Belarus should be suspended from participating in the EU's Eastern Partnership; to allow it to remain a beneficiary of this program is to make a mockery of this initiative.

I am confident that, with international solidarity, they will recover and perhaps reemerge stronger.

shortly after midnight Mass during the early hours of New Year's Day, a heinous suicide bombing attack at the Saints Church in Alexandria, Egypt, killed 21 innocent worshippers and injured dozens of others. My condolences go out to the…

In the year 2000, 11 years ago, President William Jefferson Clinton was leaving office. We had gone through a period of budget surpluses. We were taking the budget surplus generated each year and buying more longevity in Social Security…

The United States cannot be silent. We have got to speak up for them.

during the recent 2-week recess, I was invited to speak to the Parliament of the nation of Lithuania in the capital of Vilnius. It was a great honor. This country holds a special place in my family. My mother was born in Lithuania. One…

today I am introducing the Great Lakes Water Protection Act with my colleague, Senator Mark Kirk. We face many challenges in protecting the Great Lakes--from contaminated sediment to industrial pollutants to invasive species. This…

Last week President Hu Jintao of China came to Chicago after he was received in Washington. He was received in a gala manner in that great city and I happened to be there for the dinner. There were leaders of the community and business all…

The phrase don't retreat, reload, putting crosshairs on congressional districts as targets, these sorts of things, I think, invite the kind of toxic rhetoric that can lead unstable people to believe this is an acceptable response.

The phrase 'don't retreat, reload', putting crosshairs on congressional districts as targets, these sorts of things, I think, invite the kind of toxic rhetoric that can lead unstable people to believe this is an acceptable response.

I wish to say a few words about Elizabeth Ridgway, an Illinoisan, educator, and hard-working employee of the Library of Congress who recently passed away. Elizabeth died on December 23, 2010, at the young age of 41. In her role leading the…

100 years ago today, there was a horrible fire in the stockyards of Chicago. Most of us have our vision of that era and the stockyards from Upton Sinclair's book ``The Jungle,'' which told of the life of a Lithuanian immigrant family…

I wish to speak briefly about interchange fee reform, an issue I have worked on for many years and an issue which was taken up just recently last Thursday when the Federal Reserve considered legislation we passed in the Senate and House of…

I rise to give special recognition to two Senate pages who have stayed here while all the others have gone home for Christmas. These two pages have been working hard today to keep up with the Senate's very busy schedule: Rachel Bailey, 16…

I have never seen a more amazing, productive session of Congress. In the Senate, you had to put it into perspective. At the same time we were accomplishing these things, we were facing record numbers of filibusters--more obstacles than…

Before I make a statement on another issue, I join the majority leader in his comments about the retirement of Lula Johnson Davis from the Senate. Before I came to the Senate, I was a Member of the House of Representatives for 14 years…

I wish to join my colleagues in noting the farewell address of Senator Arlen Specter is an inspiring moment in the Senate. It has been my great honor to serve with Senator Specter and to be a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee with…

I rise today in support of the DREAM Act and in support of the repeal of don't ask, don't tell. I will focus my remarks on the DREAM Act, but I want to make it clear to my colleagues, you will not get many chances in the Senate in the…

Let me also say I join my colleague from Alabama in sadness over the loss of a life of a border guard. It is a terrible thing. These men and women are serving our country, and it is a tragedy. But can we blame these young people sitting in…

This is Benita Veliz. Benita Veliz has an amazing story which I wish to share with my colleagues. Benita was brought to the United States by her parents in 1993, when she was 8 years old. She graduated valedictorian of her class, received…

over the past few months, we have heard a variety of justifications for why now is not the time to repeal don't ask, don't tell. Opponents of repeal have said that we should wait for our military leaders to call for change. Well, in the…

I am not suggesting it either, but eight amendments have been filed by Republican Senators and I don't know that you have done anything--I am certain you have done nothing to stop them should they want to move forward with those…

I have withheld the entire day from coming to the floor and speaking about the DREAM Act... I will come to the floor and speak on the DREAM Act, but I don't want to interrupt what he is doing at this moment.

I will tell you that there are no more effective spokesmen and spokeswomen for the DREAM Act than the young men and women who have been walking the Halls of the Senate over the last several weeks, months, and years. They wear caps and…

tomorrow, we are going to have two important votes. I would go so far as to say they are historic. In the history of the United States of America, I do not know how many people have lived in this great Nation. Today there are more than 300…