it has been my honor to serve on President Obama's deficit commission, a commission chaired by former White House Chief of Staff Erskine Bowles and former U.S. Senator from Wyoming Alan Simpson. For 10 months, we met and considered all of…

For the last 10 months, because of President Obama's Executive order, we have had a bipartisan deficit commission that has asked some of the hardest questions I have ever faced as an elected official: How can we come to grips with the debt…

last night, Chicago and America lost a hero. Ron Santo was a Chicago Cubs legend and an inspiration to anyone who has ever faced a tough, uphill battle in life. During his 15-year career with the Cubs, Ron Santo batted .277 with 342 home…

I think it would be a serious mistake for us to leave Washington for the holiday season without voting on that treaty on the floor. This is a treaty which the President has worked on and which is supported by previous administrations…

Today, with the passage of the International Protecting Girls by Preventing Child Marriage Act, the Senate takes a step toward ending child marriage. Child marriage is often carried out through force or coercion. It deprives young girls…

Next year marks the 30th anniversary of the first diagnosis by the Centers for Disease Control of acquired immune deficiency syndrome or AIDS. This year, 33.3 million people are living with HIV. Last year 2.6 million people were infected…

I thank my colleague from New York and my colleague from Missouri who was here a moment ago and all those who came to the floor to talk. I assume my colleagues are aware of the fact that all across America there have been cable TV…

every once in a while, Congress is faced with a policy choice that clearly defines for the American people exactly who each member is fighting for. We are nearing one of those clarifying moments here on the Senate floor. Today, the…

I am going to vote today against the Coburn effort to change our rules relative to earmark legislation. I wish to tell you, as a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, we have put in place what I consider to be the most dramatic…

I wanted to clarify an important part of this bill. While this bill does grant FDA many new authorities, the savings clauses in this bill--in particular, sections 403(3), 418(1)(3)(B), and 41900(3)(B)--preserve all of FDA's existing…

So while the bill does provide for certain exemptions from FDA authority for small farms and food processing facilities, these exemptions are based only on the specific provisions added by S. 510; they do not prevent FDA from taking…

I want to make sure we put this into the context of the lameduck session. This is a session when we are debating tax cuts, and the position held by the other side of the aisle is that we should give tax cuts to those making $1 million a…

I wish to join with my colleagues in saluting the departure of one of our best, Senator Chris Dodd. I first saw his father, though I did not meet him, when I was a student intern for Senator Paul Douglas of Illinois, who had an office that…

First, I thank the Senator from Iowa for his leadership on this issue. The fact is, it was almost 18 years ago when I received a letter from a woman in Chicago--written to me as a Congressman--named Nancy Donley. Nancy had a personal…

I can't thank Senator Harkin and Senator Enzi and others enough for their hard work in bringing this issue to this moment in time. At this point 89 percent of the American people support food safety reform to make our food safer and to…

I wish to say a few words about an extraordinary man, a friend of mine, who died this week in Carterville, IL. Dan Callahan was the head baseball coach at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale for the last 16 years. He died Monday at…

Women have been waiting for 30 years. The United States Senate should ratify this treaty without further delay.

it is nearing 2 years since we passed the Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act protecting the principle of equal pay for equal work by allowing workers to pursue pay discrimination cases beyond the arbitrary window established by the Supreme…

I wish to preface my remarks by thanking him personally. Tom Harkin has been not only a great colleague and friend, he has been such an exceptional leader when it comes to this important issue. The Americans with Disabilities Act, which…

I ask unanimous consent that 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. 3963 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of…

I ask unanimous consent that 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. 3962 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of…

I am finding it hard to follow your logic.

I think it is in the national interest, our national interest, to ratify CEDAW certainly for all the reasons that have been described so that we can give our leadership in this important forum in order to empower women who so sorely need…

When you sign on to a human rights treaty like CEDAW, you are making an international political commitment.

I think if we are going to show leadership in the world and encourage other countries to live up to our standards... it is hypocritical for us to be standing back on the sidelines.