I have waited patiently now--as has the Senator from Illinois, Senator Carol Moseley-Braun--I have waited since November 1997 for the Senate to take up consideration of two Federal District Court Judges of Illinois. Patrick Murphy of…

I am concerned that we not forget during the course of the remaining days the high priority that faces us when it comes to the tobacco legislation. It is a high priority because each day, every day in the United States of America, 3,000…

Mr. President, when I try to understand the logic of those who oppose this bipartisan campaign finance reform and try to understand their thinking, which concludes that both the rich and the poor in America should have the right to…

Thank you. This chart really brings home the issue what we are faced with. In 1960, the total amount of money spent in the United States of America on all Federal, State and local campaigns--$175 million. Watch it grow. Watch it grow…

on Saturday morning, in the early morning hours, my wife and I received a telephone call that was a shock to us. A dear friend and close political ally of ours, State Senator Penny Severns of Decatur, IL, had succumbed to cancer in the…

No Senator from the State of Illinois could rise on February 12 without noting the birth date of Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln never served in the Senate, although he did serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. One of his most…

I just left a meeting, partisan meeting, Democrats, Senators and Congressmen, with the President and Vice President where we discussed our agenda for this year. At the end of the meeting, President Clinton said that he hoped we could reach…

I rise today to suggest that we should not be rushing to consider a bill that may do far more than ban human cloning permanently. The Lott-Bond cloning bill was only introduced last Tuesday and has been available for review for a very…

I came to Washington 15 years ago to be a Member of the House of Representatives. I can recall that one of the major items that we discussed in the entire 14 years that I served was the budget deficit. It seemed like such an impossible…

I am completing my first year in the Senate. I will be the first to confess I have a lot to learn, but it has certainly been a rewarding experience serving in this great body. Having had the opportunity to serve 14 years in the House, I…

Bill Lann Lee is a Chinese-American who was designated by President Clinton to head the Civil Rights Division in the Department of Justice. It is probably one of the more controversial jobs in the Federal Government. Civil rights, of…

I hope that next year my colleague will lead a bipartisan effort to take a serious look at the future of Social Security and Medicare, and so many entitlement programs that we worry about, in terms of long-term solvency. Though I may not…

I am, as you know, concluding my first year in the U.S. Senate. Within a few days, we may be able to go home, and the sooner the better. As I reflect on my first year, I think back on one particular issue, which I didn't anticipate being…

Bill Lann Lee is the son of Chinese immigrants who came to this country to New York virtually penniless. His mother and father started a hand laundry. He and his brother, who is now a Baptist minister, worked in that laundry with their…

Yesterday I introduced with Senator Torricelli a bill... to consolidate all of the food inspection services of the Federal Government in one independent agency. Mr. President, 33 million Americans each year have some sort of a foodborne…

I am really encouraged that this piece of legislation increases spending on Federal medical research projects by 7 percent. I wish it were a lot more, and I bet the Senator from Iowa and the Senator from Pennsylvania agrees. Not too many…

Is this the most important debate in American history? It may be, because what is at stake in this debate is not the amount of money that is being spent in a campaign, it is really not about the conduct of campaigns, it really doesn't have…

Amendment No. 1140, which I have offered, is an amendment that I think is absolutely essential if this bill is to be airtight. We are giving to outside laboratories the authority to review and approve medical devices, medical devices which…

if you buy a car in America the manufacturer keeps a record of your name and address, or if there is a defect they can recall the car. This bill removes the requirement for medical device manufacturers to keep a record of those people who…

the conflict of interest provision which we have just discussed is a very important one, but the one which I am addressing with this amendment may be even more important. Consider this possibility. On Monday of next week you go out to buy…

another key aspect of the Safe Medical Device Act, which this bill undermines, is the mandatory surveillance program for high-risk medical devices. These surveillance programs are extremely important for early detection. In some cases, the…

But the agency that we are talking about today is an agency you would notice immediately--immediately--because the Food and Drug Administration, as small as it is by Federal standards, is one of the most important. There is not a single…

I think what it suggests is that, if this committee had started off with the premise that when their deliberations had been completed we would come forward with campaign finance reform, the 1998 election would look different to the…

So the Senator is saying--I am trying to reconcile his section (b). He applies this limitation to court orders as well as any settlement agreement. It would seem his limitation on attorney's fees would apply in either instance, whether the…

this amendment gets to the heart of the question. What are these agreements? Are they generous? Are they reasonable? Each attorney general, under my agreement, will be forced to put it on the table in front of the people and say, ``Here is…