on behalf of Senator Inouye, the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, I have a substitute amendment at the desk. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will report the amendment. The legislative clerk read as follows: The…

on behalf of the Senator from Hawaii, Mr. Inouye, I have an amendment to the substitute, which is at the desk. I ask for its consideration. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, the clerk will report. The legislative clerk…

I am going to speak briefly in just a moment, but in the meantime I will suggest the absence of a quorum. I will call it off very quickly. I suggest the absence of a quorum. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll…

on behalf of the distinguished chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Inouye, I have introduced an emergency supplemental and disaster aid bill. This is to respond to the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy. The eyes…

before the Senator from Illinois leaves the floor, I commend him for his statements, first on his nominee for the Illinois judgeship that has been delayed for far too long, through no fault of the Senator from Illinois. This weekend was a…

I am pleased that the Senate is finally being allowed to take up the Investigative Assistance for Violent Crimes Act and the Strengthening Investigations of Sex Offenders and Missing Children Act. These two legislative proposals will…

originally we were planning to vote at 5:30 p.m. The distinguished ranking member has no objection. I ask unanimous consent that the time be divided between now and 5:30 p.m. in the normal fashion and the votes be at 5:30 p.m. The…

so Senators will know, it is my understanding that the first vote, on the confirmation of Fernando Olguin, of California, will be a voice vote, and the second one for Mr. Durkin will be a rollcall vote, which is what I understand from the…

I ask unanimous consent, on behalf of Senator Inouye, that Karen Courington and Mike Hansen, legislative fellows detailed to the Committee on Appropriations, be granted the privileges of the floor during consideration of the fiscal year…

in the 111th Congress, I worked closely with Senator Lugar on two pieces of legislation to improve our immigration laws in small but meaningful ways. My bill, the Refugee Opportunity Act, would provide refugees and asylees more opportunity…

I thank the Senator from New Jersey for his comments. The Presiding Officer and I and others have discussed how we felt this weekend. I can't think of anything that has more emotionally roiled the Nation. There have been few such events in…

The editorial notes: A significant reason for the slowdown has been the partisan opposition of Republicans to appeals court and even to trial court nominations, even though almost none of the nominees have backgrounds that raise…

We have a constitutional responsibility to advise and consent, and we must also help our courts uphold their constitutional responsibility to provide speedy justice. The judges whose confirmations Senate Republicans are delaying are not…

as the end of this Congress quickly approaches, I urge the Senate--Republicans, Democrats, and Independents--to come together and pass our bipartisan Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act. More than a century after the…

today, the Senate will finally be allowed to vote on the nominations of Judge Frank Geraci to fill a judicial emergency vacancy on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York and Lorna Schofield to fill a vacancy on the…

a week ago, I came to the Senate floor and said it was time for the Senate and the House to come together to pass the Leahy-Crapo Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act. I expressed hope because I thought there was a basis for…

I thank the Senator. I will be speaking later on to the senior Senator from North Dakota. Mr. President, I have had the privilege to serve with several hundred Senators since coming here. I have put in a very small list those who are…

the issue of whether we are creating a school-to-prison pipeline is something of pressing national importance, no matter what part of the country you come from.

Already, in our country, the United States has the highest reported rate of incarceration of any country. Any country. I mean, this is--something is wrong here.

I am concerned that too young people are being funneled into the criminal justice system, and I think everybody here knows that when they are, their problems only multiply.

I think if anyone looks at today's New York Times, you see a 27-year-old woman for a rather minor crime, because of the laws, is given a life sentence. Oh, come on. What are we doing?

I applaud my colleague from Vermont for what he has said. I think he expresses the feelings of so many Vermonters across the political spectrum, so I thank him for doing that. ____________________

no matter what calendar one goes by, we are nearing the end of this Congress. We have only a few short weeks to end the stalemate and pass a farm bill. For months, House leaders have blocked a vote on a bipartisan farm bill. We passed in…

after nearly four decades of service with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, NRCS, at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, last week, Mr. Dave White settled into retirement. He will be missed for his dedication, enthusiasm, and…

the distinguished Presiding Officer was a strong supporter of this bill--the Violence Against Women Reauthorization Act, as many of our colleagues were on both sides of the aisle. We tried to keep this a nonpartisan bill--even beyond…