It is also tremendous what the United States does, as opposed to a number of other countries which start kicking kids out of school regardless of special needs at a very early age.

I have to tell you, all of that really bothers me.

I want to start by applauding the work of the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers in the development of the Common Core standards.

The Upper Big Branch Mine is the worst accident in 40 years, and 29 people lost their lives.

As a Senator from a State whose primary industry is energy production, my heart goes out to the families and communities that lost those hard-working Americans this month.

Mr. President, I rise today to introduce legislation with Senator Landrieu known as the Voluntary Protection Program Act. This bill will codify the Voluntary Protection Program, or VPP, expand it to include more small businesses, and…

What kind of message does it send to penalize members?

I helped to get the Post Office under OSHA when I first got here and called for inspections in my office on a regular basis.

You know, if you had a safety program, you'd have more people available for work, and you'd save a lot of money.

Yes, I have been down in an underground mine, but I know that most people have not.

There is a program that's working very well, and that's the VPP program, the Voluntary Participation Program.

Doesn't it seem like we really ought to extend that program and get more of the people that are good participants into that program?