The Public Record
Byron Dorgan is a former United States Senator from North Dakota, serving from 1992 to 2011 as a member of the Democratic Party. He was born on May 14, 1942. During his tenure in the Senate, Dorgan was known for his advocacy on issues such as agriculture, energy, and Native American rights. He played a significant role in promoting policies aimed at supporting rural communities and addressing the needs of tribal nations. Dorgan also served as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, where he focused on improving the lives of Native Americans and addressing their concerns in federal policy.
It is about jobs and expanding opportunities for the American people because when the economy contracts, people run into trouble. They are the ones who get laid off, the folks who are working in plants and working at the bottom for minimum…
Yes, I believe that loan guarantees for development of advanced battery technologies would also fit into the scope of manufacturing technologies contemplated by the language in the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2008 and should be…
Yes, cellulosic ethanol projects are consistent with the intent of title XVII of the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and would clearly be within the scope of technologies that would be eligible for a loan guarantee from the Department of Energy.
Last evening, I called a legion club in a small town in southwestern North Dakota, a State I am privileged to represent in the Senate, and said congratulations to a group of young men from my hometown of slightly less than 300 people…
It has. There is no question we need oil. We use a lot of oil, but we need to have an energy policy that is a balanced policy, and my colleague, the majority leader, is working with all of us on an energy bill that we hope we can get by…
The town of Bryan, OH, was enormously proud of its product. It was the product that defined Bryan, OH. It was Etch A Sketch; every little kid played with Etch A Sketch. The folks in Bryan, OH, made Etch A Sketch and every kid played with…
I want to make note that Senator Mikulski and Senator Shelby already added funding to accounts the President had decided to zero out. These accounts are accounts dealing with law enforcement on Indian reservations. We just held a hearing…
When the President vetoed the bipartisan legislation that would expand opportunities for health coverage for America's children-- another 3.8 million kids who don't have health coverage now would have it under that bill--the President…
I want the Record to reflect something that is half way accurate. All of us understand what that program was intended to be. This is what the Defense Department says it was intended to be. So when I come to the floor and talk about why…
I thank Senators Specter and Casey for raising this issue. Extending the section 508 program is critical for many North Dakota hospitals and is an important step to address the long-standing inequities in Medicare payment between urban and…
Compared to what we will hear this afternoon, a request for $200 billion of emergency funding for the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, none of it paid for, and this is a fraction of that to reach out to try to provide health insurance to…
Al-Qaida is and will remain the most serious terrorist threat to the homeland. We assess the group has protected or regenerated key elements of its homeland attack capability, including: a safe haven in the Pakistan federally administered…
This Congress has the right to make decisions about safety on our highways. We made those decisions in many ways with respect to our internal regulations, our internal standards, and we enforce those standards, but that equivalent…
Over this past weekend, a pilot project was initiated by the Department of Transportation dealing with long-haul Mexican trucks coming into this country. My contention is, and I think it is buttressed by the inspector general's report that…
It is important to finish the bill tonight. It is a bipartisan bill with strong support. It is a matter of giving everybody an opportunity to offer their amendments, which we have done. At that point I think it will be a significant…
If I might further inquire, that answer means these are kids who come from families who do not have the resources?
This chart shows the expenditures per capita relative to other Federal health expenditure benchmarks. This deals with Indians versus all others--Indians get far less. Here is the expenditure per capita for Medicare, the Veterans'…
We ought to understand what is being done or what is not being done. I think the American people have a reason to ask the question: Why, nearly 6 years later, do we now read--and I have read it on a number of occasions in unclassified…
This amendment has two parts to it. No. 1, it increases the reward for the elimination of the al-Qaida leadership and Osama bin Laden, and, No. 2, it required a quarterly classified report to be made to the Congress, every quarter, from…
I am a big fan of FEMA--used to be a big fan of FEMA, I should say. I am not anymore. I hope and pray that maybe it gets its act together. It does not appear to me it is quite there yet.
Of all the bills, we ought to be saying: Let's lock arms and do this in a reasonable time; let's do this with the leadership of Senator Byrd and Senator Cochran.
If we come to the floor in the next couple days and see delay on Homeland Security, I am going to be one disappointed person.
As we heard happened before, and was shipped into a port in this country in the middle of a container ship with a weapon of mass destruction or some other device by which they can attack this country. That is why this legislation of this…
Politicians like Byron Dorgan
