in a few hours President Bush will speak to our Nation about Hurricane Katrina, a catastrophe that has devastated the gulf coast and left all Americans deeply shaken. For nearly a week, the entire world watched in horror as tens of…

I announce that the Senate from New Jersey (Mr. Corzine) and the Senator from Louisiana (Ms. Landrieu) are necessarily absent. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. DeMint). Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The result was…

Hurricane Katrina may be the worst natural disaster in my lifetime, maybe in modern memory. The stories that come back from that hurricane and that disaster are so touching. Today, a man was rescued in his home. It was reported in the news…

I was led to believe that I had 5 minutes. I don't know if time is controlled? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 4 minutes 50 seconds.

Close enough. Mr. President, we estimate the cost of Hurricane Katrina could reach $150 billion. Some Senators speculate even more. We are passing a second supplemental appropriations bill which I assume will pass unanimously: $51.8…

If it meets with the Chair's approval, I ask unanimous consent that after I finish speaking, the Senator from Alabama speak for 10 minutes and the Senator from California for 15 minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so…

Thank you, very much. I will try to be brief and to the point. Chief Justice Rehnquist was a person I probably disagreed with in most political arguments. I read his opinions, and I realized that we just looked at the world in a different…

I rise today to honor Dave Mattio, Marian Catholic High School graduate and head coach of the Spartan football squad for 29 seasons. The message that Coach Mattio instills in his players is ``energy and ownership'' and his accomplishments…

I wish to follow up the statement by our minority leader, Harry Reid. It is time to get down to business. We will finish this afternoon, after the funeral of Chief Justice Rehnquist. I hope the Senate will return immediately, come right…

I thank you. A few moments ago, Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi spoke on the floor of the Senate about the pastor from my State of Illinois who just got into her truck and drove to Mississippi to see what she could do to help. There are…

first, I would like to thank both the chairman and the ranking member of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, Senators Domenici and Bingaman, for working together in a more open and bipartisan way in developing the bill we are…

Let me read a few things from this statement that I think are so significant. The judge said at the sentencing hearing for Ahmed Ressam, an alleged terrorist now prosecuted and convicted, the following: Okay. Let me say a few things. First…

If I could, I will say very briefly in response, I am disappointed that we did not resolve this issue favorably in the month of July in the Senate, but I am heartened by the statement made by the majority leader today. It is my belief that…

I announce that on this vote, the Senator from California (Mrs. Feinstein) is paired with the Senator from Kansas (Mr. Roberts). If present and voting, the Senator from California would have voted ``aye'' and the Senator from Kansas would…

When I finish my remarks, I will be happy to do so. The point I am making is this: I have a friend, a woman I have known since she was a young girl. She is married. She and her husband were unable to bring a child into this world. They…

today the Senate will overwhelmingly approve the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users, SAFETEA-LU, H.R. 3. I support this important legislation as I have done when similar measures came…

If a gun dealer in the United States has a history of selling guns to criminals--in other words, someone comes in and buys 100 Saturday night specials, ``fill up my trunk with guns''--obviously, not a sportsman or hunter or someone…

I ask a final question. There has been a lot of discussion in the Senate about the fact there is no exception for gun dealers who sell their guns to people who turn out to be on the FBI's Most Wanted list or those who may be involved in…

I will ask a question through the Chair. The Senator from Rhode Island, who has been speaking about the lack of emergency, the lack of crisis in the gun industry, and the fact that this is certainly not emergency legislation--I don't…

I would ask the Senator from Rhode Island, when it comes to protecting gun dealers from civil liability, from being held responsible in court for their wrongdoing, I have read repeatedly that when you consider all of the licensed gun…

I might just say, in closing, to the Senator from Rhode Island, when we traced criminal guns used in Illinois to kill people and commit serious crimes and tried to figure out where they were coming from, the largest supplier of guns to the…

These are the gun dealers that repeatedly sell guns that are traced to crimes. I ask the Senator from Rhode Island this question. The argument used for this gun legislation is, how can you hold a gun dealer responsible? For goodness sakes…

I would ask the Senator from Rhode Island, I am a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and we are considering two different bills to deal with criminal gang activity across America, which is a serious problem. We are coming down with…

I agree. I ask the Senator from Massachusetts another question about this bill. The Senator raises an important point. If a gun dealer in the United States sells a gun to someone---- The PRESIDING OFFICER. If the Senator from Illinois will…

this is a sad day in the Senate. It is a sad day in two respects. Yesterday, we were debating a bill, the Department of Defense Authorization Act. It is an important bill. It is a $440 billion bill for our American military: our soldiers…