Floor Speeches

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said Republicans are blocking the Senate and House from forming a conference committee on the budget for the “nakedly partisan reason” of creating another economic crisis.

“It’s obvious [Republicans] are delaying [the budget] for one nakedly partisan reason: they hope to put off a compromise long enough to create another manufactured crisis, as the nation once again approaches the debt limit,” Reid said on the Senate floor Tuesday.

Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) returned to the Senate floor Monday to call on Congress to pass gun control reforms.

Murphy said that nearly 4,000 people have been killed in the United States by guns since Dec. 14, 2012, when a gunman killed 20 first graders at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) called on lawmakers to ask critical questions about the immigration bill because he said an influx of new legal workers would drive down wages in America during a time of slow economic growth.

“I urge my colleagues, before we rush out and sign up for an immigration proposal … somebody ask the question what is it doing to recent college graduates as well as low-skilled workers," Sessions said on the Senate floor Monday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said the House Republican plan to prioritize federal debt is “totally irresponsible” and would lead to a government default.

“If we pay China but not our troops serving overseas, we're in default,” Reid said Monday. “The Republican approach with default is totally irresponsible. Republicans know this risky measure is a nonstarter in the Senate, and even if it could pass the Senate, which it won't, President Obama would veto it.”

Calling allegations "troubling," Reid says Senate will act if IG report finds need for more investigation.

Republicans will wait until after the Memorial Day recess to begin the process of passing annual appropriations bills for fiscal 2014.

"The majority leader announced we'll begin the process of funding our government in June through an open appropriation," Rep. Kevin Brady (R-Texas) said on the House floor Thursday.

Republicans once again rejected Democrats’ unanimous consent agreement to form a conference committee on the House and Senate budgets on Thursday.

Senate Budget Committee Chairwoman Patty Murray (D-Wash.) said Republicans are holding the budget process “hostage” after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) objected for a fifth time to appointing conferees to work out the massive difference between the House and Senate budget resolutions.

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.