The other day, I received a letter from a constituent, Lana Kunkel. Like many Vermonters, she is concerned about the doubling of Stafford student loan interest rates scheduled for July 1. This is very personal for her. She used the…

I have an amendment at the desk. The CHAIR. The Clerk will report the amendment. The Clerk read as follows: Page 34, line 2, insert before the period at the end the following: : Provided further, That of the funds made available under this…

This amendment, offered by my colleague from Colorado (Mr. Gardner) and I, does something straightforward. It forces, really encourages, the VA to do something that it has been required to do, and that's report on energy efficiency. One of…

I thank the gentleman. It is a failure when Congress will not allow debate on the most important issue in this bill, and that is the policy in Afghanistan. Congress has been failing the American people. We haven't paid for that war. We…

In 45 days, the interest rates on some Stafford student loans are going to double. Even though we have a consensus in Congress that low interest rates should be extended, we can't get the job done. Families can't wait. They're sitting…

Thank you. You've been a leader on this; but the challenge that we face in Congress is whether we're going to take seriously the epidemic of violence that's inflicted on women throughout this country. This legislation has to address what…

You make a good point. Is it the case in this country that it's Republican women or Democratic women or Republican children or Democratic children who are on the bad end of violence? We know that's not the case. There is a lot of human…

What about the kids? Whether they're lesbian or immigrants who take care of the children, isn't it the mothers who have the burden of that at the end of the day? Aren't we doing something that's going to protect those kids as well?

I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, this bill seeks to achieve a very worthy goal: reduce the debt of the United States and establish a sustainable level of spending. I share that goal, but I oppose this bill for two reasons: First, the…

Right now, families across this country are sitting around their kitchen tables trying to figure out how they can send their kids to college. They're talking about how to finance a college education when the cost of that is rising faster…

I thank the gentleman. Mr. Speaker, last week, the Republican majority was adamantly opposed to this legislation. This week, we're rushing it through on the floor today. You know what? That's a good thing. We're on the same page. The…

This production tax credit especially for wind is really, really essential to help this industry get on its feet.

Without these PTC credits, the projects are going to stall. That is just the fact.

My view is that Congress cannot take a pass and not actively decide and self-consciously decide about where in fact we want to have a public policy that is going to help an emerging industry.

I thank the gentleman. Unfortunately, this is another example of Congress failing the American people. It's failing our States. It's failing our communities. First of all, how in the world can we expect transportation projects to be done…

Three, let's commit ourselves to using American oil that is produced on American soil to be used in America. So, if there is going to be Keystone oil that is flowing through our States, why do we just want that to go to the export market…

In 74 days, this Congress may well hang a financial albatross around the necks of students and families across this country. That's because, on July 1, student interest rates are scheduled to go from 3.4 percent to 6.8 percent, literally…

The budget challenge we face requires two things: first, it requires the confidence to invest in the future and rebuild the middle class; second, it requires the discipline to bring down our debt with a plan that recognizes what is obvious…

This is a bad bill. H.R. 3309 would create a special set of very vague and unique procedural hurdles for the FCC that apply to no other Agency. It will result in decades of litigation. We have to have simplicity, and we have to have…

I thank the gentleman. In Vermont, we faced the challenge that we face in this Nation: We want to have access to health care, and we want it to be affordable. When we had legislation, the Democrats were pushing access. The Republican…

First of all, it's very refreshing that we have legislation that's focused on improving the business climate that we're doing together, and we've had some internal squabbles about whose name should go first. I'm not sure it amuses the…

Skyrocketing gas prices, due in part to Wall Street speculation, are crimping her budget and household budgets across the country.

We can do better. We should be increasing LIHEAP funding, not slashing it.

We should not let people freeze in their home; we should not let speculators reach in the pocket of consumers and small businesses; and we should let folks who are paying their mortgage refinance their mortgage.

Gas prices are killing the American consumer. They're doing real damage to small businesses. In my State, Cabot Creamery, which has fixed price contracts to deliver cheese, very important to farmers, very important to that business, price…