Tom Harkin

There may be a point in time when I would agree with the chairman on this. It is Monday, and I know people are working diligently in their States, and they are headed back. There may be a couple of amendments that Members want to offer. I…

Someone told me there was a vote on a couple of judges at 5:30. I think after that we have to take a look and see how many amendments there are, if I am not mistaken. I thought the chairman was going to offer a cloture motion tomorrow. If…

I was told last night, I say to my friend from Alaska, that I had a half hour. I came in this morning and found out I only have 15 minutes. I don't know who made that agreement. It was done without my knowledge.

With the understanding I would be able to offer an amendment as soon as the bill is laid down.

I would ask the manager of the bill, would this be an appropriate time to send my amendment to the desk. Mr. McCONNELL. That would be fine. I would like to take a look at it. I am not sure we have seen it.

Certainly. I just got it finished a bit ago. Mr. McCONNELL. I think it would be appropriate to send it to the desk.

I was wrong about ethanol. A gallon of ethanol is only about $1.22. I point out that it would be great if more people used it. It is only $1.22 and $2.25 for gasoline.

My friend talked about the transporting of ethanol going down the Mississippi and then on barge around this and that. Has my friend ever considered how you get the oil from the Mideast over here? You have to go over there with a big…

Well, I had a request from Senator Carper who wanted to speak. I assume Senator Bond may want to speak. I do not know. That is only 7 more minutes.

Wait just a second, Mr. President. The Senator said he wants to do what at 5:30?

Did I hear the Senator correctly that someone was suggesting the minimum wage is communistic?

And if there's one thing we've got, we've got food.

But have your people look at that, and talk to your boss.

It should be in the supplemental. It is an emergency.

Last December, the United Nations released a report and found there were nearly 852 million chronically hungry people in the world.

On January 13, 43 Senators, Republicans and Democrats, wrote a letter to President Bush urging him to seek more funds for food aid.

The only thing that the President is willing to take off the table is diplomacy.

I think we're still going to be reading news reports, like the Associated Press (AP) article that I asked about last May.

This is $5.7 billion. This is not chump change.

I can't help but think that we would not need that much money if the $8.8 billion of Iraqi money had been accounted for.

Regrettably, in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, we have not had meaningful accountability or congressional oversight of defense contracting.

The President said that the majority of this emergency request, and I quote, 'will ensure that our troops continue to get what they need to protect themselves and complete their mission.'

I do not see one dollar, not one dime, to take care of our troops and ensure that they have the tools they need to succeed when they become veterans.

Unfortunately, this supplemental budget request fails to deliver what our troops need most.

We owe our troops more than mere gratitude for a job well done.