Madam President, I again thank my colleague, Senator Chambliss. There will be more to come. There were a number of other colleagues who couldn't be here. The Senator from Illinois has been more than kind. He will be part of meeting this…

Mr. President, let me echo the comments of my good friend, the Senator from Georgia, Senator Chambliss. It is time for us in this Senate--and excuse the language--to put up or shut up. A lot of folks talk about deficit reduction in both…

Madam President, I know the Senator from Illinois is going to do his maiden speech in a couple of moments. I ask his forbearance for an extra 4 or 5 minutes. Our colleagues have been a little bit over subscribed, which I think is an…

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in morning business for 5 minutes and that Senator Sanders be recognized upon the conclusion of my remarks. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. ____________________

Mr. President, I rise again to recognize the service of another great Federal employee. This is a tradition that was started by our friend and former colleague, Senator Kaufman, and I am proud to carry on that tradition. But I want to…

Mr. President, I associate myself with the remarks of the Senator from North Dakota and add my voice as well to celebrate Senator Dorgan's tenure in the Senate. I wish he was going to stay. He has been someone about getting things done. As…

I thank the Senator from Illinois for laying out the facts, but there is one additional fact--again, vis-a-vis the Bush tax cuts--that I think has been absent from some of this debate. The efforts of the Senator from Illinois--Herculean as…

If we were to make permanent--as some on the other side of the aisle have stated--all the Bush tax cuts, that adds another $4 trillion to our deficit; is that not correct?

Mr. President, I have a reason for coming to the floor and drawing attention to our letter and this issue again. The seriousness of our Nation's fiscal challenges--the compelling need to address these issues in a responsible and bipartisan…

Mr. President, just 3 days ago, a bipartisan majority of the members of the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform endorsed a package of proposals to reposition our Nation on a more responsible fiscal course. I wish to…

Before I get to my remarks, Madam President, I want to commend my friend, the Senator from Oklahoma, for his comments. I don't always agree with him, but I have had the opportunity to sit in the Presiding Officer chair and listen to his…

Mr. President, for a variety of reasons, turnover in the Senate has been more rapid recently than at almost any other time in our history. For some of us, the turnover has been the result of elections. For some, it has been the result of…