Mary Landrieu

This ill-conceived and heavy-handed action by the Federal Government does not meet our environmental needs, our national security needs, and it most certainly does not meet our economic needs.

The moratorium's spillover effect could mean 12,000 jobs and nearly three billion nationwide.

The decision to stop virtually all new energy exploration in the Gulf was uninformed, in my view, and it borders on reckless.

I ask the Administration to please lift the moratorium, not in October or November or September, but today.

Oil and gas is the lifeblood of our economy, from top to bottom, and that blood has stopped pumping due to nothing more than political posturing.

This moratorium is not about big oil. It is rather about the Calais, the Sheramies, Depueys, the Roberts, the Boudreauxes, and the Thibodauxes.

We cannot close down the Gulf offshore oil and gas sector without devastating economic impacts to our region, increased environmental risk to our ocean, and weakening our national security.

I wish we had been able to do the same thing for the small business bill we have been fighting for, the Small Business Job Creation Act of 2010. We can't seem to get to a point where we can get unanimous consent. So we will have to fight…

This recession is a national recession, but you feel it in every town, in every community, in every city where mayors and Governors out there--Democrats and Republicans--are fighting every day to bring vitality back to their communities…

I have come to the floor to talk about an issue I have spent a good bit of time talking about in the last several weeks--particularly the last week--and that is the issue most Americans have on their minds right now, and that is, when is…

Exactly. I mean, I don't know how you explain to teenagers. There really is no explanation. I think it is shameful and we need to fix it. The Senator should know that is what we are trying to do. Again, I don't know what we can do about…

I hope we are not at the point of no return. But we are close. If we can salvage this bill and move forward and do the right thing for small business, I think we can all be proud of that work.

We have to stop saying no every day, and particularly on this day, and start saying yes to small businesses. The sooner we can say yes to small business, the sooner this recession will end, the sooner Americans can get back to work, and…

You cannot build it without access to affordable capital. Our businesses, some of them that are lucky enough to have something, are paying exorbitant interest rates on their credit cards. Some of them have watched their lines of credit…

That seems to be where we are. That is why I said I feel like I am ``Alice in Wonderland,'' because it is topsy-turvy.

For whatever reason, I don't know why. I think maybe they think that is good politics. But I don't believe it is, and I don't think most Americans, even Republicans, would think that is good politics.

But to come to the floor, I say to the Senator from New York, that there are no Republican provisions in this bill, it is laughable.

That is exactly what it looks like. The Senator from Illinois has described it accurately. If anybody believes he has not described it accurately, let them come to the floor because he has described the truth. He has said the truth. So I…

I would like to answer the Senator from California by saying the record will speak for itself because that vote we just took, there were 59 Senators, all on this side of the aisle, who pushed a green light, and there were 41 on the other…

Let me be very clear that in 1 hour, we will come to the end of a very long, important public and open debate on the best way we can help Main Street. This bill is not about Wall Street. We have had enough of those. This bill is not about…

I think the Senator has assessed it correctly. But we have worked in a bipartisan fashion through both the Finance Committee... I just want to say that the only amendment that has been adopted to this bill has been a Republican…

Well, I appreciate that because I do have the greatest respect for the Senator from Maine. But she has not been excited about this program. She voted no, but we got 60 votes for the program. So I think perhaps we might find a way forward…

May I ask another question? I appreciate what the Senator has said, but the ranking member has made it clear for many months now that she doesn't support--and I have great respect for her-- the Small Business Lending Fund. So we actually…

I appreciate how the leaders have tried to work together, although we don't seem to be getting to an agreement at this moment, but I wanted to ask the minority leader to clarify something. When he said things got snarled up, I don't know…

I hope that Assistant Secretary Darcy will accompany me to the Netherlands, where they protect their people from floods.