do such great work.

the VA needs... to choose the harder right rather than the easier wrong.

I would like your commitment that you will assist and support that investigation to hold accountable anybody in the VA who has committed fraud...

Ultimately, the victims are not just those veterans, but also taxpayers, because it is taxpayer money that often is lost.

public service is in your blood. It is part of who you are, and, I thank you for that ethic and tradition.

I raised the specter of the VA as comparable to a bankrupt corporation.

Our Nation's heroes are a public trust, so the corporation that you are about to take over will not be measured by its profitability but how well it serves our Nation's heroes.

If we are going to start, for example, correlating Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome with events that occurred during the military experience, that is cutting-edge stuff.

I hope that will be a priority for you and that you can commit that women's care for veterans at the VA facility in New Haven... will be a priority for you.

if we do not reach a conclusion on this legislation, the U.S. Senate is deserving of that same condemnation.

I think you can fairly gather that this committee is listening with a fair amount of incredulity to the contention that the General Counsel of this company had no knowledge about this defect or about the concealment of the defect and the…

I particularly want to thank Senator Blumenthal and his staff. They provided some valuable, constructive suggestions as to what this protocol should look like.

I am very honored to follow my colleague from Hawaii and her eloquent and powerful remarks, as well as the Presiding Officer from New Mexico, who knows much firsthand about this issue and has really been a leader in this body for me and…

the lawyers for GM actually enabled cover-up, concealment, deceit, and even fraud.

That would be his decision?

Will you agree to waive the immunity shield, the absolute barrier to people suing GM in court because of the shield that was granted during a bankruptcy proceeding that, in fact, involved potentially fraud by GM on the courts and the…