I rise in tribute to an American hero and Illinois resident who was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery on December 2. Reginald Cooper Augustine, Jr. was born on October 12, 1913 in Decatur, IL. His parents, Reginald and Pauline…

I rise in very strong support of the Menendez-Kirk amendment. I wish to compliment the Senator from New Jersey for an outstanding performance in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today in which he called on the representatives of our…

I would say, this is a very long payout, both under the majority and minority piece of legislation. I am hoping enough Members say no to both pieces of legislation so we defend Social Security, and I commend the Senator.

If I could engage the Senator in a colloquy, this is a chart that shows the legislation we are considering today. What it shows is the tremendous hit to the tax that supports Social Security. This is the Old Age Survivors Disability Act…

this Menendez-Kirk amendment is a strong, bipartisan amendment. Over half of the Senate has formally cosponsored it. I urge its adoption, especially after the bomb plot in Washington, DC, the IAEA report on nuclear development in Iran, and…

With that, I yield and commend the Senator. We are hoping for two ``no'' votes because we think those are the votes that support Social Security and its continued revenue.

I rise in support of the Feinstein amendment with regard to section 1031 of this legislation. I am particularly worried because, unlike the authorized use of force original doctrine and legislation passed by the Congress, we limited the…

I rise in strong support of the Menendez- Kirk amendment. I particularly thank my partner Senator Menendez, a member of the Banking Committee, who has been a leader regarding Iranian terror, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction…

I will yield to Senator Feinstein in a minute. I appreciate the debate with my friends and mentors. The three of us who were just debating were all military officers, but we have different views. We are dangerously close to being similar…

I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. First Year in the Senate

last week we celebrated Thanksgiving, the time of year when we look back and we give thanks for our blessings. We are all grateful for our family, our men and women in uniform, and those who also defend our Nation in civilian life. I am…

today I am pleased to join with Senator Durbin to introduce a bill in support of New Philadelphia, the first town founded by a freed African-American. This bipartisan legislation would initiate a feasibility study in order to determine…

I wish to speak on the pending amendment. I rise in support of the Kirk-Manchin-Heller and Blunt amendment regarding Iran. What we know with regard to Iran is that they have persecuted 330,000 Baha'is in their country, registered their…

I would just say that I would underscore the conservator side of your mission because we have already lost enough.

These institutions--one of the colossal failures in U.S. history, $182 billion now that taxpayers have squandered on these institutions.

I just would like to ask that, again, that we do do a Committee hearing on the European debt crisis and especially the exposure of U.S. institutions to that.

I actually rose to speak on several other topics which I will do in turn. First, I wish to say tomorrow we are going to honor generations of veterans who wore the uniform of the United States. As a Member of the House, I worked to help…

I rise today in honor of one of Illinois' most heroic sons, LCpl Larry Gene Bailey II of Zion. Lance Corporal Bailey joined the Marines in October 2007, and like his father, a Vietnam Veteran, he too wanted to serve his country. His…

I wish to follow the remarks of my colleague in a colloquy, briefly, saying I agree with him which is why I voted to support restrictions on cross-State air pollution. Certainly coming from Maryland, I understand that one State can pollute…

So we really shouldn't trust what you say because you are not willing to back it up or even ask the actuary to do this.

Wouldn't it be kind of malpractice if you didn't?

No, but you didn't make the estimates. I mean, the actuary is saying to us, 'I don't have a back up for this.'

You are talking about tens of billions of dollars of a government that doesn't have enough money, and you are not willing to do that.

I mean, we are talking about tens of billions of dollars here. You already waste $60 billion a year, according to your own estimate.

I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Iran