Can I actually have it read and then the Senator from Illinois object after having it read?

I understand there are going to be objections to amendments, but I am going to offer them anyway and let people object. One of the ways the Senate is running now is that we have spent 3 days doing nothing, so I am going to talk about my…

the reason patients can't get their chemotherapeutic treatments has nothing to do with the budget. It has everything to do with the administration's CMS and payment recognition. I have been working on this issue for 3 months. It has…

reserving the right to object, and I plan to object, I will take some time to explain why I object. What is happening in the Senate is phenomenal, and I want the American people to see this. The Federal Government is 89 percent bigger than…

I ask unanimous consent that I be recorded as cosponsor on the Grassley amendment No. 725. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

I rise to speak on the issue the Senate is considering. It has been an interesting 3 or 4 weeks as we have considered and talked and thought about how we address what is best for our country and how we do that in a way that will protect…

I favor a 'grand bargain'... that does three things: First, raises revenues... second, to enact entitlement reform... and, finally, the third element, we need to look in every nook and cranny of the Federal Government.

A lot of what we have done is not our role. It is the State and locals' role.

We must find a better way to deal with our budget crisis. We need a comprehensive plan to rein in our Federal debt and deficit.

I agree. What is set up in legislation and mandated is not always things that will actually make you better or give us more knowledge.

I would note to my colleague from the State of Delaware, if I heard him correctly, we just now have had a hearing on a nominee for the DC Circuit Court. He is not even on the Executive Calendar because he has not even been voted out of the…

We have ignored the enumerated powers of the Constitution.

Any grant program that has a grant application ought to have a stipulation that whoever is the grantee affirms that they are not getting another Federal grant for exactly the same thing.

the important thing that has not happened in my years in the Senate is significant oversight of how we spend money.

Every dollar we spend we find that is wasted can be reallocated to things that are actually doing some good.

the costs of the COPS program outweigh the benefits by more than a billion dollars.

tens, if not hundreds, of billions of dollars could be saved through the consolidation or elimination of such programs.

We see the same institution or city or grant recipient get multiple awards from different grant programs within the Justice Department for exactly the same thing.

the problem is Members of Congress who tend to look at a problem and create a program rather than looking at a problem and determining whether or not the program already exists to solve that same situation.

Our tendency to put a parochial benefit into the things we do in Congress has driven us to lead to all the duplication.

Congress has failed to do its job, and oftentimes OMB has failed to do its job, and I have a lot of confidence that you can actually make a very big difference for our country.

3\1/2\ years ago we instructed the GAO to tell us where the government problems were, what are the government programs, and where was there duplication. We have yet to pass one piece of legislation that would eliminate any of the…

I ask unanimous consent to withdraw the amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Amendment No. 416 There is now 2 minutes equally divided prior to a vote on amendment No. 416, offered by Mr. Coburn. The…

I ask for the yeas and nays. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to be a sufficient second. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The majority leader.

I ask to call up amendment No. 409. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the amendment. The legislative clerk read as follows: The Senator from Oklahoma [Mr. Coburn], for himself and Mrs. McCaskill, and Ms. Baldwin, proposes an…