I would like to take a few minutes to acknowledge the steady efforts of our Armed Forces and our intelligence community to eliminate the leader of al-Qaida and to help bring some peace and relief to our Nation and to those who lost loved…

I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Cardin). Without objection, it is so ordered. The Senator from Texas is recognized.

Thank you, Chairman Rockefeller, for holding this important hearing on the effectiveness of Federal investments in disaster preparedness.

I have introduced, in the last two sessions, weather modification legislation; not to do it, but to start doing research to determine if there is a benefit to trying to modify the ferocity of tornados and hurricanes, if it can be done.

we are today making a small downpayment toward getting runaway Federal spending under control. The spending bill we will vote on today represents a $78 billion spending cut from that proposed by President Obama for this year. It will be…

I have introduced a weather-modification bill for the last four sessions of the Congress.

I have seen how the predictions have saved hundreds of thousands of dollars and at least hundreds of lives.

The Deepwater Horizon has cost an estimated $10 billion.

We cannot do everything. We need to really focus on our strengths, and that means cutting back on things that are not as important.

Germany's contribution has been about $20 million per year of the overall $1.4 billion that we have spent in Germany between 2006 and 2010.

I have expressed, pretty publicly, that I am concerned that we have spent so much on MILCON in Germany.

I do appreciate that response. I do.