Al Franken

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Ms. Klobuchar). Without objection, it is so ordered. The Senator from Minnesota.

I rise today to express my strong opposition to the amendment offered by my colleague from Oklahoma which we will be voting on tomorrow. Before I talk about the substance of the amendment, I wish to comment on the procedure through which…

The Declaration should spur us to do more and to do better.

you have to educate your kids. That is the proven way to create sustainable economic growth.

the best investment we could have is making sure all of our at-risk kids start school healthy and ready to learn.

Think about that. When you think about our budget and what we are spending on, let's consider that.

we are in a global competition, right?

I prefer win/win to zero sum.

The Declaration speaks to precisely those issues and directs us to overcome those challenges.

I want to focus a lot of my questions on this, because we are at a time now when we are looking at our long-term sustainability of our budget, of our deficit, long-term sustainability.

I think that's something that we need to try to avoid.

We know that kids with quality early childhood education... have better outcomes in so many different ways.

I have to say that I hear a lot of frustration from the tribes that I speak to and the chairmen that I speak to and the members of the tribes that I speak to about the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the bureaucracy and the responsiveness of…

What's slowed it down is they did an environmental impact study and it didn't quite cut mustard.

We must ensure that the voices of Indigenous peoples are heard and respected.

I look forward to pursuing the many ways that domestic policy can be improved.

President Obama did the right thing by signing the U.S. onto the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, joining virtually every other nation in the world.

The Administration only requested $52 million for Indian school construction as part of the fiscal year 2012 budget proposal.

There is currently at least a $1.3 billion backlog of school construction and repair needs in Indian Country.

you are putting State and local politicians in a very tough position.

I also believe that term limits exist for a good reason. Term limits are like sunshine laws; they force us to bring in new leaders who take a fresh look at things.

I have a longer statement I am going to put in the record.

Thank you, Senator Franken.

Thank you all and congratulations to you all for your nominations.

Well, I actually just stuck around because Judge Zipps has not been asked a question.