I come to the floor, and I am broadly supported by our caucus, because we come to a moment in time where people are looking at the Senate, America is looking at the Senate, and asking: Why? Why are we at a point where we are addressed with…

I think our point has been made. If we are going to address an issue that deserves to be addressed and that the American people expect us to address, we have to change course here from the last several days. It is going to require…

through the Chair--and we had discussed the possibility of that a little earlier--I think it is best for us to make that decision tomorrow, only because the Hagel-Martinez amendment is a negotiated compromise amendment that none of our…

as a prelude, we have a number of requests and items of business to take care of. I will explain here shortly. Motion to Commit Mr. President, I move to commit the bill to the Judiciary Committee to report back forthwith with an amendment…

But before doing that, Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 251, S. 1086. I ask unanimous consent that the committee- reported amendment be agreed to, the bill, as…

in response to my colleague and the manager of this bill, it is clear that by protocol, precedent--and I would even take it back to something more basic than that--and simple fairness and respect for individual Members, Members be allowed…

I will stand corrected. No, I will not stand corrected. On the very first amendment that was offered we still have not had a vote. And, yes, there have been several other amendments that have been addressed. We will have a cloture vote…

this morning, we are returning to the border security bill which has been pending since last Wednesday. Last night, the minority leader filed a cloture motion on the chairman's substitute amendment. I was a little surprised when I heard…

I interpret what the Democratic leader said to be that we have a bill on the floor that is a good bill and a solid bill but that the other side of the aisle does not want to give us the opportunity to amend that bill in any way, that they…

I will turn to the chairman in a moment, but we are in an unusual situation. When we step back and look at this bill, we see we have an important bill that is a national security issue, an issue of fairness and equity, and we have a good…

this morning, at 10 a.m., we will proceed to a vote on the confirmation of Michael Chagares to be a U.S. circuit judge for the Third Circuit. Following that vote, we will resume debate on the border security bill. We have four first-degree…

I wish to comment on the immigration reform debate. Our borders are dangerously porous, and our immigration system is flatout broken. That is why it is so important for us to debate and focus on the issue of immigration reform and to bring…

I think it is clear. We are seeing in essence a stonewalling of the bill on the other side, an important bill that is of national security. There are four amendments--the Kyl-Cornyn amendment is the official amendment. We are being denied…

again, I would ask--the Kyl amendment was not tabled, so it is the pending amendment. And I would ask if the other side would be willing to give us a rollcall vote on that amendment. It is not tabled at this juncture.

on Sunday evening, severe storms and tornadoes struck the western part of Tennessee, leaving a damage trail 25 miles long and a quarter to a half mile wide throughout Dyer County. It really struck two counties, Dyer and Gibson. The…

The answer is no. That is the first one. Let us go to the Mikulski amendment, the next one that has been pending for X number of days, and I would ask that we consider the Mikulski amendment and take it to a vote and vote on it right now.

I ask unanimous consent at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, the Senate proceed to executive session and an immediate vote on the confirmation of calendar No. 600, Michael Chagares, to be a United States circuit judge for the Third Circuit; provided…

today at 4 p.m. the jury in the Zacarias Moussaoui trial rendered their verdict that Mr. Moussaoui is eligible for the death penalty. It is reported that after the judge and jurors left the courtroom, Moussaoui shouted his defiance and…

I end tonight saying a few words about the devastating storms that occurred last night in my home State of Tennessee. First and foremost, I offer my deepest condolences to the families who lost loved ones last night. My heart goes out to…

we are immediately resuming debate today on the border security measure that is pending. Yesterday we were only able to complete action on one amendment, and we have three additional amendments still pending. During today's session we…

so far this week, we have had good debate, strong debate, robust debate, on strengthening our borders and crafting a comprehensive immigration plan. Everyone agrees we need to secure our borders, that our national security is at stake. We…

yesterday, I wrote a letter to President Bush expressing my strong opposition to the United States participating in the United Nations Human Rights Council. I believe the newly established body represents little improvement over the old…

this week, the National Medical Association sponsored American Diabetes Alert Day, with the purpose of bringing the public's attention to this distressingly prevalent disease. Approximately 20.8 million people in the United States have…

today we had some good debate, made good progress, had good discussion on this border security bill. We had hoped to have more votes on amendments to this bill this evening. We were unable to make that progress. But we will return tomorrow…

today we begin with a 60-minute period for morning business, with that time equally divided. Following morning business, we will return to the debate on S. 2454, the border security bill. The consent agreement from yesterday provides that…