Mr. President, let me thank Senator Wyden for his outstanding work as the former chairman of the Finance Committee and now as the ranking member. I get around Vermont a bit. I get around the country a bit. And, generally speaking, when I…

Mr. President, as people all over this country understand, we are a nation today that faces enormous crises. Sadly, the continuing resolution passed Tuesday in the U.S. House and which will come to this body very shortly not only does…

Mr. President, my office and I suspect all Senate offices are getting a whole lot of calls from senior citizens who are experiencing a great deal of fear and anxiety with all of the confusion and chaos that is currently going on here in…

Right. OK. Fair enough. That is fair enough. But what I would like to do--and I appreciate--you know, I think you and I can agree that we don't use the committee structure here in the Senate as effectively as we might. That is the place to…

I ask my colleague, my friend, the chairman of the Finance Committee a question. I hear what you are saying. Do I hear you correctly that you are prepared to discuss this legislation in committee?

Look, I understand that this bill would bring forth serious debate and discussion, but I would appreciate if we could have a starting point. This bill is pretty simple. It says--and I hear you saying that you need--am I hearing you…

OK. I would hope in one way or another--I would appreciate if we could start off with my bill. You could come in and tell me what you don't like about it, and we can go from there. But this is a crisis situation--I think you and I…

Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you, Mr. President. I yield the floor.

Mr. President, I speak with senior citizens all over Vermont and, in fact, in many parts of the country. Just last night, we held a telephone townhall in Vermont, and in our small State, 34,000 people were on the line. I think the reason…

Mr. President, we live in difficult times, in times where people throughout our country are experiencing a great deal of anxiety for a number of reasons. And in the midst of all of that, it is important that we not forget what is taking…

Mr. President, we are living in an extremely dangerous time. Future generations will look back at this moment--what we do right now--and remember whether we had the courage to defend our democracy against the growing threats of oligarchy…

Mr. President, today, we find ourselves in a pivotal moment in American history, and millions of Americans, by their actions or lack of action, will determine the future of our country for decades. In my view, the Trump administration is…