Al Franken

Without the revenue and opportunities that Indian gaming provides, none of this would be possible.

I wish to thank the Senator from North Dakota, Mr. Hoeven, for his courtesy of allowing me to speak now so that I may take the Chair and listen to his speech. I rise today to urge my colleagues to support our economic recovery, endorse…

The legalization of Internet gaming is controversial in and of itself for many reasons.

Gaming has been an incredibly powerful economic development tool for Tribes.

It has strengthened Tribal sovereignty and allowed Tribes to take hold of their own future.

Obviously, what I'm saying here is the reason that our kids should be getting this high quality childcare is for their intellectual development, for their readiness to go to kindergarten so that they can become productive citizens.

I rise today to talk about loss. I know I speak for all Minnesotans when I say how shocked and saddened we have been by the loss of life in Colorado. Our hearts go out to the families and friends of those who died, and to those who were…

``The Dark Side of Death'' by Tom Davis. The good news: my chemotherapy is working and I'm still buying green bananas. I've lost about 50 pounds. (I need to lose 49.) . . . False hope is my enemy, also self pity, which went out the window…

I just think that this information is so sensitive that it is the kind of thing that users should have to consciously opt themselves into.

Your face is a conduit to an incredible amount of information about you, and facial recognition technology can allow others to access all of that information from a distance.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

I believe that we have a fundamental right to control our private information, and biometric information is already among the most sensitive of our private information.

Facial recognition technology allows others to identify you with what is called a 'faceprint'--a unique file describing your face.

People think of facial recognition as something out of a science fiction novel. In reality, facial recognition technology is in broad use today.

I wish to thank the Senator from Rhode Island for his leadership on this and so many other issues. I thank the Senator from Arkansas for his comments. I recommend them to anyone. Minnesotans are proud of our participation in civic life. We…

I used to be in show business, and they have this--these lights are for TV.

This is really an opportunity for us to create jobs.

I hope we can consider a Federal standard.

What I love about it is that we're not talking about spending a dime of Federal money.

I am very pleased to be working together with Senator Boozman on this legislation.

The purpose of our legislation is very straightforward and very important: to improve access to quality health care for our Nation's veterans living in rural areas.

Our daughters' futures will be as bright as our sons'. That is the American promise. It is the American ideal-- that one's opportunity to prosper--one's economic security--depends not on one's gender but instead on one's work ethic--one's…

Minnesota is also ranked third for patent-intensive employment in the country.

I believe so has Senator Klobuchar.

I care a lot about small business and inventors, and I think we should be doing as much as possible to make sure that the guy inventing the next cool gadget in his or her garage has reasonable access to the patent system.