Al Franken

I just want to ask you for your support, as we go forward, in making sure that our criminal justice system is not just wasting money, but wasting lives.

we have an obligation to provide them the best treatment, to thank them for their service to our country

The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act passed in 2008. Seven years later we are still waiting for the law to be fully implemented.

What I want to do to address that is something called the Justice and Mental Health Collaboration Act.

Because Minnesotans lost their homes, they lost their savings, they lost their jobs, and millions of Americans did this because of these guys.

I think that Americans have the right to know to the extent that it is not harmful, obviously, what surveillance is like.

Early childhood, to me, seems to be sort of the best answer to that for kindergarten and first grade teachers.

What this would do is create a competitive grant program to recruit and train high caliber principals.

I think that's something that we need to be talking a lot about here on this committee.

we absolutely need to fix what's not working about the law. What we shouldn't try to do is get rid of it.

I'm sorry, but that seems an absurd statement to me, 350,544--not 543, not 545.

I'm not sure that when you're aligned with a group that has a banner across the line that says, 'Help Us Stop Obamacare,' that your estimates are necessarily in good faith.

the reason we put it at 30 and the reason that the tradeoffs are such that 40 makes so much less sense is because, as the CBO scored it and looked at it, this would take insurance away from 500,000, and up to a million.

it's about making sure that the ACA works as well as possible for people in my State and our Nation, and it really has helped a lot of people.

I ask unanimous consent that Caitlin Murphy, a fellow in my office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the 114th Congress. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

The thing I like about the law--it was called No Child Left Behind. That's the thing I liked the most about it.

I ask unanimous consent that Senator Murphy be recognized for up to 5 minutes following my remarks. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Amendment No. 17

I rise to talk about an amendment I have offered with Senators Stabenow and Manchin, which is amendment No. 17 to S. 1. Our amendment recognizes the importance of the iron and steel industries in our country and ensures that if the…

I have the greatest respect for the Senator from Alaska. I wish to say a few things about this private company. This company is asking us to do an extraordinary thing. We are debating this on the floor because they are asking us to…

I thank the Presiding Officer. Amendment No. 17 I wish to urge my colleagues to oppose any motion to table my amendment. My amendment is about making sure that, if we do build the Keystone XL Pipeline, it is built with American iron and…

I rise to talk about Senator Harkin. As the soon-to-be Chairman of the HELP Committee, Senator Alexander is right about the HELP Committee, it is an important committee. Sometimes I say it is not that important unless you care about your…

I want to echo what everyone has said. I had the honor of traveling on a codel with Chairman Levin to Pakistan, Afghanistan, when I had been here just a few weeks. So I was traveling with the chairman of the Armed Services Committee. The…

So he was a lieutenant governor too--OK. So he is the most qualified. This is what it is like when we are together. Being a Senator, a lot of people ask: Is being a Senator as much fun as working on ``Saturday Night Live?'' The answer of…

I was a part of that class. I was a little late getting here, my colleagues will recall. But I was part of that class and campaigned with the class, and I remember being with Mark Udall and Tom Udall and Mark Begich at a campaign event…

Oh, Richmond, you just kept saying Richmond. I don't know anybody named ``Richmond.''