there is a demand for these loans; therefore, we should simply leave the system as it is and allow these 500-percent loans.

The cost of college has risen compared to a working wage. That then has not been compensated for by Pell grants.

The best-off are the job creators, so if we concentrate wealth with the job creators, we will have more jobs.

the daunting prospect of the pathway through higher education... might affect... the way they pursue their high school studies.

This is a very huge predatory practice that as a society you would think that we would be able to get control over, but we do not have control over it yet.

I think that tells you that there is something wrong with the banking system as it is operating today.

We know that this country can afford to do for this generation and subsequent generations what it did to create the greatest middle class the world has ever known: Make college a public good again.

When I was Speaker of the House in Oregon, we passed a law that limited the payday loan interest rates down to about 36 percent, which sounds like a lot, but they were charging well in excess of 500 percent.

Corporations may be turning their backs on their workers, but that does not mean that the American Government should do the same.

So if we are caught in a set of policies right now that are accentuating inequality, we must still recognize that we are here in a democracy where people can vote for changes.

If you go through the doors of that schoolhouse and you work hard, you can do just about anything here in America.

I rise to address an issue affecting millions of families across America, and that is our rising student loan debt and the impact it is having on the vision of opportunity for every single American. As college students return to campus…

We have heard on this floor some lengthy speeches that brought a number of arguments to bear in an effort to appear learned, insightful, founded in law and founded in history, all to obscure the fundamental fact before this body, which is…

at this moment in my home State of Oregon 500,000 acres are ablaze. Sometimes it is hard to get your hands around numbers, particularly large numbers, so I will give a sense of this. If you were to add up all of the fires in Oregon and if…

reserving the right to object, would the Senator from Wyoming consider modifying that request to include me to follow on, following his remarks?

I ask to speak as if in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

I ask unanimous consent that my intern, Shelby Stepper, be granted privileges of the floor for the balance of the day. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

I rise to address the legislation we are debating, the Bring Jobs Home Act, but before I do so, I wish to note how much I appreciate the leadership of the Senator from Vermont in fighting for quality care and quality programs for our U.S…

I ask unanimous consent that Rachel Kane, my intern, have privileges of the floor for the remainder of the day. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

Thus, carbon dioxide is waging an assault on our rural resources, on our fishing, on our farming, on our forests.

There is no question that carbon dioxide is a terrible pollutant having profound impacts.

as the conflict in Gaza continues to escalate, we mourn the tragic loss of lives and hope for a speedy and peaceful resolution. Israelis and Palestinians have both seen far too much bloodshed and destruction. I cosponsored S. Res. 498…

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to hold a joint hearing with the Senate Committee on Armed Services, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces during the session of the Senate on…

I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on July 16, 2014, at 2:30 p.m. in room SR-253 of the Russell Senate Office Building to conduct a…

I suggest the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator from Missouri. Mrs. McCASKILL. I ask…