Juneteenth, which is also known as Freedom Day, is the date on which 250,000 slaves living in Texas finally learned of their emancipation. And that occurred nearly 3 years after President Lincoln's historic Emancipation Proclamation. It…

It gives us all the opportunity to reflect on the great Nation that the American flag symbolizes. The American flag is recognized worldwide as a symbol of democracy and freedom. It is the flag which leads us in every American battle and…

Indeed, Mr. President. In response to my distinguished colleague, the issue of relevance has become an issue. Therefore, in the unanimous consent request I said, `` `relevant be related to the subject matter of the bill' and/or energy…

I say to him and our colleagues in the Senate that we have now been working for 2 days to try to get this matter cleared. While we are involved in the minutia of the clearing process, Aung San Suu Kyi is still, in effect, in prison. We…

let me take a few minutes to comment on what is taking place today in the release of some initial working documents on Medicare modernization by members of the Finance Committee. Prefacing that, I will say that we have a lot of work to do…

5 years ago, this body launched a bipartisan commission on Medicare with the purpose of addressing both the short-term, mid-term, and long-term challenges we have with sustaining Medicare, preserving Medicare, and strengthening Medicare…

Currently, there is no national museum that honors the African-American story, and my colleagues seek to change that. They have introduced legislation to plan and construct a museum within the Smithsonian Institution dedicated to…

I have just withdrawn the ethanol amendment. As the minority leader suggested, my plans are to reintroduce that amendment at the earliest time feasible, likely first thing tomorrow morning. What has just happened is that while we were…

I take a moment to honor a great American who is celebrating his 100th birthday. Bob Hope was born one of six boys in a London suburb on May 29, 1903. His family made their way to America when he was 3, and they settled in Cleveland, OH…

I speak for a moment on the issue of equality in health care and what I have personally been able to observe, which we as a body have tried to address--in fact, have taken some major steps forward--but which stands as a major challenge…

last Wednesday marked an important day in the progress of medicine and national policy. I am pleased to note that on that day the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee voted unanimously to report out S. 1053, the Genetic…

On the last rollcall vote, No. 201, the distinguished senior Senator from New Mexico, current chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, and the former long-serving chairman of the Budget Committee, Senator Pete V. Domenici…

one of the many interesting challenges this Congress will face is that of fundamental Medicaid reform. The President unveiled an innovative and exciting proposal earlier this year, and the budget that we adopted in April anticipates…

I take this opportunity prior to this important, significant vote to thank and congratulate the chairman of the Finance Committee, Chairman Chuck Grassley, and his staff on the tremendous work they have done over the past several days but…

putting this bill together has been a challenging task. Many Senators have played important roles in this legislation but it could not have been done without the contributions of our staff. Without the aid of these individuals, the work of…

tonight we debate and tomorrow we act on legislation that will help set a course for a stronger national economy in the coming months. Next month, we will begin to address issues in the health care sector. We will look at ways to…

It was in 1963 that President John F. Kennedy said, when leading the fight to enact Medicare at that time: A proud and resourceful nation can no longer ask its people to live in constant fear of a serious illness for which adequate funds…

I believe it has ramifications for the security of this Nation. Today, Israel was rocked by a fifth suicide bombing in 4 days--5 dead, 14 or 15 injured in a blast outside a shopping mall. Just last Friday we had a suicide attack in Morocco…

This initiative is a huge bipartisan initiative that is supported strongly by Democrats and Republicans. I think they will see as the debate goes forward that nobody thinks the bill is absolutely perfect in the sense that they don't as…

what we have just done is significant in many ways. We have addressed for the first time in a comprehensive way one of the greatest humanitarian, moral, and public health challenges this country has ever seen, and, I would argue, the…

I reiterate what the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee said. As I said at the outset of this week and through this week, the intent is to finish this bill this week. A number of Members on both sides of the aisle have requested…

Mr. President, this is an historic day. I am very pleased that the Senate is moving forward with this AIDS relief bill--a bill that represents an unprecedented commitment to fighting the global scourge of HIV and AIDS. It is a good bill…

I fully agree that it is essential that information about approaches to HIV/AIDS prevention be medically accurate, including both the public health benefits and failure rates of the approach involved. That is what is intended by this…

I agree that these organizations who work with prostitutes and women who are the victims of trafficking play an important role in preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS. We need to support these organizations, because HIV transmission through…

the size of HIV is about 100 nanometers. That is tiny, microscopic, and invisible to the naked eye. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter. If you divide 3 feet, into 1 billion parts, and take 100 of those parts, that is the size of HIV…