It used to be a lot of them were asking: Are we in a recession now? Not too many are asking that now. They believe we are in a recession. But they do ask continually how deep will it be; how long will it last. Those questions are valid and…

I have a friend. I have known him for a long time. His name is Steve Walther. Steve Walther was a very prominent Nevada lawyer, a senior partner in a law firm, with qualifications that are unsurpassed. I have always liked Steve very much…

Nineteen days ago, the President first proposed an economic stimulus package and implored the Congress to act. It was impressive to see the Democratic Speaker of the House, the Republican leader of the House, and the Secretary of the…

I can gather one thing from the President's unwillingness to resolve the Federal Election Commission problem. That is that they would rather have no election watchdog in place during an election year. The background on the FEC makes the…

Are you aware that this perfect package the President has been talking about keeping together, the great bipartisan effort with the House and his people, are you aware that the Secretary of the Treasury today testified and made a statement…

1984'' was a book written by George Orwell. He wrote the book many years before 1984, but he was trying to look into the future and talk about what he thought America would be like in 1984. It was a very interesting, compelling book, a…

before we leave, I want to say a couple of things. It is a very important vote we have tomorrow. I want the Senate to know we have received support from all over the country on the Senate stimulus package. I picked two of these just to…

I tried to be very patient. I have been waiting for an hour to have some Republican come to the floor so I may offer a unanimous consent request. I don't know how much more patient I need to be. The unanimous consent simply says we are…

They are not going to be able to pick and choose whether seniors are more important than people with no heat in their homes, more important than people with no jobs, more important than people who are having their homes foreclosed upon.

what we have seen here on the Senate floor this morning is very much in keeping with what has happened in the last 7 years with the Bush administration. The Bush administration is Orwellian. It says something that means something else. The…

One of the things I have the ability to do is to try to move the process forward, and that is what this vote was all about. Members came, we have had some conversations, and hopefully it will help move the process forward. We are going to…

I hope everyone within the sound of my voice understands how unfair and senseless the request is by my friend. We had discussions on the floor yesterday. The minority whip recognized that Senator McCain, Senator Obama, and Senator Clinton…

yesterday and again this morning we heard some remarkable statements from our Republican colleagues that matters within the stimulus package are pet projects. Later, after that statement was made, we had another Senator come and say that…

to show you, with all due respect, how shallow this statement just made by my friend is, let me just say this: It is a public record, what came out of the Senate Finance Committee. It is a public record. You can read it on the Internet…

We only have three Senators out campaigning, McCain, Clinton, and Obama, and it was my suggestion that tomorrow, if the Republicans don't want votes, then shouldn't we at least have the ability to see if we can complete the offering of…

There have been books written on this--books written on this--how the President has circumvented the laws we pass to have his wiretapping, OK? Now, there is not a single Democratic Senator who doesn't want to get the bad guys. We want to…

Yes. The reason it was so amazing to me, what I heard, is that postcloture people have 30 hours to basically stall for more time. I thought, why in the world wouldn't they let us finish FISA? Now, everyone knows--and my Presidential…

I have been told by the Republican leader what to me is incredible. We have two issues this week, among others, that we need to complete. One is the stimulus package, and the other is FISA. They are not in order of importance, but they are…

Today the Senate will resume consideration of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act legislation. Senators Whitehouse, Cardin, and Feingold have said they will come and offer three amendments this afternoon. After finishing these, we…

During the prayer, Senator Boxer said, ``Wow.'' That really was a ``wow'' prayer-- a prayer that called for peace and understanding. I wish I could recite it from memory, as the good Chaplain did, with his great ability to restate things…

each day newspapers around the country tell us news stories of America's economic troubles--and there are economic troubles. I was told by Senator Corzine, before he became Governor--and he made millions and millions of dollars on Wall…

when my children were growing up, we had a rule that they accepted--they don't seem to complain now--where we didn't watch television on Sunday. It was just kind of a rule we put down. The television was on all the other times, but on…

let me express on the record my appreciation for so many people. Specifically, I wish to mention Senator Rockefeller and Senator Bond. They and their staffs have spent days on this agreement. It is really good they have a relationship that…

Finally, let me say, I appreciate the patience of my counterpart, Senator McConnell. On Tuesday, I can't really say this; we weren't that close. But all day Wednesday, all day today, we have been this close. We have had the FISA thing…

I rise today, the 40th anniversary of the beginning of the Tet Offensive, to commemorate the valor and courageousness with which our Armed Forces fought to repel this massive attack. Over the holiday recess, I was fortunate enough to spend…