I rise today to recognize a former Member of this body and my long-time friend and mentor, Senator Jim Abdnor of South Dakota. Senator Abdnor passed away last Wednesday, May 16, 2012, in South Dakota in the company of friends and family…

That means that, without reform, Social Security is going to exhaust its trust fund reserves by the year 2033.

I say to my colleague from Alabama, who is the ranking member on the Budget Committee, I got on the Budget Committee in this session of Congress and have been on it now for 2 years. We have not written a budget either year. So it sort of…

If the Senator will yield for a minute, I assume in Alabama and Missouri and I know in South Dakota our States pass budgets. It can be done. You can balance your budget. It would be nice if we had a requirement in the Constitution that…

Social Security is the single largest category of the Federal budget, and the Social Security trustees recently released their annual report on the financial status of the program.

Stopping the reforms, I think, would be counterproductive, inconsistent with fiscal responsibility, and unfair to unserved Americans who would benefit from us moving forward, including in South Dakota.

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.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

in just 2 weeks, similar to many proud parents, I will be watching as my youngest daughter walks across the graduation stage. For some students, this important milestone marks the end of their college days and the beginning of a…

in 2005 the European Union began their emissions trading scheme, which attempts to cap emissions of carbon dioxide from stationary sources within the EU. Starting in 2012, civil aviation operators departing from or landing in Europe began…

I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. Emissions Trading

I wish to commend the Senator from Wyoming for his great work on the subject. As Americans know firsthand, we continue to struggle with an economy that is not performing well or meeting the needs of workers. The unemployment rate remains…

there are places in the country where that's not true.

The technology is remarkable. The innovation is amazing, and, you know, we here in Congress are just trying to keep up with what's going on out there.

I think this needs to be a priority. This is a pretty big deal for us.

I find it troubling that the administration has not yet requested an extension of Trade Promotion Authority.

For the life of me, I do not know why we have not been able to make any headway on extending TPA and moving forward with free trade agreements.

Japan is the United States' fourth-largest agricultural export market overall, despite maintaining some import barriers.

We are going to stay at it until it gets changed. I mean, this is too important.

I look forward to continuing to work with the administration on a successful conclusion to the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

I just hope that we can continue to allow American producers, who are the best in the world, to continue to help feed the world.

It is disappointing that, more than 3 years into the Obama administration, TPP is the only new trade agreement being pursued.

We want to be the number one. We want to stay competitive, and those markets are very, very important.

Yes. Well, I think the sky is the limit.

It appears unlikely to conclude before the end of President Obama's term.

In South Dakota, we understand the importance of opening new markets to our home-grown products.