as the Senate prepares to break for Easter recess, I am pleased that it has acted to pass two pieces of legislation that will allow for the extension and reauthorization of the Satellite Home Viewer Act. Yesterday, the Senate passed a bill…

I am pleased that the Senate acted to pass legislation that will extend key provisions of the Satellite Home Viewer Act through the end of April. The statutory licenses and Communications Act authorizations that are contained in this act…

today's final passage of this Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act marks the culmination of a decades- long struggle to make health insurance affordable to hard working Americans. This has been an arduous process, but it has proven…

in addition to important improvements to the health reform bill President Obama signed into law this week, the reconciliation measure before the Senate also provides a significant investment in higher education. I have always strongly…

yesterday, I was pleased to learn that a brave young woman, Ms. Jamie Leigh Jones, will finally have her day in court. Ms. Jones testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee last year about how the Supreme Court's interpretation of the…

However, we will not be able to hear from those nominees today because Senate Republicans have anonymously objected to the hearing. They have continued their ill-advised protest of meaningful health reform legislation by exploiting…

earlier this week, we saw what I have called the dawn of a new day of hope for tens of millions of Americans who have fallen through the cracks--or who worry with good reason that they may fall through the cracks--of our broken health…

Senator Leahy and I have introduced the Cluster Munitions Civilian Protection Act--co-sponsored by 25 of our colleagues--to restrict the use of cluster bombs with high failure rates.

under our law, money cannot go to army or police units that are violating human rights.

I would appreciate being advised of just how that's done.

I worry we're dealing with countries where in--particularly in Afghanistan, Pakistan--where enormous corruption--a huge amount of money already is in the pipeline.

We have got to find a way to get both into the budget.

What I worry about is how the Army and Air Guard still fall short of the equipment and the aircraft they need.

The citizen-soldiers and airmen of your National Guard are adding value to America every day that they serve.

Of course, Senator Bond and I have the privilege of not being within departmental guidelines and we can do what we want to do.

I have enjoyed our bipartisan cooperation, and that cooperation is one of the reasons why you have four stars on your shoulder, General.

I worry that we are robbing Peter to pay Paul.

In a time of economic downturn and smaller defense budgets, we encourage the Department of Defense and the Air Force to adopt structures such as active associate wings to leverage the Air National Guard's lower operating and infrastructure…

I must say, Kit, as I've told you before, it was very helpful to have someone beside me who was a former Governor because you brought a perspective which was very, very helpful.

We urge you to reconsider the C-130 Force Structure changes and seriously review alternative courses of action that will preserve our mobility capability for both of the Air National Guard's Federal and State missions.

I just want less time to be spent on conflicts inside the Pentagon and more time spent concentrating on your mission.

Today's men and women volunteer to join, or stay, in the National Guard fully expecting to be deployed.

We ask the subcommittee to fully fund that request.

I've been on more C-130s than I'd like to think about.

last Friday the Senate finally confirmed John G. Levi to be a member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation. His nomination has been pending on the Senate Executive Calendar since October 21 when reported favorably by…