I ask unanimous consent to speak in morning business for 20 minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Income Inequality

We are going to have a bigger problem with the Government abuse of privacy with drones now.

I just do not want a big black hole here.

I mentioned my concern that the President has been using Executive orders to circumvent the will of Congress and the American people.

We are just trying to determine whether or not he has exceeded that authority.

This is a clear violation of Congress' move to strengthen anti-fraud laws.

But I am not questioning whether or not he can do it. I might have some question about the legality and constitutionality of it.

I would like to know when I might be able to expect a response but, more importantly, whether you agree with Secretary Sebelius that the Affordable Care Act plans should be exempt from the anti-kickback laws.

I think this is unacceptable. The Department should show sufficient respect for this Committee to answer its questions.

It would seem to me it is pretty easy to see how that one individual is going to be run over if we do not see that they get their constitutional rights protected.

It is unfortunate that we always have to start a Department oversight hearing with this same request to respond to unanswered questions from Congress.

It does not seem to me like you would want to exempt anything from anti-kickback laws.

I ask unanimous consent that the letters I will be speaking about be printed in the Record at the end of my remarks. Recently the Obama administration has been talking a lot about income inequality and poverty. Yesterday I spoke about the…

tomorrow night we have the State of the Union Address, and news reports say that one of the issues the President will be speaking about is income inequality. That brings me to something I should have spoken on a couple of weeks ago…

I call on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the matter to ensure that these price spikes were not a result of anti-competitive behavior or illegal manipulation.

I would like to continue the discussion about the description of the Senate as a deliberative body and continue to echo the call for the distinguished minority leader for a return to a functional Senate. I have spoken on this issue before…

Like many of my colleagues, I believe this is an extremely important issue, and trade agreements might be one of the best means that we have of getting results.

I think you are telling me that as far as these two negotiations going on, TPP and TTIP, you don't have any particular enforcement concerns at this time.

There is not a lot of voice for agriculture in Washington, and we need more of it.

I surely want your agents to find ways to address what I think is an abuse without compromising our tradition of asylum.

I am concerned about the increased number of applicants who are filing for asylum or claiming credible fear at our ports of entry.

I ask, since I just arrived on the Senate floor, is it appropriate for me to speak on the judicial nominee we will be voting on. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator may proceed. Wilkins Nomination

Our judgment about the government holding the data is that the primary danger of the 215 telephony metadata program is not if it is used only in the way in which its use is authorized, but that it leaves sitting out there a huge amount of…

Although recent disclosures and commentary have created the impression in some quarters that NSA surveillance is indiscriminate and pervasive across the globe, that is not the case.

we are going to vote on the third of three nominees to the DC Circuit. Today it will be Judge Robert Wilkins. I will oppose the judge's nomination, just as I did when the Senate rejected the same nomination in November of last year. This…