It is said that Pope John Paul II was probably the most widely recognized person in the entire world. We have heard many inspiring tributes to this great man, and rightly so. I would like to take a few minutes to pay tribute to two other…

today, Viktor Yushchenko, President of Ukraine, addressed a joint meeting of the United States Congress. I was honored to be part of the committee that escorted President Yushchenko into the House Chamber. President Yushchenko's courage…

President Bush created a commission that was stacked to be for privatization and personal accounts, but notwithstanding that the closest option to what the President has described, option 2 from that Commission, says in the first 10 years…

at the request of Senator Lieberman, I ask unanimous consent that Andrew Young, a fellow in his office, be granted the privilege of the floor during the consideration of the State Department authorization and all votes thereon. The…

I think it is an honest question, and it is one we should face honestly. The last time we did, in 1983, Mr. Greenspan's commission came up with a list of recommendations and said: Choose from this chart and you will lengthen the life of…

I thank my colleagues. Sometimes by accident the Senate lapses into something which perilously resembles debate. This may be one of those moments. For those who are following it, welcome to the Senate as I hoped it would be. I congratulate…

I will ask the first question. If you take up to 2 percent out of the Social Security trust fund--and it is a pay- as-you-go system--it is clear you don't have enough money to pay the benefits. The White House memo suggested that the way…

I might say that many of these people are teachers and firefighters and policemen who pay into their pension systems. They understood the arrangements when they went in and usually pay as much or more than Social Security requires. And for…

Monday night in Saint Louis a dream season came to an end. The University of Illinois was defeated for only the second time this season as they fell to the University of North Carolina Tar Heels. But as painful as the loss was, it does not…

Having spoken to the chairman of the committee, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for no more than 10 minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection? Without objection, it is so ordered. (The remarks of Mr. Durbin…

Zbibniew Brzezinski, the Polish-born national security advisor to President Jimmy Carter, tells a story about how the news of Cardinal Karol Wojtyla's election as Pope was received by the communist rulers of Poland. On that day in October…

This bill is being driven by the credit card and banking industry, you know, the same people who fill your mailbox with credit card applications you never asked for, the same people who show up at the Big Ten football game trying to peddle…

The argument behind this bankruptcy reform bill is it is not going to affect people in lower income categories. Senators on the other side of the aisle have come to the floor and said: Don't worry about this bill. Yes, it is stricter, you…

this bankruptcy reform bill before the Senate, S. 256, is a 500-page bill, which has been the dream of the credit card industry, banks, and financial institutions across America for almost 10 years. What they are trying to do in this bill…

Well, my amendment is only trying to clarify that. That is all it is doing. What I just described to the Senator is to say unequivocally, if someone files the initial documents currently required under chapter 7 and demonstrates to the…

So one has to be careful. They better put all of their debts down if they want to have them discharged.

Today, many people go into bankruptcy court because they have no place to turn. They have more debt than they can possibly pay. One of the major reasons people reach this point in life, the No. 1 reason people go to bankruptcy court is…

In comes the new law, and the new law says if one is below median income, that is the end of the story. They continue as currently required under chapter 7. They do not have to go through and prepare and file this means test which is…

At the outset, I thank my colleague from North Carolina for coming to the floor and reminding us of this wonderful chapter in American history, where the men who were on Iwo Jima and all the men and women who fought in World War II…

Members of the Senate will have a choice in just a few minutes about the future of the minimum wage. There was a time when we didn't even debate this. There was a time when Democrats and Republicans agreed that every once in a while you…

If the Senator is prepared to double the size of the business from $500,000 to $1 million because it should keep up with inflation, would the Senator be prepared to double the minimum wage of 1990 to what it should be today?

Would the amendment reduce the number of workers in America eligible for overtime pay and reduce the number of businesses in America required to pay the minimum wage?

pursuant to unanimous consent, on the next amendment you should keep in mind Kenneth Lay who, on the road to bankruptcy, took $200 million out of Enron. Bernie Ebbers took $366 million in personal loans out of WorldCom, and John Rigas took…

this is the bankruptcy reform bill. It is about 500 pages long. If I went to Illinois and asked the people I represent what they think we should do when it comes to bankruptcy, I am virtually certain that the first thing they would say to…

Isn't it true that Harry Truman, a Democratic Senator from Missouri, initiated this investigation into what he called profiteering during the war at the expense of soldiers and taxpayers, and was literally examining the practices of a…