I am pleased to introduce Staci Yandle, nominated to serve as district court judge in the Southern District of my State.

In our view, it was preferable to have a world in which it was the courts that would ultimately have the authority.

It was 13 years ago when I introduces a bill called the DREAM Act in this Committee, and my cosponsor was Senator Orrin Hatch.

As a profession, lawyers, I think, have a special responsibility in that regard.

in this Chamber we spend a lot of time debating how our actions will affect future generations and the obligations we have to leave future generations a better nation and a better world. Nowhere is this responsibility more apparent than…

I announce that the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Begich) and the Senator from Iowa (Mr. Harkin) are necessarily absent.

I announce that the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Udall) is necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 58, nays 41, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 56…

Debo Adegbile has the keen intellect, life experience, and knowledge sufficient to be an excellent assistant attorney general. What an American story we find in his life. The son of Nigerian and Irish immigrants, he worked his way up from…

Sunday was a perfect Chicago afternoon-- not in terms of weather, which has not been too kind to us lately, but in terms of my events and schedule. My first stop was at Navy Pier for the Lithuanian Independence Day celebration, an event…

When there's no competition, a monopoly situation or anything close to it, buyer beware.

Price competition is going to give the taxpayers a lower cost, is it not?

Let's put some competition at this. That's the American way. That's the free market.

Thank you very much, Ms. Chaplain. We will have some questions.

What I hear from Mr. Musk is that he doesn't need that cost-plus item. He doesn't need that subsidy in order to compete with you.

It's not; it's categorically not a subsidy.

I think you can tell from the opening statements that this is a subject that I've found challenging to the committee and to Congress that really called for a much different approach in hearing.

Delivering national security satellites safely to orbit is one of our more important national security missions.

Mr. Chairman, if you keep cutting these budgets, we're going to be laying off the best workers in the world.

So I understand, for clarity here, you're saying that you have warehoused or stockpiled engines for 2 years' possible launches?

We're talking about competition, real competition. And if you can get it, it's the best thing in the market.

I want to thank all of you for being with us, Dr. Pace, Mr. Musk, Mr. Gass, and Ms. Chaplain.

I announce that the Senator from New York (Mrs. Gillibrand), the Senator from Florida (Mr. Nelson), and the Senator from Michigan (Ms. Stabenow) are necessarily absent.

13 months ago, I inherited an awesome responsibility. In the blink of an eye, I had become Chairman of the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, a position long held by Senator Daniel Inouye. It was daunting to step into the shoes of a…

I rise today in recognition of Black History Month. First established in 1976 as part of the U.S. Bicentennial, President Gerald Ford marked the inaugural Black History Month with a call to ``honor the too-often neglected accomplishments…

I was regrettably unable to be present for vote number 41, the confirmation of James Donato to be a United States District Judge for the Northern District of California. I was happy to see that he was confirmed, and if I had been present…