Has anybody read the newspapers this morning? It is full of cartoons: Republicans holding the economy hostage. They are not holding Barack Obama hostage. They are not holding Democrats hostage. They are not holding the Federal Government…

I thank the Senator from Alaska, who has been an absolutely outstanding champion for small business not only in Alaska but around the Nation, who will talk with us about this short-term, repeat, 6-month uncertainty and how damaging that…

I thank the Senators, again, from Minnesota and Alaska for coming and making the point and underlying and scoring the point that this filibuster the Republican caucus is holding today--not allowing us to have a simple majority vote on the…

the Senator from Alaska is here to finish out this segment, which is focusing on the difficulties that businesses are going to have. I thank the Senator from Minnesota for joining us for this segment. I just want to get something in the…

I thank the Senator from Alaska. Mr. President, how much time do we have in this segment? The PRESIDING OFFICER. Three minutes.

what the Republicans fail to tell people, which makes me so angry and should make everyone angry, is that all other spending in the Federal Government has remained flat. There has been a zero-percent increase in 10 years, if we adjust for…

I am pleased to support the nominations of both Mr. McConnell and Ms. Wodder.

Are you committed to increasing 5 percent so that at least Teach for America has an opportunity to compete for decent enough money to get them back on track?

This subcommittee rallied in a bipartisan way because that program was zeroed out.

We should not be eliminating them.

I appreciate his continued support for our bipartisan reform efforts.

I think you are exactly the right Secretary for the challenges before this Nation.

Senator Landrieu believes, that Meredith believes are important

It's 40% cleaner than some of our traditional sources that we're using.

We depend on you to give us the information so that this committee and Congress can make the wisest decisions possible.

Thank you. Let me begin, Mr. Biltz, thanking you for your endorsement of revenue sharing for the Gulf Coast States.

If we do this right we could potentially create hundreds of thousands of jobs and tremendous wealth for a Nation that desperately needs it.

I particularly want to single out Senator Landrieu for the hard work she has done in keeping folks up in Washington engaged on this much-needed long-term recovery in the Gulf.

I rise today to introduce legislation entitled the Lower Mississippi River National Historic Site Study Act. This bill will direct the Secretary of the Interior to study the suitability and feasibility of designating sites in Plaquemines…

Perhaps it is time to shut down $17 billion worth of money going for reconstruction projects when our track record really stinks when it comes to reconstruction projects.

Do it right or stop doing it.

This is not the time to be slashing these budgets.

In fact, if my staff will help me, did we not put a billion dollars in this Jobs Bill to start or to support programs at the State and city levels, like this?

I think we need to draw Congress's attention.

It would be a far smarter economic decision to rectify the permitting process at Interior and get our fellow Americans back to work in the Gulf rather than selling oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.