I come to the floor today to laud the actions of the House of Representatives which voted to repeal the CLASS long-term care entitlement program that was created by the health care law. The vote yesterday in the House of Representatives…

I ask unanimous consent that I be able to enter into a colloquy with my colleagues from North Dakota and Nebraska. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

with that, I yield back the remainder of my time, and I suggest the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

I appreciate the hard work of the Senator from Nebraska on this subject, as well as the Senator from North Dakota, and he has fashioned a solution which I think does give us an opportunity as a Congress to assert our role under the…

President Obama has said that every morning when he gets up, he thinks about what he can do to create jobs. Yet just in the last couple weeks, he turned thumbs down on a project that would create 20,000 shovel-ready jobs, the Keystone XL…

this amendment would make it easier for small business to better access capital in order to expand and create jobs. On November 3, 2011, the House of Representatives passed a companion measure, which was introduced by Representative Kevin…

I ask unanimous consent to call up amendment No. 1477. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The bill clerk read as follows: The Senator from South Dakota [Mr. Thune] proposes an amendment numbered 1477 to amendment No. 1470.

I ask unanimous consent that the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment is as follows: (Purpose: To direct the Securities and Exchange Commission to eliminate…

I ask unanimous consent to set aside the pending amendment. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. Amendment No. 1477 to Amendment No. 1470

I wish to, similar to all my colleagues, express our sympathy and support and prayers for our colleague, Senator Kirk. Senator Kirk is someone who is new to the Senate but served for a good number of years in the House of Representatives…

I think you are going to hear him talk about fairness, which to us is usually code for class warfare, which is code for tax increases.

I think this is largely a campaign oriented speech. I think the president is going to talk a lot about things he wants to talk about on the campaign this year. It is a political year after all.

What we've seen is the Obama record has been a failed one for the American workers.

The number one issue for Americans is jobs and the economy.

Tax reform is something that everybody agrees needs to be done to get the economy growing again.

I appreciate the question and comments of the Senator from North Dakota. I couldn't agree more with the sentiments he expressed. I do believe we have in front of us something for which there is a lot of bipartisan support--an extension of…

I think that sometimes farm bill programs get capitalized in the land prices.

I think that the lenders are in a much better position.

I think there are a few things that many people across the country, and, hopefully, in the Congress, agree upon. One is that we need to focus like a laser on creating jobs. That is something I think there is universal agreement on here. I…

through the Chair, I would say to my colleague from North Dakota that my understanding is the legislation does permit that to happen, and that is why I believe the State of Nebraska, including the Governor and our colleagues here in the…

I think the story here, Madam Chairwoman, is to figure out what went wrong and to figure out how we fix it so it does not happen again.

Clearly what has happened here has demonstrated that whatever--there are things that clearly can fall through the cracks.

farming is a risky business, and hedging is designed to help farmers and producers manage that risk

today I recognize Michelle Matthies, an intern in my Sioux Falls, SD, office, for all of the hard work she has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several months. Michelle is a graduate of Parker High School…

today I recognize Christopher L. Cugini, an intern in my Washington, DC, office, for all of the hard work he has done for me, my staff, and the State of South Dakota over the past several months. Chris is a graduate of Glen Oak High School…