if this farm bill is about empowering farmers and increasing rural jobs, let's give them the tools they need to get the job done. Let's boost revenue for farmers and reduce the overhead costs for the businesses around the country that use…

A decision not to intervene is a decision. A decision not to pick winners and losers is a decision to pick a loser.

I think the principal question for our panel and for our challenge in the days ahead is how our country is going to respond to what has been described by some experts as China's green mercantilism?

Reserving the right to object---- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.

I have served on the Intelligence Committee for 11 years now, and I have seen during that time plenty of leaks. I have tried with every bit of my energy to demonstrate how serious an issue this leaking matter is. In fact, I teamed up with…

I think it has been a good hearing, Mr. Chairman, and I think we have sort of had a wakeup call for just how tough this is going to be to actually write a bill.

the Select Committee on Intelligence has just reported a bill that would extend the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 for 5 more years. I voted against this extension in the Intelligence Committee's markup because I believe that Congress does…

I came to the floor to talk about legislating. I was struck, in fact, by the comments recently because what I am here to talk about is essentially the yeoman's bipartisanship we have seen with Senator Stabenow and Senator Roberts on the…

I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Forest Service Airtanker Fleet

yesterday I joined with Chairman Bingaman to introduce legislation to address an urgent threat to America's national forests: the lack of resources to fight serious wildfires that at this very moment are burning on more than 300,000 acres…

In an economy with fewer jobs than job-seekers, would it not make sense to give the States more credit for moving a public assistance recipient into a job rather than simply moving them off the rolls?

I think the focus that you and the staff have been putting on poverty and particularly the opportunities to address these anti-poverty issues in a fresh and creative way makes a lot of sense, and I very much appreciate it.

right now, the Obama Administration is in the process of negotiating what might prove to be the most far-reaching economic agreement since the World Trade Organization was established nearly twenty years ago. The goal of this…

I think, for example, that real behavioral change, particularly in this program with 50 million people that a lot of us see as sacred ground.

I want to see us align incentives, and that is what we have been talking about.

I think this has been an excellent hearing, and I appreciate the way you are doing it.

What we have been pointing to is the VA--for the sickest people... saving upwards of 20 percent on that population by caring for them at home.

I mean, you all have appropriately characterized what we are dealing with in America as largely a sick care system.

I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The Internet

I believe the development of the Internet, its networks, and the digital economy are one of the great achievements of our age. The Internet links humanity together, facilitating economic growth, bringing education and health resources to…

Approximately 12 minutes. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Franken). The Senator from Oregon.

Economic growth and affordable energy are 2 sides of the same coin.

I support the basic proposition of Senator Bingaman's legislation. I think it's going to give new momentum to the effort to promote clean energy in this country.

--and that is built around a Medicare guarantee that must be protected and preserved. A number of the proposals we will get from the other side this afternoon don't meet that test. I want colleagues to know that I am committed to working…

without turning this into a bouquet-tossing contest, I want Senator Conrad to know how much I appreciate his leadership. I also want to make sure people understand the record. If the Congress had passed the bipartisan proposal the Senator…