first let me say that we should be congratulating everyone who has gotten us to a point where we are going to be able to help people who have been working hard to find a job and still have not found a job to put food on the table for their…

I come to speak about the economy in terms of wages, but I do want to respond to the last discussion in terms of health care for a moment. Part of the fair shot is to make sure they have a fair shot that they need for their families, and…

I thank Senator Blunt for his thoughtful response and for his question. I could not agree with him more. From the earliest iterations of our bill and through our conversion to a demonstration project, we have fought to make sure that this…

Thank you, Mr. President. I am thrilled to be here today as the Senate gets ready to send a proposal that I have been working on for several years now to the President for signature. The proposal, which is based on my bill, the Excellence…

I completely agree. People are suffering now. Families are suffering now. While we understand that the administration needs time to implement this demonstration project in a sound and effective way, we are in absolute agreement that the…

I do not hear anywhere from any business or anybody that I work with right now that we need less education for folks.

We just wrote a 5-year farm bill, and the very first thing we had to do was use the permanent Livestock Disaster Assistance Program because of the droughts all over the country.

Fortunately for me, in the 1970s, we did a whole lot more on scholarships. I would not have gone to college.

Before the distinguished Senator from New Jersey leaves, I wish to thank him for his diligence and advocacy on behalf of a distinguished American. I can say, as chair of the agriculture committee, without the work of Cesar Chavez, without…

If 97 percent of the climate scientists surveyed in the proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences agreed that climate change is real, probably real.

The State of Michigan now is one of the highest in the country at cutting higher education, over 32 percent of the funding to universities and community colleges.

Thank you very much, Mr. President. We are 5 days away from the deadline to begin enrolling for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act--5 days for folks who don't have insurance now or want to see if they can find a better deal…

I'm not suggesting that we should cap or end exports. What I am advocating for is a thoughtful, balanced approach.

I do think it's important that we move forward in a thoughtful way.

one of the true bright spots in our economy right now has been, and continues to be, manufacturing. Manufacturing jobs have been on the rise. We have over 12 million Americans who are now employed with good-paying jobs in the manufacturing…

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The Senator from Michigan. Natural Gas

I do not see people--unfortunately, Dr. Lindsey, when you say people are choosing not to be self-reliant, that surely does not speak to anybody whom I know in Michigan.

Americans work really hard, and a lot of them are still struggling to get by.

first, as everyone else, I congratulate our leader on this issue and on so many issues, including having the right kind of appropriations process to invest the dollars that Americans work hard to earn, to make sure they are invested in…

I know an awful lot of folks who are trying to piece together two or three part-time jobs, and they are actually working a whole lot more, just not getting ahead very well.

Ultimately, I think, in a broad economic picture, we do not have an economy, and we do not have a middle class, unless we make things and grow things.

we are never going to get out of debt with 10.5 million people out of work.

the average child care costs for families today equal somebody working 40 hours a week for a year at minimum wage.

I want to thank you for your first hearing being on what is the most important issue today, which is whether or not we are going to have a middle class in this country.

when we have a minimum wage right now that allows people to work 40 hours a week and still be in poverty, there is something wrong with that, I think.