Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 33, H. Con. Res. 25; that the amendment which is at the desk, the text of S. Con. Res. 8, the budget resolution passed by the Senate, be…

I object. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection to the modification has been heard. Is there objection to the original request?

Madam President, yesterday, I introduced the Smarter Sentencing Act, bipartisan legislation that would reform our drug sentencing laws to make Federal sentencing policy smarter, fairer, and more fiscally responsible. This bill, which is…

Mr. President, 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. 1425 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of…

Mr. President, over the years I have come to the floor to raise the plight of political prisoners being held around the globe. These have included journalists, activists, bloggers, musicians, and opposition candidates who all had the…

Madam President, I would like to thank Dr. Glenn Poshard for all he has done for Southern Illinois University and for his 40 years of public service to Illinois. After more than 7 years as president of Southern Illinois University, Dr…

I announce that the Senator from North Dakota (Ms. Heitkamp) is necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was announced--yeas 86, nays 13, as follows: [Rollcall Vote…

I announce that the Senator from Iowa (Mr. Harkin) and the Senator from Louisiana (Ms. Landrieu) are necessarily absent.

Mr. President, 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. 1410 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of…

Mr. President, last week, I introduced the Clean Cruise Ship Act to limit the dumping of wastewater by cruise ships. Cruise ships generate millions of gallons of wastewater every day, and currently these ships can dump their waste directly…

Mr. President, we've made a lot of progress over the past couple weeks helping our Nation's students borrow at reasonable costs for their higher education needs. This year alone, students are projected to borrow $21 million in federal…

Mr. President, I am honored today to pay tribute to my friend David Vite on his retirement from the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, IRMA. He spent 35 years with the Illinois retailers, helping businesses across the State of Illinois…