at the end of a debate in the Senate there is rarely a question of whether everything has been said--only whether every Senator has said it. After 92 days since this nomination was announced, after 30 hours of Judiciary Committee hearings…

this morning we will have the final closing remarks with respect to the confirmation of Judge Alito to be Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. The vote on the confirmation is scheduled for 11 o'clock this morning. I remind all of our…

I will be using some leader time. For my colleagues, the vote will be in about 10 minutes or so. In a few moments the Senate will decide whether to invoke cloture to close debate on the nomination of Sam Alito to be the 110th Associate…

just to summarize, we will be here tonight for as long as people want to speak. We will be here tomorrow, and we will announce what time we will be in tomorrow. We will be available as long as people would like to speak. If Saturday is…

I understand that earlier today, the distinguished chairman of the Judiciary Committee was on the Senate floor--actually, several times. During his last discussion on the Senate floor, he asked unanimous consent for an up-or-down vote on…

earlier today I filed a cloture motion on Judge Alito's nomination in order to bring to close in the not too distant future this outstanding nominee's confirmation process. The cloture vote is scheduled, as my colleagues know, for 4:30 in…

To reiterate, today we filed a cloture motion on the nomination of Judge Alito. The cloture vote will be 4:30 on Monday. We will have some more debate time on Monday. I believe we have provided plenty of time for debate on the nomination…

America is confronting a childhood obesity crisis, and over the past 25 years, the percentage of overweight girls has more than doubled--to 16 percent of girls ages 6 to 19, up from 6 percent in 1974. To support the search for a solution…

Thirteen years ago, a Republican minority in the Senate voted to confirm the qualified nominee of a Democratic President by an overwhelming vote of 96 to 3. Despite a well-documented liberal record, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg sits on the…

today, I am honored to open debate on the nomination of Judge Sam Alito to be the 110th Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. I enthusiastically support his confirmation. Judge Alito deserves to become Justice Alito…

just a very short comment. I have been in discussion with the Democratic leader on this issue as well. As our distinguished colleague from Arizona has just said, we on the Republican side have put together a working group in terms of how…

Today, the Prime Minister of Cambodia dropped the criminal defamation lawsuits against five government critics and human rights advocates. Along with the administration, I welcome the Prime Minister's decision and applaud his efforts to…

President, I welcome everyone back to begin this second session of the 109th Congress. In a few moments we will begin another historic debate in the Senate Chamber as we consider the nomination of Samuel Alito to be Associate Justice of…

we have a lot to do in wrapup tonight. As we get those papers ready and bring the year to a close, I want to look back over what we have been able to accomplish and then look ahead at what we can expect. In a letter to John Adams in…

this is the NASA authorization bill. I congratulate Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison for this particular piece of legislation, because as we look to the future, science and the technology, and the importance and significance of this…

I thank the Senators from Hawaii for their review of our actions and intent in securing the Senate's action on S. 147. In addition to our two Senators from Hawaii, the Governor of Hawaii has consistently sought our action on this bill, and…

America is watching what this body does. And America tells us to win the war on terror. Do not accept retreat and defeat. America is watching this body, and they are telling us to do something about energy prices, that of home heating oil…

as we bring this first session of the 109th Congress to a close, I once again thank my colleagues, the staff, the pages, and everyone who contributes so much to our work in this Chamber. I want to give a special thanks to the few pages we…

real quickly, this means that we will have 30 minutes of total debate followed by the concurrent resolution, followed immediately by Defense appropriations, followed by the authorization by voice. That is my understanding.

In the 20th century, three influenza pandemics. The worst of the three, the 1918 Spanish flu, killed over half-a-million Americans and more than 40 million worldwide. Secretary Leavitt warns that if past is prologue, the world is overdue…

On Monday, Afghanistan's first democratically elected Parliament in more than 30 years convened before the eyes of the world. It was an emotional moment and one of great pride for the Afghan people. As President Karzai told his audience of…

the next hour, we will spend in our precloture period before proceeding to the cloture vote on the Defense appropriations bill. I believe the Democrat leader spelled out how that time will be used. At this point, I ask unanimous consent…

like everyone else in America, we need to tighten our belts and learn how to do more with less. For the first time in over 8 years in the Senate, we will reduce spending in an area of the budget known as entitlement spending--for the first…

For 75 years, the Magen David Adom has served as Israel's emergency relief service.. Founded in 1930 by seven Israeli doctors and a one-room emergency medical service, the MDA has grown to play a major role working alongside the Israeli…

I will make a final statement on the deficit reduction act. The Democratic leader also will, and then there will be 10 minutes after that before we begin to vote. ____________________