Jeff Bingaman: “I appreciate you all being here and your excellent testimony.”

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on December 19, 2012. The PRESIDING OFFICER. With objection, it is so ordered. Committee on Finance

I ask unanimous consent that the pending amendment be set aside and that I be permitted to call up amendment No. 3344 and ask for its immediate consideration. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. The clerk…

I thank the managers of the bill, the chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and I call up amendment No. 3344. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, the clerk will report. The assistant legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator…

in 1981, in his first inaugural address, President Reagan said: Government is not the solution to our problem; government is the problem. I came to the Senate 2 years later in 1983 with the firm belief that in most cases his statement was…