My request is that if you believe you need stronger tools, please let us know.

I rise today to honor the life of the Reverend Benjamin Lawson Hooks. I join all Americans in expressing my sadness at his passing and gratitude for his lifetime of service. Ben Hooks was a man of faith who was dedicated to nonviolent…

The United States Commission on Civil Rights--the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights has many of the same goals as the Civil Rights Division--are concerned about this matter.

It is one thing to make sure that people are not discriminated against. It is another to pressure banks to make loans that are not sound.

I would hope that we would try to be empowering people to vote who are eligible to vote.

I want to focus on the implementation of the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd, Jr., Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

This does not bode well for an administration that has promised to be open and transparent, it seems to me.

Any type of intimidation should be dealt with.

If times aren't ripe, you have to ripen the times.

I cannot--you know, civil rights principles need to be professionally analyzed.

I thank Senator Warner for taking this time to bring to the attention of our colleagues a very serious problem. One of the most fundamental responsibilities for a Member of the Senate is to advise and consent on the President's…

if we do not put sunlight on it, if we do not open this process up, if we do not engage the international community, and if we do not engage the international community on how we are going to deal with detainees in the future, this war is…

Guantanamo Bay has to close.

Let me just repeat the 9/11 Commission's recommendation that the United States engage its friends and develop a common coalition approach toward detention and humane treatment of captured terrorists.

When should we expect some specifics as to how these procedures are being handled?

I would just urge you--this is an issue that is difficult for us to defend when we do not have anything to defend, we do not have a policy to defend.

I rise in strong support of the bill that is currently before the Senate which would provide for a temporary extension of unemployment benefits, COBRA coverage, and prevent a severe cut to provider reimbursements under Medicare. The bill…

I would like my colleagues to join me in thanking Joyce Revell for 21 years of exemplary service to the U.S. Senate and on wishing her well during her retirement. Joyce Revell has dedicated her life to the service of our Nation and to the…

I rise today in full support of the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010. I assert that the investment we make in education with this bill is an investment in America's economic future. For too long, we have…

We need an energy policy in this country. Transportation can play a key role.

The next transportation bill must work to create new job opportunities for America, advance new transportation infrastructure projects that significantly reduce our fossil fuel consumption and reduce our carbon emissions.

Stormwater is the Nation's largest source of water pollution.

We need to change the notion that a highway is an efficient delivery mechanism for pollution.

You all know the greenhouse gas emissions, that 30 percent comes from transportation.

I would argue as a taxpayer that for that $40 billion a year it would be entirely appropriate for us to have a policy statement that says this is how we want our money to be used and our roads to be built.