Well, it is one of our basic responsibilities. As I said, the discretionary part of it is the appropriations bills. Not one single appropriations bill has cleared this Senate during 2012. And yes, indeed, at a time when we are running a…

yesterday the New York Times said this: ``The 112th Congress is set to enter the Congressional record books as the least productive body in a generation.'' This is true, and the responsibility falls squarely at the feet of the Democratic…

did we get all of the quotes that Senator Alexander offered submitted to the record by unanimous consent?

I think the looming sequester is hurting economic confidence, even as we speak.

the meat axe approach of the sequester by the end of this year is not helpful to the economy

I appreciate what my friend said about the drought. Much of my State at the last minute escaped it, but I happened to be in the State of Missouri in the past few days and saw the terrible drought conditions there. I cannot think of a worse…

a program that grows at 3 times the rate of inflation just simply cannot be sustained

If the Senator will yield for a moment, this has also the same effect on mom-and-pops, family businesses that may have been in a family for generations. We are going to impose a 55-percent confiscatory tax on them. I am just speechless…

If I may, I will make one point. I know my friend from Kansas also wants to join in. This could only hurt job creation among small businesspeople and small farmers. I can't imagine why they want to do this. We have had 42 months of…

We strongly believe that the questionable transactions involved in the gray market of prescription drugs in short supply that were highlighted by the Committee result from opportunists, and not health care providers, who see an opportunity…

I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Sanders). The clerk will call the roll. The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.

I come to the floor today to call Members' attention to recent action taken at the Parliamentary Assembly meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which convened in Monaco earlier this month. The OSCE considered…

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. OSCE's Magnitsky Resolution

Absolutely. I thank my friend for leading us in this colloquy. We ought to be talking about jobs and the economy. We ought to be bringing legislation to the floor and giving our side an opportunity to offer suggestions and hearing if the…

it has been a tough day, a tough week. We could use a little bipartisanship in this Chamber and in this Congress. I don't understand it. We heard the Democratic leadership of the supercommittee come right out the other day and say that it…

I ask unanimous consent that LCDR Brian Amador, a Navy fellow in my Senate office, be granted floor privileges for the remainder of the time. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Sequestration

I think we would all agree this is not the kind of economic growth that we need and that Americans have had in the past.

Because the President came out and reiterated last week his request that we simply raise taxes on $250,000 and above.

I appreciate the fact that you have talked about fiscal policy as well as monetary policy and the overall economy.

I rise today to commend the accomplishments of an extraordinary Mississippian. Natasha Trethewey, a native of Gulfport, Mississippi, has been named the United States Poet Laureate. I join my fellow Mississippians and fellow Americans in…

I rise today to express my serious concern about a matter of national security. It is a matter that is increasingly more visible with the American people. It is a matter that they are more and more concerned about as they hear more. It is…

I ask unanimous consent to speak as if in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. National Security Leaks

I congratulate President Ma Ying-jeou on his inauguration as President of Taiwan. From his education at Harvard University, to becoming the youngest cabinet minister in the history of Taiwan, to his election to the Presidency of Taiwan in…

I have been told I have 10 minutes allocated, and I shall use probably less than that allocation.