Jeff Bingaman: “I thank Senator Stabenow for her work in protecting children's dental coverage. I want to clarify any confusion about…”

We ought to be encouraging that. That should not be something that we just do for 3 years or 5 years.

It's important that we have a person with substantial knowledge and many varied skills in order to succeed.

I would certainly like to thank Senator Bingaman, who just retired just very recently, for the strong support that he has shown me over the years, and including support for this nomination.

I wish to take a few minutes to speak about what needs to be done before we leave town, before we shut down this session of the Congress. In my view, Congress needs to do five things before the end of the year to head off difficulties for…