I rise in support of the Levin resolution. I salute my colleague from the State of Michigan because I think what he has captured in this resolution is, frankly, what the American people believe. There is no one in this Senate Chamber…

I hope Members will carefully read this amendment by Senator Byrd. This amendment says two things. One of these things should not even be controversial. It asserts the constitutional authority of this Chamber and the U.S. Congress to…

At this point, I suggest to the Senator from Oklahoma, I think he has read it. I think he understands it. Certainly President Bush's father understood it when three times in a recession he said we cannot leave these unemployed families in…

I was on the floor last week, and the Senator from Oklahoma came in and took a look at this bill, which is only a few pages, and he said: I really need some time to read this. I have watched the Senator from Oklahoma, and he reads very…

The point we are making is that we are dealing with a tax cut that frankly has brought us back down into a deficit situation and increased our national debt and increased the interest on which future generations will pay. That tax cut…

I rise at this moment to speak to the state of the economy and to call to the attention of the Senate what has transpired in America in the 2 weeks since the majority leader, Senator Daschle, brought to the attention of this country how…

The point I am getting to is that this effort by Senator Kennedy, Senator Clinton, Senator Wellstone, myself, and Senator Smith of Oregon is a really tradition that we have seen over and over again in the Senate and the Congress. When we…

we are discussing unemployment insurance. A few of these charts really tell the story. If we take a look at the economic record over the last year and a half, we see some rather dramatic things have occurred. When President Bush took…

I agree completely with the Senator from Nevada. For the Vice President, the President, or their campaign advisers to suggest that if we disagree on a labor-management issue in this new Department, we really are not committed to the…

The point I am making at this juncture is that collective bargaining rights make a difference. It is not a question about how bright the light is over the coffee pot for the employees taking their break and what color uniforms they are…

Not a bit. It suggested to me, I say to the Senator from Nevada, coming back to this bill, when we go to the merits of this debate, let's be very honest about what this concerns. This is a question about moving some 150,000 or 170,000…

Is he aware, as he continues to use the INS example at the Honolulu Airport, that after the ruling he referred to, they did work out differences with the workers and established the 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. graveyard shift once they worked out…

I spent the weekend in my home State of Illinois, from the southern part of the State, the metro east, St. Clair County, Madison County, and the city of Chicago, going from one place to another, and it is interesting to me that people will…

This chart, which I have brought to the floor, talks about the lost private sector jobs in the last 50 years. Look at what has occurred under President Eisenhower through George W. Bush. Look at the only period that shows red ink, the net…

Look at the rate of growth under the Bush Presidency. Is it any wonder the President does not want to talk about the economy?

If you have the weakest economic growth in 50 years, there is no reason for you to talk about it. Certainly this Bush White House will not. They won't bring this issue to the American people because they don't have much to tell us. The…

Average families have to worry about a lot of issues: the health of their children, whether they can make the mortgage payment. If families can face more than one responsibility, our Government certainly can. It is not enough to say we are…

That is the very point I am making. I concede that the President is the leader of his party, and every President has spent time trying to help his party and its candidates. I don't begrudge any President doing that as we come close to an…

I am aware of that. I say to the Senator from Nevada that I heard from not only businesses and developers and unions but from ordinary people about terrorism insurance. There is a fear--legitimate fear--if we don't pass something soon, it…

If we go to war, lives of Americans will be lost. Innocent people will die. War should be the last decision we make, the last option we take. Thank goodness, we now have movement through the United Nations. I am asking that the President…

I have not. The Senator is aware of the fact that we have the Patients' Bill of Rights that has gone nowhere in conference with the House and Senate, and there are issues we have tried to raise time and again--energy, for example--and all…

That is exactly right. I say this to the people at the White House who make up the schedule: Can you give us 4 hours a week on the economy? Pick the 4 hours and let's talk about it in realistic terms. Let's talk about health security 1…

Absolutely. The Speaker of the House almost has unilateral power to set the business for the House, now controlled by the President's party.

We did pass a prescription drug bill. It was not what we wanted. We wanted a voluntary program under Medicare which would be universal and available for all Americans so they could get the benefits of Medicare when it came to prescription…

No, I have not. I say to the Senator from Nevada, he joined me and Democrats and Republicans in passing the No Child Left Behind legislation the President asked for to put more resources in education. The Senator from Nevada is just as…