following Hurricane Katrina there are many questions that must be answered. To answer them this body should create a bipartisan commission of experts to investigate the failures and flaws of the system just like we did after 9/11, which I…

I would like to thank both my colleagues who serve on the Ways and Means Committee who are from Louisiana and the affected area. As you look at the overall part of this bill, both from the charitable piece to also helping the families…

as we consider tax incentives for businesses that have been affected by Hurricane Katrina and help them get up and running, we must also help the affected families get up and running. Both are essential endeavors. Americans have lost their…

the clean-up efforts along the gulf coast are now fully under way. The flood waters of New Orleans are receding, and we are shifting our focus from saving lives to restoring lives. In the past 2 weeks, Congress has allocated a little over…

in the past week all Americans, in fact, the whole world, has witnessed the devastation along our gulf coast. As a nation and as a Congress there are three ways to respond to this crisis: rebuilding, restoring, and retrospection. We must…

there are three ways to respond to the crisis along the gulf coast: rebuilding, restoring, and retrospection. We must pinpoint the errors made prior to the storm and flooding, develop an action plan on what needs to be done to ensure that…

I speak as both the son of a doctor and the son of a nurse. I introduced the Vioxx amendment that would prohibit this special liability protection for the pharmaceutical companies. Many Americans across the country are watching the Vioxx…

as we consider this energy bill, here are a few numbers we might want to keep in mind: $7.4 billion. That was Exxon Mobil's income in the second quarter, an increase of 32 percent. Net profit at Shell rose 35 percent, going from $4 billion…

the stars have aligned. Senator Frist has agreed to a vote on drug reimportation. That is how we recognize health care reform and Health Care Week and make a dent in skyrocketing health care costs. Now we are getting somewhere. I should…

this body is scheduled to vote on medical malpractice legislation. This bill contains an egregious provision to protect drug companies from any form of liability. Why would this Congress protect companies like Merck, who deceived the…

here we go again. Today's Wall Street Journal reports that Delta Airlines executives have warned that the airline's current turnaround plan may be futile and that avoiding chapter 11 will soon be impossible. In other words, we may soon add…

the first Vioxx lawsuit to reach trial is currently being played out in Texas. The case focuses on the needless death of Robert Ernst, a produce manager at Wal-Mart who also ran marathons and worked as a personal trainer. He took Vioxx for…

a lot has been made lately about leaks coming from the White House, and the outing of CIA Agent Valerie Wilson was admittedly an egregious act. But I, for one, would like more leaks, not less from this White House. And let me quote the…

tomorrow the Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan will testify before the Committee on Financial Services on the state of the economy. During his testimony, Chairman Greenspan will undoubtedly argue that ours is a healthy growing…

you cannot solve a problem if you do not acknowledge that you have a problem. In that light, I appreciate and applaud the comments of outgoing Under Secretary of Defense Doug Feith made to the Washington Post concerning the costly mistakes…

today in the Washington Post, we found out that a key adviser to President Bush on the Intelligence Advisory Committee has been instrumental in helping China and the Chinese oil company put together their bid to purchase Unocal. The other…

in the Committee on Ways and Means we are debating CAFTA, and market analysts estimate the U.S. economy is losing up to $1.24 billion annually in agricultural exports alone because of the Cuban embargo. According to the USTR, CAFTA would…

on Monday, oil topped at $60 a barrel, and yet the House energy bill contains more than $8 billion in taxpayer funded giveaways to oil companies. American taxpayers are being asked to subsidize big oil to do one thing: execute their…

I reclaim my time. 547. Corporal Matthew A. Wyatt 548. Sergeant Michael L. Boatright 549. Sergeant Cari Anne Gasiewicz 550. Staff Sergeant Salamo J. Tuialuuluu 551. Sergeant David A. Mitts 552. Corporal Joseph O. Behnke 553. Staff Sergeant…

last week my colleagues and I began a memorial tribute to read the names of over 1,900 men and women who gave their lives in service to our Nation in Afghanistan and Iraq. We read about 860 of those names. We recited the name and rank of…

1. Specialist Steven Daniel Conover 2. Staff Sergeant Daniel A. Bader 3. Private First Class Rayshawn S. Johnson 4. Sergeant Francisco Martinez 5. Specialist Robert T. Benson 6. Sergeant First Class Jose A. Rivera 7. Sergeant Paul F…

there are 1,917 American military personnel who have given their lives in the service of our Nation in Iraq and Afghanistan. We owe these brave men and women, and their families, a debt of gratitude that can never fully be repaid. It is…

yesterday in the Senate we heard testimony of blatant fraud masquerading as a legitimate lobbying operation. And also yesterday, the Washington Post ran a front page story detailing the excesses of K Street, known as Lobbyists Avenue. Mr…

today some Members of the Republican Party, House and Senate, unveiled a proposal to use a surplus in the Social Security trust fund for private accounts. And they said that in their words, we are going to keep the Social Security surplus…

recently some Senate Republicans have unveiled a proposal to dedicate the Social Security surplus to private accounts. Having worked in an administration that not only proposed saving Social Security first, but having dedicated the Social…