Commodity futures trading continues to become increasingly important to the agricultural community, especially in States like my home State of South Dakota.

a Bloomberg headline Monday noted: ``Half of the Senators Who Voted for ObamaCare Will be Gone in 2015.'' ObamaCare, it seems, has not been kind to the party that jammed it through Congress. In fact, the third ranking Democrat in the…

I rise to recognize the end of an era in my office in Washington, DC, because at the end of the year, Summer Mersinger will be leaving my office. She has been in my office for 15 years. She comes from a small town in Central South Dakota…

I ask unanimous consent that the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Tribute to Summer Mersinger

Very good. Madam President, I wish to speak today about some of what is happening here with the agenda and where we might be headed. I think it is important to point out that the Democrats here, after this election, seem to be in disarray…

As I stated in our hearing last month regarding faulty Takata airbags, the string of recalls this year has been cause for grave concern.

So you would make those findings available to Congress at the appropriate time if confirmed?

Thank you, Senator McCaskill, for agreeing to chair this hearing to consider the nominations of Mark Rosekind to be the next Administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Bella Dinh-Zarr to be a Member of the…

NHTSA can't connect the dots when it matters the most, the public, American public, seemed to be losing confidence.

One of the biggest issues and concerns in the State of South Dakota and its number one industry, agriculture, is this proposed rule concerning Waters of the United States.

I wanted to reiterate to you and remind you of your obligation and responsibility as well as that of Secretary Vilsack and others at USDA to make absolutely certain that you guard the welfare and well-being of production agriculture and…

I am holding the State conservationists accountable for getting that backlog cleared out.

are we in morning business? The PRESIDING OFFICER. We are postcloture on the Adler nomination. ObamaCare

I think the NFL's initial response to this matter was completely inadequate.

A lot of the focus has been on finding the right penalty for domestic violence, but would you agree that, at its core, the solution will require athletes to take responsibility for their own conduct and use the same self-discipline that…

We failed. The Commissioner failed to impose the proper discipline in the Ray Rice case in the very beginning.

So what efforts is the NFL making to ensure that, in the future, all the relevant, available evidence is there before making a decision on whether and how to punish a player that's involved in a domestic violence or a sexual assault case?

When might we expect the Mueller investigation to conclude?

At the time of the June 16 meeting, the NFL also knew that there was a camera inside the elevator and thought it was likely that there was a video from the camera.

Will that be a public report and will it detail the results of that investigation?

today is our first full week back in session since the election 2 weeks ago. While we haven't had the change of control yet in the Chamber--it doesn't happen until next year-- Republicans are setting out our priorities for the new Congress…

Senator Nelson and I and a few others on the Committee are introducing legislation today that would incentivize individuals who uncover serious allegations of vehicle defects or noncompliance with motor safety laws to blow the whistle.

Well, thank you, Senator Nelson, for serving as Chairman of this morning's hearing to examine the alarming Takata airbag recalls and the actions of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

What change have you made in that process that leads you to believe that?

There are media reports, as I referenced earlier, that Takata may have been aware of the dangerous airbag defects as early as 2004.