I wish to thank him personally. This has not been an easy 6 months. I think our friends on the other side of the aisle have wished to slow things down, with procedural motions over and over again, to even go to a bill, and to see the…

I rise to join others in paying tribute to a wonderful colleague, Senator Craig Thomas. Tragically, last night, he lost his battle with leukemia. I want to send my heartfelt condolences to his wife Susan, his children, Patrick, Greg…

the evidence showing the ability of health IT to reduce costs and improve quality of care is simply overwhelming. That is why Senator Olympia Snowe and I are reintroducing our Health-Tech legislation to accelerate the adoption of health…

Under current law, only two categories of individuals pay tax on the sale of their principle residence: the truly fortunate who have realized a capital gain of more than $250,000, $500,000 on a joint return, or the truly unfortunate who…

this provision will clear the way for the Senate to pass legislation that will ultimately lower gas prices. This is an issue right now of great concern, I know, to people throughout Michigan and throughout the country, as we see prices…

I first thank our esteemed budget chairman for raising what is so important in the context of this debate. I thank him for raising the chart that actually shows the majority of Americans are not seeing their incomes go up. They are seeing…

I appreciate the leadership role Senator Bingaman and Senator Alexander are playing on this critical bill, as well as Senator Domenici and others who have worked on putting together this legislation. It makes no sense to eliminate the…

Mr. President, I do want to speak today as it relates to prescription drugs and the very important vote we will be having tomorrow, but I also first want to speak to what is happening as it relates to Blacksburg, VA, and Virginia Tech…

I rise today to commend the Michigan State University Spartans on winning the 2007 Men's National Collegiate Hockey Championship. On Saturday, April 7, 2007, the Michigan State University Men's Hockey Team won the 2007 Men's Hockey…

I am happy to talk about ways we can save dollars in Medicare without cutting access or quality under Medicare. These amendments do not do that. These amendments start from the premise that we are going to cut providers. Let's look at…

I thank you, as chairman of the Budget Committee, for bringing forward the ``save Social Security first'' amendment in committee. It makes it very clear in the budget resolution that we intend to come out of this hole and are committed to…

If I might ask a second question of my friend. Again, I will start by congratulating the Senator. I remember, as a new member of the Budget Committee, coming in in 2001 when there were record surpluses, that the Senator was warning us…

We have tax cuts built into this budget. We are in a global economy. We need to be competitive. There are a number of ways in which we need to be competitive. My friend from South Carolina and I are working together on the question of…

What we are looking at for the next year and for basically the 5 years of the budget resolution is a return to fiscal responsibility; in other words, we think it is time that we stop digging the hole and start filling in so we can climb…

the comment I have, when we look at what the Senator from Alabama is talking about, he is basically saying that the tax cuts that were passed, first of all, were a good idea for most Americans and that he wants to make it as difficult as…

on December 23, 1783, George Washington, having successfully led the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War, appeared before the Continental Congress and resigned his commission as commander of the Armed Forces. It was a…

I rise this evening being greatly disturbed by what happened on the floor of the Senate, after a tremendous amount of good-faith effort and very hard work by our colleagues on both sides of the aisle, bringing together a resolution to…

I absolutely agree with our distinguished assistant majority leader. Let me say I indicated a moment ago that he has a better proposal himself, and Senator Lincoln. We know for the majority of people who are not insured, 80 percent of…

I ask in closing at the moment that we, at a minimum, withhold on this amendment; that we not proceed on this particular proposal to allow us on the Finance Committee to look at all of the options, to look at the facts, to look at what…

Yes, reclaiming my time, I am aware that, in fact, there are veterans who have moved to the Medicare system. One of the reasons the House bill that passed did not include a national formulary was because of those kinds of concerns. We are…

I felt it was important today to come to the floor and speak about the efforts of the House of Representatives to lower the cost of prescription drugs for our seniors. There has been a measure passed that will require that the Secretary of…

I have heard from many seniors, the Center for Social Gerontology in Ann Arbor, and Michigan's Area Agencies on Aging and senior centers about the need for reauthorizing the Older Americans Act, which was last reauthorized in 2000. While…

Absolutely. In my home State of Michigan, because we are the global leaders in manufacturing, and I know in my good friend's home State of Maryland it is the same way, in terms of manufacturing, that number is even worse because of the…

I rise today to offer the Lester Nichols Presque Isle Light Station Act with my colleague, Senator Levin. Congressman Stupak is introducing the companion legislation in the House of Representatives today. Our bill will restore the historic…

I rise today to remember a very good friend and a wonderful woman whom Senator Lincoln spoke about--and I know others today have--very eloquently on the floor, and that is our good, good friend Ann Richards, the former Texas Governor and…