we are always wise in this Chamber to reflect with reverence and gratitude on those who risked their lives fighting to establish this great Republic. Today I would like to recognize and celebrate the 240th anniversary of one of the…

I ask permission to speak as in morning business. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Gaspee Day

to our colleagues, I announce that it is the intention of the majority leader to resume consideration of the motion to proceed to S. 3240, the farm bill, when the Senate convenes tomorrow. At 10:30 a.m., there will be a cloture vote on the…

it has become sort of a personal tradition of mine to come to the floor each week to report on the status of the dangers to our Earth and climate from the relentless carbon pollution that we have to face, and this is a bellwether week…

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 485, submitted earlier today. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title. The legislative clerk read as follows: A resolution (S…

I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it adjourn until 9:30 a.m., on Thursday, June 7, 2012; that following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be…

let me first thank the distinguished Senator from Illinois for his determined efforts, as well as my senior colleague in this body, Senator Jack Reed, for his determined efforts in trying to get to a resolution that will prevent the…

I understand there are two bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will read the bills by title for the first time en bloc. The assistant bill clerk read as follows: A bill (S. 3268)…

I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 484, which was submitted earlier today. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the resolution by title. The legislative clerk read as follows: A…

I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table, with no intervening action or debate, and any statements related to the resolution be printed in the…

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent the Senate adjourn under the previous order, following the remarks of Senator Sessions. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk…

I now ask for a second reading and object to my own request, all en bloc. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Objection having been heard, the measures will be read for a second time on the next legislative day. ____________________

We recommend that the Department of Justice give serious consideration to a departmentwide default open file policy.

I want to take a few moments this afternoon to do something that has become a bit of a ritual with me; that is, to try to take some time each week to speak about the damage we are doing to our atmosphere, to our oceans, and to our climate…

I would suggest that it is more than just that we are drifting. I would suggest we are being drifted by politics and by the money in politics, particularly the big money the big polluters can throw into politics, not only directly by…

I rise today to speak in support of the Food and Drug Safety and Innovation Act. This measure includes a number of important reforms to promote the development of new treatments for patients in need and to ensure that drugs and other…

while we are waiting for the next speaker to arrive, I wanted to take a moment and discuss the brief Senator McCain and I filed in the Supreme Court last week. It can be found at http://www.whitehouse.senate.gov/download/?id=e3ba7f1b-d132…

I rise today to speak about a subject that I know is dear to the heart of the Presiding Officer, which is the sorry state of our campaign finance system and the need for the DISCLOSE Act of 2012, which we call DISCLOSE 2.0. The Supreme…

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The Disclose Act

Not only did they not wrestle with it, it is not clear they even thought about it. When there are people who have come out of the judicial monastery--not quite the right word because they are men and women alike--but out of the separate…

Absolutely dead wrong, as proven by reality. It is not just a theoretical wrongness, it is a factual, actual wrongness.

I think three things went wrong. First of all, this is a Supreme Court that, unlike most if not all other Supreme Courts, has no political experience. None of them have ever run for office, so they do not have a practical sense of how…

The great experiment that the Founders of this country embarked upon when they founded this country was to allow for a democratic form of government that was governed by the people--not kings, not lords, not pharaohs, by the people. It has…

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Udall of New Mexico). Without objection, it is so ordered.

I believe it is. We operate in a modern world in which we are bombarded by media. The average person, the average, ordinary member of ``the people,'' does not have much access to that media, cannot get his or her voice much heard in that…