Lebanon deserves our attention and continued investment and partnership.

The population of Lebanon is a little bit over 4 million and there is nearly a million--by many accounts, more than a million--Syrian refugees in Lebanon.

Imagine 80 million war refugees coming to the United States over the period of about 2 years.

it was a great privilege for me a few moments ago to read George Washington's Farewell Address for a number of reasons; one, we learned in doing a little research on this practice--which as the majority leader indicated goes back more than…

I ask unanimous consent that Chris Sweitzer, a military fellow in the office of Senator Pryor, be granted the privilege of the floor for the duration of the calendar year. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered…

it is a pleasure to join the Senator from Nebraska. I love the idea of the surf-and-turf caucus reaching across the country to try to find commonsense solutions. I often think about legislation and what we are attempting to do, and there…

The dairy producers that I have spoken with are calling on the USDA Secretary to undertake a study of alternatives and to agree to hold prehearings on such alternatives as a basic component of the USDA's fundamental mission to the dairy…

I understand that the Dairy Industry Advisory Committee has recommended that the Secretary take such action and review interested party proposals to address class III and class IV pricing formula changes in a participatory and transparent…

The senior Senator from Maine and the junior Senator from New York authored the provision included in the Senate farm bill which required USDA to address the pricing formula for class III and class IV milk through a public, transparent…

I commend the Senator from Michigan, her committee and staff for their tireless work that has brought this farm bill to fruition. Further, I greatly appreciate the Senator's willingness to discuss an issue that is absolutely critical for…

I thank the Senator for her response. The dairy producers in Maine have told me that they believe that it will take just such a thorough review of proposals from interested parties, to help address concerns from industry, assist with the…

if interest rates go to anything close to historic levels--call it 5 percent; in 2000 it was 6 percent--we are talking about $850 billion a year just to pay interest.

So a long-term strategy, not a short-term emergency strategy, is what we really need to be looking at.

I would invite my colleagues on the other side to talk about a tax reform package where the revenues were dedicated strictly to reducing the deficit.

I think you have articulated an intelligent strategy, which is be careful about short-term, abrupt fiscal changes to deal with the debt.

Not fixing infrastructure is debt, is it not?

Failing to support infrastructure is debt.

I think that is the wrong question, because if you focus on that question, inevitably you end up shifting those increasing costs to either the providers or the beneficiaries.

I think it is a discussion that we should have and continue to have.

We need to think about reducing the debt itself, and certainly reducing the deficit.

I would urge the administration to continue to really look and work with us on structural changes.

If interest rates went back to 6 percent on the national debt, just the interest on the debt would be $1.02 trillion.

I hope you will convey that sentiment to the White House, please.

I believe that in the long run probably the most lasting and important effect of the Affordable Care Act will be the very subject we have talked about, which is the virtual elimination or certainly the significant reduction of job lock.

On the other hand, we cannot ignore this. I mean, the debt, just the interest on the debt, if we have a 1-percent increase in the interest we are paying on our current Federal debt--1 percent--which I think everyone agrees is likely within…