I believe that the American people would be absolutely stunned--I think Members of Congress, many of them, would be stunned if they knew how the PATRIOT Act was being interpreted and applied in practice.

today I rise to introduce the Affordable Housing Preservation and Revitalization Act. I am delighted and honored to be joined in this effort by my good friend and colleague, Senator Jeff Merkley. It has been my privilege to work with…

It is no surprise that Judge Marco Hernandez was nominated to the Federal bench because his life could serve as a billboard for the American dream. At the age of 17, Marco Hernandez moved to Oregon by himself. Needing to support himself…

today I am pleased to introduce two bills that will provide two important communities in rural Oregon with the means to promote their cultural history and their economic development opportunities. These are bills that I introduced in the…

I want to take a quick minute or two to talk about an amendment that will be called up later in the afternoon on my behalf to expand and improve the unmanned aerial systems--known as UAS programs--that are part of the Federal Aviation…

I don't think you see just one. But clearly in past debates, I think short shrift has been given to this question of financial markets.

I don't think you were here when I laid out this point that the Wall Street Journal talked about.

Over the years serving on this committee, I have walked away with the judgment that you usually don't see a single factor dictating oil prices.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thank you to the panel.

When the Wall Street Journal is running articles talking about what you ought to put your bet on in the future, that ought to be a wake-up call that the Congress ought to start putting some attention on those issues.

I rise today to reintroduce the Empowering States to Innovate Act with my colleagues, Senators Scott Brown and Mary Landrieu. At a time when we are looking for ways to bring this country together to deal with the most contentious issues of…

I rise today to introduce critical forest legislation for my home State of Oregon. This is legislation that I introduced in the last Congress. Unfortunately, despite making significant progress and gaining the support of the…

I thank the Senator because I think that is an important point because the bipartisan resolution clearly establishes the responsibility of all Senators to go public with their holds and the understanding that the leaders will not honor…

with the passage of this resolution, no longer will it be possible for a Senator to engage in the unconscionable practice of secretly blocking a piece of legislation that affects millions and millions of Americans. The fight for more…

as Senator Grassley has said, Senator Grassley, Senator McCaskill, and I have always maintained that there is no legitimate reason for Senators to keep holds they have placed with their leaders secret for any period of time. In fact, for…

Senator Grassley would come to the floor and make the point that a Senator simply ought to have the guts, just ought to have the guts, to stand and say: Look, this is important to me. I am the individual who ought to be held accountable…

To those who say that this resolution doesn't go far enough, I ask, why have the friends of secrecy fought so hard for so long to allow Senators to anonymously block legislation and nominations? The fact is this resolution deals with a…

I thank the Senator from Iowa, because with this colloquy he has laid it out very well. The fact is we have been at this so that it sometimes feels as though it has been the longest running battle since the Trojan War, given the fact we…

I appreciate the hard work of the leadership and my partners in this effort, Senator Grassley and Senator McCaskill. We would not be here today without them. We have a strong, bipartisan bill that will bring greater transparency to the…

Our resolution turns the Notice of Intent to Object calendar into a one-stop shop for recording information about objections made to covered requests. At the same time, some have asked us--what happens if a matter that had been objected to…

That seems like a commonsense approach to me. I thank my colleague for his help on secret holds. We are achieving a big victory for transparency at the beginning of this Congress.

tonight's State of the Union Address is a unique opportunity for the President to speak directly to the American people and offer his course for the country. The President is promoting trade as part of his agenda and I commend him for…

The problem has been that the contractors hide behind the lease holders and try to shield themselves from liability.

But when you look at these contracts, that's why I went to the SEC filing.

Should the Congress consider some sort of special approach to ensure that there's accountability with the contractors.