I think both the proposals made by my friend from Maine are commonsense items that will improve the Marketplace Fairness Act. As this bill moves through the legislative process, I suggest my colleagues on both sides of the aisle--and in…

I thank all of the people who have participated, particularly Senator Durbin who has helped to coalesce things, Senator Alexander who came up with the idea for having a shorter bill, only 11 pages--never see it in the Senate--written in…

I thank my friend from Maine, and wholeheartedly agree with her conclusion that we must ensure that the Marketplace Fairness Act is correctly implemented. I have spent many years working on this legislation and strongly believe that…

I rise today to urge my colleagues to vote for the Marketplace Fairness Act in just over an hour or so from now. I have said many times over the past few weeks--and, in fact, I have been saying it for the past 12 years as I have worked on…

I wish to thank the Senator from North Dakota for her comments and her involvement for over 20 years. I feel like a newcomer, with just the 12 years I have been trying to get this passed. Wyoming has recognized the need for it and has had…

I appreciate the comments from the Senator from Oklahoma and have enjoyed working with him the entire time he has been here. He brings up a lot of important issues, part of which is the financial shape our country is in right now. I…

I want to make a couple of comments on what has transpired here this afternoon and for the last several days. One of the toughest things to do is to pass a bill. One of the easiest things to do is to kill a bill. You can do that simply by…

I thank the Senator from Tennessee for his comments. He is very involved in the Banking Committee. He understands the transaction taxes that they are talking about, and I appreciate his learned opinion on that. Mine comes from section 3…

Senator Brown was here earlier, and I had wanted to be able to speak briefly. So if, when I finish my remarks, he is here, I ask unanimous consent that he be recognized to speak. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is…

I appreciate that question. One of the reasons there is difficulty, there is the blue-slip problem with the House, but also we have the section on limitations in this bill that appears on page 7. There are only 11 pages in this bill so it…

I thank the Senator from Texas for his comments. There is definitely a problem. We had people miss votes on Monday night because the supposed furlough that the air traffic controllers had to have in effect delayed some planes for more than…

I want to congratulate the Senator from Maine on his speech. It was a tremendous history lesson. I have enjoyed getting to know him a little bit since he got here. I had quite an interesting surprise yesterday. He came to my office and he…

I suggest the absence a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.

I want to talk about what we have just heard here and an implication that we are not champions of small business. I was in small business. I had shoestores, retail shoestores, so that is why I know some of these problems. I know about the…

I think this is a common sense solution, and I'm looking forward to working with all of my Senate colleagues to help pass this bill.

Make no mistake. The economic environment they're growing up in is rife with challenges that will require this knowledge.

I thank the Senator from Tennessee, Mr. Alexander, and the Senator from Illinois, Mr. Durbin, for this discussion they have had where I think they cleared up a lot of the confusion there might be over the bill. They have presented…

I feel a new urgency about the importance of educating people about issues related to finances and from a young age.

To return to the discussion on marketplace fairness, I mentioned that most consumers are aware they are supposed to pay the tax on purchases that the retailer does not choose to collect at the time of the purchase, so I would like to…

I wish to thank the leader for that moment of silence. I hope everybody in America will keep the people of Boston--particularly those who were injured or lost family members and those who saw the pain and the tragedy--in their prayers. I…

I thank the Senator from Illinois, Mr. Durbin, for his interest and participation in this issue, his ability to explain it, and for the way he has brought a lot of people along in helping out with this bill. He has been a great…

I want to speak today about the series of votes that are going to be taking place this afternoon on gun rights. I wanted to start off by telling a little story and explain why there are some difficulties with some of those amendments that…

today I wish to share a startling fact with the American public. For the first time since the President has been required to submit a budget--since 1922, 91 years ago--the President failed to provide a budget proposal before the Senate…

the tax's purpose is to offset the costs of the Affordable Care Act

I am concerned about some recent reports that have identified some anti-competitive effects of excessive integration of hospital systems.