in a few minutes I will set up votes for next week on several measures that we began to discuss yesterday. Once we set the schedule for next week, we have some Senators who would like to make statements on those bills and other matters…

to summarize what we just went through and where we are, we have scheduled for next week the consideration of several important bills related to health care. Given the objection to the motion to proceed to these bills, it was necessary to…

over the course of the morning we will have various speakers coming in to talk about a number of issues focusing on the issues I have spoken to on health care and the cost of health care and how it affects people in their everyday lives…

I also will take a moment to interject what is a celebration today. It started with two events that happened 144 years ago this week, two events that signify great advances in the history of freedom in North America. On May 1, 1862…

I will set up those votes in a bit, but I want to speak to one of the issues that we will be voting on Monday night, and that is the medical malpractice liability issue which, in many ways, is destroying the practice of medicine today. As…

S. 1086, which we just passed, is the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act. I do want to take a few moments to comment because this is an important piece of legislation. The House has passed companion legislation already in the…

today marks the 55th National Day of Prayer, as established in 1952 by President Truman. All across America, in homes and churches and small towns and crowded cities, millions of people of many faiths will gather together to pray for the…

we have set aside the first hour for a period of morning business. After that time, there will be 20 minutes allocated to the chairman and the ranking member of the Appropriations Committee for their closing remarks on the emergency…

I will continue with our business, but I have to stop a moment and note that both of these bills, S. 22 and S. 23, address an issue that is very close to my heart because they focus on reform of a medical liability system, or a medical…

this resolution we addressed is a resolution recognizing the 58th anniversary of the independence of the State of Israel. I am proud to be the sponsor of this resolution and appreciate my colleagues for joining me on this resolution…

this morning we will begin a 30-minute period for the transaction of morning business. Following morning business, we will resume consideration of the emergency supplemental appropriations bill. Pending is the final division of Senator…

in a couple minutes, we will begin 1 hour of debate prior to the scheduled cloture vote on the emergency supplemental appropriations bill. That vote should occur around 11 a.m. this morning. I expect cloture will be invoked today, and that…

Senators should expect a busy couple of days as we vote on the remaining appropriations amendments today and tomorrow. Finally, I also remind my colleagues that Senators have until 10:30 this morning to file their second-degree amendments…

I asked consent that second-degree amendments be filed by 10:30 a.m. tomorrow, and that unanimous consent request is still pending? The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

The unanimous consent request, Mr. President, was that the Senate proceed to a period for morning business--we are calling it morning business--for up to an hour, a total of an hour, with 30 minutes under the control of the Democratic…

we will be closing in a few moments. But before doing that, I want to comment on events carried out in Washington yesterday, indeed around the country yesterday, in response to a crisis that is going on, a crisis that is more than a…

this afternoon, the order provides for resuming debate on the supplemental appropriations bill. I believe after the remarks of the two leaders, there are a couple of Senators, including our distinguished President pro tempore, who desire…

over the weekend, we got more bad news on the rising price of gas. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman told us to expect high gas prices to continue for 2 to 3 more years. In his words, suppliers have lost control of the market. Every day…

In the Darfur region I have not. But it is very similar to southern Sudan. It is fascinating, southern Sudan, where 2 million people have been displaced, and 5 million people have been killed in a civil war there, and it started there…

it will probably be more likely around 11 o'clock or 10:50, 10:55 tomorrow morning, maybe 11 o'clock, that we will have the cloture vote on the emergency supplemental appropriations bill. That will be the first vote of the day, and that is…

this Senate resolution we just agreed to thanks Terrance Gainer, former Chief of the U.S. Capitol Police. Although I don't have a formal statement, I have had an opportunity to work with Chief Gainer very closely over the last several…

we have made some progress on the Iraq supplemental bill this week. I thank Chairman Cochran for his leadership, for his patience, and for his hard work. The Senate will not be in session tomorrow, as I indicated earlier. We have a lot to…

today we will start with a 30-minute period of morning business. Therefore, shortly after 10 a.m., we will return to the consideration of the supplemental appropriations bill. We now have approximately 13 amendments pending. One of those…

there is another issue we have made slow progress on recently that we need to accelerate and that is the judicial nomination process. Throughout my time as leader, I have done my very best to stand on the principle of having fair…

I had hoped we could have made further progress on the emergency supplemental bill. Unfortunately, today we were only able to dispose of two amendments with rollcall votes--only two amendments. I am disappointed that the Senator from…