David Thomas: “I know the gentleman has his speaking points that have been passed out, and he is trying to stay on them; but I really…”

I appreciate people and their passion getting a bit carried away. This bill was signed into law by the last Democratic President, Mr. Clinton. It was on your watch. To stand in the well and tell us what is in the amendment that is going to…

The reason we are here, of course, is to deal with the budget. I think that is a very important part of what we do in this Congress. It has to do with funding programs, but it has also to do with determining what our spending is going to…

I wish to speak in general about the bill, not on the specific amendments, about what I think we are doing and the importance, frankly, of what we are doing. We are talking, of course, about ethics, about how we function within this body…

I certainly agree it would be a mistake to send any message that we are not in support of our troops and, indeed, that is what voting on one message would do. Certainly, there are different views in the Senate and legitimately so. We…