Frank Lautenberg

I rise today in a moment when America is in crisis, and I don't think we are paying appropriate attention to the problems that befall our society. There are still too many people out of work, too many people who can't afford health care…

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mrs. Gillibrand). Without objection, it is so ordered. Big Oil Subsidies

The Corps is filled with experienced professionals that do great work. However, the most frequent complaint that I hear from local communities about the Corps is that it takes too long.

I think we have to do everything we can to stop this foreclosure problem from getting worse as a means of simple justice, as well as making certain that economy recovery continues.

Now, how can the Corps, General, expedite this project to ensure that families in the Basin have flood protection as soon as possible?

None of us can afford foreclosures at this scale--not homeowners, not investors, not taxpayers.

I was pleased to see that the fiscal year 2013 budget includes $1 million for a study to find a long-term solution to chronic flooding in the Passaic River Basin.

I'm pleased that the budget includes, Secretary Darcy, $68 million to complete the deepening of the New York-New Jersey Harbor, a critical economic engine that supports more than 230,000 regional jobs.

However, the budget doesn't include funding for several critical ongoing New Jersey studies including the Rahway River Basin.

Student loans should be designed to protect borrowers, not just enrich banks.

Well, we'd like to make sure that we get these things in order because we know one thing, the three projects that I talk about are critical to the safety and wellbeing of people in those areas.

Going back some years, I was a beneficiary of the GI bill, and was able to get a pretty good education at Columbia Business School.

But we need your work to continue and we need it to be appropriately budgeted.

Now, we appreciate the fact that there's almost always an overload in the Corps because there are more projects than there are hands or dollars. But we encourage you to keep up your good work.

Writing down some of the principal owed by underwater homeowners will help stem the tide of foreclosures.

Right now, budget cuts would slash Pell Grants, 10 million students, by at least $1,000.

There is now more student loan debt than credit card debt in America.

Unscrupulous mortgage brokers' practices have led Americans to buy homes that they clearly could not afford, and today we see some for-profit colleges are pushing students to run up debt they can never repay.

I think these things are connected unfortunately, and the student loan debt, if it does not cost young couples their homes, may impede them from ever having one.

It would be just as reckless for Congress to sacrifice the public's health and safety in the name of fiscal austerity.

we have listened with interest and total accord as the life of Barbara Mikulski in the Senate has been reviewed by so many people. We have heard the friendship and good will we all share toward her. Her record is quite well known. She is…

Yes. And I close by saying that here what we are saying is if you do not--if you need oil for car, and you do not put it in, just drive faster to make up for it.

We are proud of the work that you and that whole department of yours does.

I would say. I am pleased to see that EPA's budget increases funding for chemical safety programs by $436 million.

EPA's budget completely eliminates funding for the Beach Act Grants to help States test and monitor water quality.