I am glad I am following the comments of my colleague Senator Cornyn because we are both privileged to serve on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will be the first line of inquiry in relation to Judge John Roberts, who has been…

I rise to speak about the Santorum-Durbin global AIDS amendment, which addresses the deadliest epidemic in modern times. The amendment before us presents a simple choice: fighting AIDS, or funding cost overruns. Providing lifesaving…

I thank the minority leader. Madam President, I want to raise this point: If you can't discuss the issue of intelligence and security on a bill about homeland security, where would you raise the issue? What we are talking about here are…

this is a very brief and simple amendment. It designates MidAmerica St. Louis Airport in Mascoutah, IL, as a port of entry. MidAmerica Airport is the civilian side of Scott Air Force Base, one of the region's largest employers. MidAmerica…

I call up amendment No. 1166. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the pending amendment is set aside. The clerk will report the amendment. The legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from Illinois [Mr. Durbin] proposes an…

Otherwise, I have no objection to this unanimous consent request. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered.

I first congratulate Chairman Allard for successfully crafting his first Legislative branch appropriations bill. It has been a pleasure working through this process with him and I thank him for his leadership. He has done an exceptional…

Please advise me when I have 2 minutes. One of the special interest groups with more power in Washington than any others is the pharmaceutical industry. We have seen it time and time again. When we go into a bill for Medicare prescription…

I rise to oppose CAFTA for the reasons I stated earlier. It seems logical to say that if we want to expand our export markets, we should be negotiating with countries who have a more sizable market for our goods and greater buying power to…

I was in my office as I heard the Senator debating. I would like to ask a question through the Chair. I am heartened by the fact that this is such a strong bipartisan effort. I salute Senator Craig, in particular, who joined us in the…

I direct the question through the Chair. Those tuning in to this debate and starting to listen may not grasp what is at issue. The way you described it to us yesterday in the Senate Democratic caucus luncheon was that the Environmental…

Last night, President Bush stood in front of the soldiers of the 82nd Airborne and the members of the Special Forces and gave an important speech. Thankfully, he did not profess the unfounded optimism of Vice President Cheney, who recently…

We have people stationed at the borders between the United States and Mexico who are testing fruits and vegetables that come into our country. The Food and Drug Administration does this. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is involved in…

the bill under consideration on the Senate floor is intended to provide appropriations for the Department of Interior. Unfortunately, we were forced by circumstances to shift our focus during the course of debating this bill to…

does the Senator from Missouri have time remaining? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has 37 seconds. Does the Senator wish to reserve that time or yield it back?

I also say about a Bond-Levin amendment that will be offered that it does not set goals for increased fuel economy for oil savings. That is unfortunate. It gives the decisionmaking over to the National Highway Traffic Safety…

I have one of those amendments. I am prepared to either discuss it or to wait until there is some agreement as to the order, sequence, and time of debate. What would the Senator prefer?

I call up amendment No. 902. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from Illinois [Mr. Durbin], proposes an amendment numbered 902.

it is my understanding, under the terms of the agreement, that we have 40 minutes on our side, and there are 40 minutes under the control of Senators Bond or Levin. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.

how much time have I consumed? The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois has 22 minutes remaining.

I will start by reading a paragraph, but it is not from an environmental magazine or a political magazine or from a liberal magazine. It is from BusinessWeek, published in their most recent online edition of June 20, entitled ``Energy…

The Senator from Florida has a vision that I share, and that is alternative fuels, fuels that are renewable such as those the Senator has described, ethanol and biodiesel, and vehicles that do not use as much fuel. Senator Obama and I have…

In the interest of picking up a few more votes, I yield back all my time. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Illinois yields back all his time. The Senator from Missouri.

I am concerned about what is sold in America. I am concerned about the oil that is consumed in America and the gasoline consumed in America. I don't care if Toyota makes a car that is sold in Australia and what the mileage might be. That…

And I might also say the National Environmental Trust says that by 2020, nearly 15,000 more U.S. autoworkers would have jobs because of a higher fuel efficiency standard, a 14-percent increase in average annual growth in U.S. auto industry…