Floor Speeches

A bipartisan group of senators on Thursday went to the Senate floor to call on President Obama to take tougher action against Syrian President Bashar al Assad, including arming his opposition and possibly missile strikes.

In a colloquy, Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) all said Obama should put military pressure on the Syrian regime by arming rebel groups fighting the Assad regime.

Graham and McCain have long been hawkish on Syria, but the pressure from Levin and Menendez points to growing support in Congress for tougher actions against Syria.

McCain even suggested that the U.S. could use precision strikes to target Syria's ballistic missiles and chemical weapons.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Thursday that President Obama’s trip to Austin, Texas, was “a great way to at least look like you’re doing something about job creation."

“Today, the president plans to travel to Austin, Texas. I understand his trip includes a visit to a technical high school and a chat with workers,” McConnell said. “The idea, I presume, is to show folks that the White House has once again ‘pivoted’ to jobs. And if you’re someone who’s all about the visual, then of course putting on a pair of goggles or showing up at a factory is a great way to at least look like you’re doing something about job creation.

“Whether or not that means you’re actually getting the job done — well, that’s a different story.”

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) vowed that GOP obstructionism would not stop the Senate from voting on the nomination of Tom Perez to serve as the Labor Secretary.

“My Republican colleagues can try every trick in the book — and I’m sure they will — but I assure Mr. Perez … will have his day in the Senate,” Reid said on the Senate floor Thursday morning.

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) tried to pass a Senate resolution that would have condemned illegal abortion practices.

Lee asked unanimous consent to pass his resolution on Wednesday in reaction to the case of Kermit Gosnell, a Philadelphia abortion doctor who is on trial for performing illegal and unsafe abortions.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) objected, saying he’d prefer to pass his own resolution that condemns all illegal and unsanitary medical acts, including abortions. But Lee objected saying he didn’t have time to read the resolution before it was offered.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) tried for the fourth time to get Republicans to agree to go to conference on the House and Senate budgets.

Warner asked for the unanimous consent agreement on Wednesday, but Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) once again objected unless Democrats agreed to prevent the conference committee from raising the debt ceiling or taxes.

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) announced Wednesday that he would withdraw one of his amendments to the Senate water infrastructure bill.

Coburn had introduced an amendment that would have required federal studies on guns. That amendment was scheduled to get a vote at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.

Sen. Warren called the increasing amount of student debt a "quiet but growing crisis."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) used the words of Republicans against them Wednesday, quoting their past calls for regular order.

“For years Republicans have been singing the praises of regular order,” Reid said. “They said how they missed the days of committee markups, how they long for amendment vote-a-rama, and how they pine for a budget resolution … but then Republicans got what they wanted.

“If in fact the Majority Leader slipped and said something he didn’t mean to say … then I invite him to come forward," Lee said.

Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) introduced a bill Tuesday that would help protect military service members from sexual assault.

They introduced the bill the same day the military announced that the number of sexual assault victims has increased by more than 30 percent. It is estimated that nearly 26,000 service members were victims of sexual assault while serving in the military last year.