That's all the authority I need.

it is hard to believe that 15 years ago this Sunday the Twin Towers fell, smoke from the Pentagon could be seen from miles away, and a plane went down in a Pennsylvania field. For those who lived through that horrible day, the memory still…

next month, on the first Monday in October, the Supreme Court will begin its new term. The question we have before us as Senators is whether there should be an empty seat on the dais when the Supreme Court convenes. On the first Monday in…

I thank the Senator. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.

I suspect there are not many Americans who have either visited or know much about Laos. It is a poor country, geographically about the size of Utah, with less than 7 million people. It is wedged between Vietnam and Cambodia. I am sure that…

This photograph of a Laotian girl was taken a number of years ago. She was actually one of the lucky ones because she survived, but as you can see her left leg is gone and she uses a homemade crutch. This is what cluster munitions do to…

my friend John Lewis often says that ``the right to vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have in a democracy.'' I could not agree more with him. We are a better and more representative Nation when more Americans participate in our…

today I am reintroducing the Refugee Protection Act, along with Senators Franken, Durbig and Hirono. The world is confronting the worst refugee crisis since World War II. There are more than 65 million people who have been forcibly…

today the Senate will pass the bipartisan Library of Congress Sound Recording and Film Preservation Programs Reauthorization Act of 2016, which authorizes two important cultural preservation programs through 2027. Senator Grassley and I…

I wanted to share with my friends in the Senate some news from across the pond. Sir Peter Westmacott, who served as British Ambassador to the United States from 2012 until January of this year, was recently bestowed the high honor of…

yesterday I made a statement about the situation in Honduras, where the March 3 assassination of environmental activist Berta Caceres remains under investigation. I also mentioned the brutal killing last week of Lesbia Janeth Urquia. In…

Vermont environmental advocate James Ehlers has won the prestigious 2016 Zetterstrom Environmental Award, an honor presented annually by Green Mountain Power Company. I know James well from having worked for most of the last two decades to…

today the Senate confirmed Dr. Carla Hayden to be the 14th Librarian of Congress. This is an historic moment, as Dr. Hayden becomes the first woman and the first African American to serve in this important capacity. I congratulate Dr…

while the Senator from Missouri is still on the floor, I noted what my friend said about his being the first member of his family to get a college degree. The Leahys came to Vermont in 1850. When my grandfather--who was a stone…

I wish to join my colleague from Michigan, the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, Senator Stabenow, in a colloquy regarding the scope of the products that could be labeled under the GMO labeling legislation. Does the…

it has been 4 months and 8 days since Berta Caceres, an internationally respected indigenous Honduran environmental activist, was shot and killed in her home. Ms. Caceres had led her Lenca community in a campaign over several years against…

Does the Senator from Michigan also believe that the definition of GMO food included in this bill prohibits the labeling of ingredients from plants genetically modified through new and yet to be developed gene editing techniques in…

I thank the Senator from Michigan for joining me in this colloquy for the purpose of bringing greater clarity to the congressional intent regarding the definition of GMO products contained in this bill. I ask unanimous consent that the…

In fact, the Vermont Legislature, is it not a fact, had at least 50 hearings with at least 130 witnesses?

I want to take a moment to recognize the achievements and contributions of a remarkable advocate and distinguished leader in my home State of Vermont. This summer, Allen Gilbert will be stepping down from his position as executive director…

I thank the distinguished senior Senator from Illinois for what he said. As he knows, like many Vermonters, I consider myself a responsible gun owner, but I don't think it is responsible when people are allowed to come in and buy guns with…

Before the Senator yields the floor, he talked about what Vermont did. Isn't it a fact that the Senate didn't hold one single hearing or have one single witness come before they set this bill; is that correct?

I would answer my friend and colleague from Vermont--especially, as a member of the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, I am well aware of this--that there was not one single hearing, not one single witness. Unlike Vermont…

this week we mark the signing of the Declaration of Independence and celebrate the values upon which this Nation was founded. Back in Vermont, we celebrated on July 4 with parades and fireworks displays, as did millions of Americans around…

just over 3 years ago, the Senate overwhelmingly passed comprehensive, bipartisan immigration reform. That bill secured the border. It provided an earned path to citizenship that would bring millions out of the shadows and reformed and…