I thought my colleagues from New Hampshire and Montana might share with us a little bit about the amendments they are proposing, but in light of them not doing that, I yield 2 minutes to the Senator from Illinois. The PRESIDING OFFICER…

We have heard a lot of complaints from primarily the non- sales-tax States about the amendment we have proposed, but we haven't heard about the amendments they have proposed. I thought they would use part of their time to make the case for…

I have an inquiry. I would like to make a unanimous consent request that we be able to use our electronic devices while we are sitting at our desks on the floor so that we might get any communication that we need from our staff, and also…

I allot myself 5 minutes of the time allotted to Senator Cornyn. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is recognized.

I yield 2 minutes to the Senator from Tennessee and then my final minute to the Senator from Illinois.

I move to lay the motion on the table. The motion to lay on the table was agreed to. Amendment No. 597 The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there is 2 minutes of debate equally divided prior to a vote in relation to amendment…

I rise today to talk about the spending decisions that are crippling the long-term budget outlook and the futures of our children and grandchildren. I am one of two accountants serving in the Senate, so the purpose of the budget resolution…

I ask unanimous consent the reading of the amendment be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment is as follows: Strike all after ``DEFICIT'' on page 1, line 2, and all that follows, and…

I appreciate the compliments from the two people who are from States that don't have the sales tax. We are not on the bill. This is an amendment to find out if a majority of the Senate is in favor of making sure we go through with some…

I call up amendment No. 656 and ask for its immediate consideration. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The assistant bill clerk read as follows: The Senator from Wyoming [Mr. Enzi], for himself, Mr. Durbin, Mr. Alexander, and…

I wish to thank the Senator from Alabama for all the work he has done on the budget. He worked on a budget for 2 years previous to this which never materialized. I am so pleased he and his staff are working on a budget. I understand his…

I rise with Senators Durbin, Alexander, and others to discuss an amendment I am filing to the fiscal year 2014 budget resolution. The amendment establishes the deficit-neutral reserve fund that allows States to enforce State and local use…

I just want to thank the Senator from Ohio for his usual very clear way of explaining things. I know that comes from the tremendous background he has had, not just in the House but actually putting together a White House budget before. I…

One of the things that happen with the programs is they usually get named after some Senator and he is very protective of his particular program. This is one of the things that make it very difficult to eliminate programs. Yes, if the…

They are saying there should be quite a changeover back here until we have people who understand that you are not supposed to spend more than you take in. The answer is not charging them more in taxes every time we can't meet that…

That is probably the only way it can be done, is to have the President suggest this is leadership, this is management, this is what the White House is supposed to be in charge of and could do. I also know that even if the President talks…

I rise today to share with the American public exactly what they are getting with the majority's budget for the coming year. I will be blunt. It is not good news. In fact, after 4 years of not bringing up a budget for consideration by the…

Yes. These are the latest figures. After the sequestration and after the fiscal cliff, it came down to that. Before that, it would have taken us 5 years.

I thank the ranking member for the tremendous job he has done and the hours he and his staff have put into reviewing these things. This is not an easy thing to follow. The book we have is an actual manual. The bill we receive to work from…

Absolutely. It looks like a tremendous manual. We have a thing called the Government Performance and Results Act, which is where every agency is supposed to list what they do and how we will know they completed it. At the end of the year…

The Wyoming people absolutely think there should be a balanced budget. They do not think it ought to take 10 years to get there. They know how they have to operate. These are just hard-working, ordinary people with big hearts and an…

I applaud him for all the work that he has done on this issue.

These are supposed to be rainy day funds, but it's supposed to be raining really hard before they can get them out, not just sprinkling.

I think that would allow us to put the word, God-awful, in there.

I worked on this with Senator Kohl for a while, and I'm now working on it with Senator Bill Nelson and hope that it becomes a part of whatever bill that you do.