last week TIME Magazine published an extensive piece that took a close look at the hidden costs within our health care system and how the Medicare program, which is widely disparaged these days, is effective in controlling costs. We as a…

we just met with Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, a former Congressman from Illinois. He said the opposite of what the Senator from Pennsylvania said. The Secretary of Transportation said exactly the opposite of what the Senator…

this week marks the 1-year anniversary of the deadly tornado that devastated the towns of Harrisburg and Ridgway in Saline and Gallatin Counties. I visited both of those towns right after the tornado. I have seen my fair share of tornado…

I rise today to pay tribute to a friend and exceptional Illinoisan who recently passed away. In 1949, a young woman from New York moved to Chicago to attend college at Roosevelt University. Her name was Dianne Jones, and she stayed for the…

I ask unanimous consent that notwithstanding the motion to proceed currently pending, at 2:30 p.m. the Senate resume the motion to proceed to S. 16 and the Senate proceed to the cloture votes on the motions to proceed as provided under the…

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Rules and Administration be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 28, 2013. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Committee on Veterans' Affairs

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on the Judiciary be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 28, 2013, at 10 a.m., in SD-226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct an executive business meeting…

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 28, 2013, at 10:30 a.m., in room 215 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building, to conduct a hearing entitled ``Delivery…

I ask for an opportunity to respond to the Senator from Pennsylvania and then yield to the Senator from Iowa. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

will the Senator from Indiana yield for a unanimous consent request? I will yield the floor right back.

I will when I am finished. We know we are going to have to tell them they are only going to be able to work 4 days out of the week. It is mindless to stand on the Senate floor and say we can cut $1 billion out of the Department of…

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Armed Services be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on February 28, 2013, at 9:30 a.m. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Committee on Banking…

I rise to speak about the passing of an extraordinary American, a man who received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. I think he was one of the true leaders in my lifetime when it came to issues related to health care. Of course, I am…

I ask unanimous consent the the text of the bill be printed in the Record. There being no objection, the text of the bill was ordered to be printed in the Record as follows: S. 395 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives…

I announce that the Senator from Alaska (Mr. Begich), the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg), and the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Udall) are necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber…

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg) is necessarily absent. The result was announced--yeas 58, nays 41, as follows: [Rollcall Vote No. 24 Ex.] YEAS--58 Baldwin Baucus Begich Bennet Blumenthal Boxer Brown Cantwell…

I announce that the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg) and the Senator from Colorado (Mr. Udall) are necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Heitkamp). Are there any oher Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The yeas and…

I thank the Senator from Oklahoma and the Senator from Indiana. I rise today to express my support for our former colleague Chuck Hagel to be America's 24th Secretary of Defense. We hoped Chuck Hagel would have been named Secretary of…

as everyone in the Senate knows, and people across the United States, with the sad passing of Senator Daniel Inouye in December, there were a number of changes that were made in the Senate Appropriations Committee--a committee which…

If it is common in America to have a military assault weapon with a 100-round magazine, if that is common for self-defense in America, God save this country.

This is not 'feel-good legislation.' I am sorry you used that phrase in your statement and testimony.

the fact that we have endured so many tragedies--Newtown being the most recent--is an indication that your early inclination toward restricting and regulating the use of these weapons was certainly necessary to keep America safe.

The Second Amendment, like the First Amendment, does not prevent lawmakers from enacting reasonable regulations that do not seriously interfere with the core right guaranteed by the Constitution.

This is a shared responsibility of prosecution.

I am sure you will now support a universal background check to keep the guns out of the hands of criminals, will you not?