Kay Bailey Hutchison

We have got to be a reliable partner in order to keep an alliance like that going.

Well, we have certainly tried to lower the number of commercial operators that are going to get the Federal seed money just because I think we agreed that that was just more than we could take away from SLS and Orion.

An enduring vision for NASA should be set by the President and supported in Congress.

the purpose was to have the technology in the shuttle that is going to go to and from the space station that would be transferable to the heavy launch vehicle with Orion, so that we maximize efficiency with our taxpayer dollars.

We are talking about the kind of commitment that you suggest, which is putting different vehicles' capabilities together so that it doesn't all fall on us.

Just to follow up, we always hear that the most important thing that we could find is that there might be evidence of water, which then might lead to some thought that there was some kind of life.

So would we be looking at something that would go to Mars while maybe the Curiosity might still be working, but yet another one that might have the return capability that would be a next goal to achieve, again looking toward humans going…

How fast--you are talking about an area bigger than Connecticut. How fast can the Curiosity move so that it can cover the amount of land that you are trying to cover in the time that you have?

The goal is to have one. So that is the goal, and we are looking at the efficiency and making sure we are not paying just as much as we would had we kept it all in NASA.

Will you be able to tell how long ago it became extinct or the water went away?

How much, then, would be left on the Republican side? The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. There is 7 minutes left on the Republican side. The majority side has 15.

I wanted to clarify that there would be time for the opposition side. I did not know if Senator Collins is speaking for the majority side then or the minority side. I am trying to clarify to assure that the opposition is getting some equal…

Then how much time would the proponents have with Senator Collins and Senator Lieberman on the proponents' side? The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The time is divided between the two sides, not between the proponents and opponents.

Let me ask my colleagues, I have reserved the 5 minutes that I have for opponents. Is that going to change, Senator Lieberman? If not, I will give 2\1/2\ minutes each to Senator McCain and Senator Chambliss of my 5 minutes.

I will ask my colleagues, Senator McCain--I can give you 2\1/2\ minutes to you and Senator Chambliss. While they are going to their microphones, I want to say that they have been instrumental in trying to get a consensus bill. And they…

I wish to be notified when I have 5 minutes left, because Senator McCain is expected on the floor, and if Senator Chambliss or others come, I would like to have the time. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Chair will do so.

I wanted to get the time for our side and the time for the bill sponsor's side and clarify that the people on our side would have 15 minutes. Is that correct? The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The time is divided between the two leaders or…

I rise to express my disappointment that we are taking a vote that is very premature. Not that we have not been discussing this bill for over a year. I have certainly been one of the first to say that we should vote on a cyber security…

I would ask unanimous consent that the opponents have at least 10 minutes.

I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record the two letters from which I read in my statement and an article from the Wall Street Journal this morning on this issue. There being no objection, the material was ordered to be…

In my state of Texas, which does not have an income tax, we rely heavily on revenue collected by sales taxes.

This bill presents an opportunity for states to modernize their tax systems.

At the end of the day, Rhode Island businesses will be able to compete on a level playing field.

We can all compete on price, and all of us can actually compete on any offer that's made on the Internet.

We support S. 1832 because it would grant states, which streamline their sales tax systems, the authority needed to collect the sales and use taxes they are owed.