If we do nothing, as the Republicans suggest, we’re going to see health care costs reach a point where small businesses can’t afford it and families can’t afford it. We’re going to see people turned down from pre-existing conditions. We’re going to find the Medicare doughnut hole – a gap in coverage that’s going to hurt a lot of seniors.

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.

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.

There is no room for legal hair-splitting when it comes to the humane treatment of detainees – not in a nation founded on the rule of law and respect for human rights.

If we do nothing, as the Republicans suggest, we’re going to see health care costs reach a point where small businesses can’t afford it and families can’t afford it. We’re going to see people turned down from pre-existing conditions. We’re going to find the Medicare doughnut hole – a gap in coverage that’s going to hurt a lot of seniors.

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.

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.

You know, the purpose of reconciliation is to avoid the filibuster. The filibuster is an effort to talk something to death.

We will have health care reform in America.

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.

Millions of Americans take vitamins safely every day, including me. Vitamins and mineral supplements taken in recommended doses are safe. It’s the designer supplements that are worrisome.

We can’t do much about ensuring that the homeland is safe if our local police and sheriffs’ departments don’t have the personnel they need to keep our streets and neighborhoods secure.

Our party is a diverse one, as is my home state of Illinois.