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Dick Durbin
You know, the purpose of reconciliation is to avoid the filibuster. The filibuster is an effort to talk something to death.
Like so many large companies in the U.S., Monsanto has prospered in large part due to U.S. taxpayer-funded programs and services.
We have to really appeal to that sensible center.
Borrowing 40 cents out of every dollar we spend for missiles or food stamps is unsustainable. And being indebted for generations to China and OPEC does not make American a stronger nation.
Having billions of dollars immediately available to plug budget holes without raising taxes is very appealing. And to the delight of Wall Street investors, state and local governments often fail to ask the important questions or consider the long-term impact.
Since 2000, I have proposed changing the Constitution so that our popular vote decides the presidency.
America wins when the voiceless have a seat at the table, when the vulnerable are protected, and when working families have the same political clout as the wealthy.
We've had enough with the gun shows where you can buy from private sellers with no FBI background check.
Unfortunately the Republican tax cut will deny important revenues to many states facing their own deficits. This will create greater pressure for higher state and local taxes.
Every day seems to bring news about another for-profit college scam. Hundreds of thousands of students have been deceived, misled, and harassed into enrolling at these schools where they end up with a mountain of debt and a worthless degree.
Until we make campaigns affordable, then we're going to have too many members of Congress out rattling the cup with special interest groups.
We believe that there are aspects of border security that Democrats and Republicans can agree on.
Personally, I would counsel any woman who asked, in my family, to do her best to carry the child full term, and I'd try to help. But I do believe the government should not prohibit a woman from making that decision.
I think for all of us who call East St. Louis part of our heritage, we want to make a better day for the city.
We will have health care reform in America.
American businesses and consumers deserve a debit card system with competition, transparency, and reasonable fees.
The fact is I tried for years to work with the financial industry on reasonable swipe fee reform, but the industry wouldn't have it.
I urge the Department of Education not to settle for half-measures when it comes to students.
Sunlight is better than secrecy when it comes to making laws.
Where would Monsanto be without the U.S. farm program and world-class research labs?
Taxpayers across the U.S. have invested hundreds of billions of dollars building our nation's infrastructure, and that investment should be protected.
My wish is to bring the troops home as quickly as possible.
We have to talk about the way we finance campaigns.
We don't want to see the government shut down.
When we engage in the critical decisions about our nation's future budgets, I want progressive voices at the table to argue that we must protect the most vulnerable in our society and demand fairness in budget cuts.
Our party is a diverse one, as is my home state of Illinois.
We need to provide support to those that are fighting ISIS. And we can provide that support: logistically, training, intelligence, air cover. There are many things we have already accomplished successfully. But the notion of sending in rotational troops, as we saw in Iraq in the past, and in Afghanistan, I think we have learned our lesson.
Flint is to the lead issue what Three Mile Island was to nuclear power. People are stepping back and thinking, 'There still is lead in my home?'
We ought to deal with Social Security in a separate conversation that is not part of deficit reduction.
It is unacceptable that disabled veterans in Illinois rank at the bottom of the list when it comes to disability pay. We owe our disabled veterans more than speeches, parades and monuments.
Osama bin Laden is gone. The war in Iraq is over. Afghanistan is coming to a close.
You would think that, at this point, with records being kept and the vast amount of knowledge on these drugs, the pharmacists could wave off prescriptions that are dangerous to customers.
Social Security is the most important social program in America.
It simply isn't fair for senators to cut to the front of the line when seniors around the country have been forced to wait for hours to get a flu shot.
We want to move forward in a bipartisan fashion to solve our problems.
When you're talking about long-term deficit reduction, $4 trillion worth, entitlement reform needs to be part of it.
If we can get back to where I can earmark money to bring it home to Illinois... to make us a stronger economy, I'm going to continue to do it.
Before I was elected to Congress, I worked in a courtroom. For years, I defended doctors and hospitals, and for years, I sued them on behalf of people who were victims of medical malpractice.
It is a challenge to all of us, and it's a challenge we need to meet, to make sure the Quincy Veterans' Home is, in fact, giving the best care and the safest care in the state.
The swipe fee reform law that Congress enacted in 2010 was a huge step forward in bringing transparency, competition, and choice to a debit card system that had been rigged by Visa, MasterCard, and the banks.
If we're going to have tax cuts, let's focus on those in lower and middle income groups. Make sure that they get the breaks they need to continue to try to provide for their families.
When I hear my friend John Boehner say that we have the best health care in the world, I don't dispute it for a moment. If I were sick, this is the country I want to be in, with these doctors, these hospitals, and these medical professionals.
Credit card companies and banks usually aren't shy when they're trying to sell you something. Heck, Wells Fargo didn't even bother to ask consumers before signing them up for as many as two million checking and credit card accounts.
We all join the President in applauding the sacrifices made by our brave men and women in uniform. But we must continue to provide them the tools they need to accomplish the difficult tasks they face.
'Stand your ground' laws based on the ALEC model have had harmful consequences and need to be reconsidered.
We all make mistakes. But I'm lucky. Being from Illinois and from the Midwest, we believe in pretty basic fairness. Once you've made a mistake, get up, dust yourself off, and go to work.
Those of us who believe in God and those of us who have dedicated our lives to helping others in the name of God don't want to take a second seat to anyone who is suggesting that one word out of the platform means that the Democrats across America are godless.
Certain classes of weapons that are strictly military and have no useful purpose in sport, hunting, or self-defense should not be legally sold.
These are men and women who are willing to risk their lives in defense of their country. And the fact that their orientation - sexual orientation's been held against them is a blot on our nation's reputation.
