SENATE—Tuesday, January 29, 2008
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January 29, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 154, Pt. 1 989 SENATE—Tuesday, January 29, 2008 The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was SCHEDULE going to do. If we took what the Intel- called to order by the Honorable JON Mr. REID. Mr. President, we will ligence Committee passed, which is TESTER, a Senator from the State of have morning business for 1 hour after likely not going to happen, we would Montana. the two leaders make any statements have to have a conference with the House. They are going out of session PRAYER they might make. As to what we do after that will take a conversation tonight. They are out of town on The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- with the Republican leader, and we will Wednesday and Thursday and Friday. fered the following prayer: do that when we finish our statements. So unless we do something today, the Let us pray. We have a number of things that are bill is not going to be enacted and the Eternal Spirit, the giver of every pending: the FISA legislation, Indian legislation we passed last August will good and perfect gift, we are sinful peo- expire. health, and we have another matter I ple seeking salvation. We are lost peo- Now, the orders that have been want to complete, an energy bill. We ple seeking direction. We are doubting sought and accomplished during the have an agreement as to how to finish people seeking faith. Teach us, O God, time since last August will still be in that, and we will move to one of those, the way of salvation. Show us the path effect, and, of course, there will be an more than likely, today. to meaningful life. Reveal to us the opportunity under the old FISA law to steps of faith. f work on an emergency basis for new Today, use the Members of this body things they want to do. STIMULUS PACKAGE to fulfill Your purposes. Quicken their We want to maintain the ability to hearts and purify their minds. Broaden Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Finance go after the bad people. We believe their concerns and strengthen their Committee on a bipartisan basis has there is a necessity for intercepting commitments. Show them duties left worked up what they feel is something telephone conversations between peo- undone, remind them of vows unkept, they are going to bring before the full ple who are trying to do bad things. We and reveal to them tasks unattended. committee tomorrow, and that will think it should be within the constitu- Lead them, Father, through this sea- take place—we will get their take on tional framework, and we believe that son of challenge to a deeper experience the stimulus package tomorrow. We is what the Intelligence Committee with You. Then send them from Your have all seen the press today. Everyone and the Judiciary Committee have presence to be Your instruments of knows the Senate is going to put their done. But I again say, without getting good in our world. mark on the stimulus package. We feel into any details, unless we do some- We pray in the Name of Him who is what will be done will be very stimula- thing today, unless someone can ex- our hope for years to come. Amen. tive to the economy. It includes, as I plain to me how we can pass something f understand it, some 20 million seniors here in a matter of a few hours, how we who were left out of what has taken can have a conference with the House PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE place in the House. There will be unem- in a matter of a few hours and then The Honorable JON TESTER led the ployment benefits. A number of States bring those two conference reports to Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: are in very difficult shape in that re- the House and the Senate in a few I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the gard. They have some other things hours—I say that is legislatively im- United States of America, and to the Repub- dealing with the business package, and possible. lic for which it stands, one nation under God, I am told that advocacy groups like So I am saying again to my Repub- indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. very much what is in the Senate pack- lican colleagues: Agree to some exten- f age. But we will work through this and sion of time or the burden of this legis- APPOINTMENT OF ACTING try to get something done very quickly lation not passing is on your shoulders PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE so that, if there are changes made, we because we have had no attempt to leg- can do a very quick conference and get islate. We have not had the oppor- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The tunity to offer amendments, let alone clerk will please read a communication it to the President. That is an impor- tant issue. vote on them. to the Senate from the President pro Our goal is to provide the intel- tempore (Mr. BYRD). f ligence community with all of the legal The assistant legislative clerk read FISA tools it needs, while protecting the pri- the following letter: vacy of law-abiding Americans. So I U.S. SENATE, Mr. REID. Mr. President, I want ev- would hope that in the next hour or so, PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, eryone—especially my Republican col- we can work something out before the Washington, DC, January 29, 2008. leagues and especially the people in the House leaves town or nothing will have To the Senate: White House—to listen to what I am been accomplished. Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, going to say. FISA, if we don’t do of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby something on it today, will expire. It f appoint the Honorable JON TESTER, a Sen- ator from the State of Montana, to perform will be out of business. The House is RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY the duties of the Chair. going out of session tonight, so unless LEADER ROBERT C. BYRD, we get to them the 30-day extension we The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- President pro tempore. have tried to move forward five or six pore. The Republican leader is recog- Mr. TESTER thereupon assumed the times, unless we have an extension of nized. chair as Acting President pro tempore. 18 months, a year, 2 weeks, whatever f f the Republicans think is appropriate— if they think nothing is appropriate— FISA RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY then the full brunt of this law expiring Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, we LEADER is on their shoulders because it is vir- have known we needed to get the FISA The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- tually legislatively impossible to get law extended for 6 months—6 months. I pore. The majority leader is recog- anything done today. Remember, the have also heard it suggested that some- nized. House has already done what they are how, little or no harm would be done if ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. VerDate Mar 15 2010 08:18 Sep 24, 2010 Jkt 069102 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR08\S29JA8.000 S29JA8 rmajette on DSK29S0YB1PROD with BOUND RECORD 990 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 154, Pt. 1 January 29, 2008 the law were allowed to expire. Well, Republican leader, once it expires, if it pass a version in the Senate, send it to that is simply incorrect. The ability to expires, it is on the shoulders of the conference, and work out our dif- go after new targets would be elimi- White House and the Republicans in ferences. But I can’t understand how nated with the expiration of this bill in the Senate. We have attempted to work the President and the Republican lead- 3 days. So here we are with 3 days to through this, and we have been willing er can come to the floor and blame us go, and I gather from listening to my to extend this law for an extended pe- for the expiration of the law if we are good friend on the other side, the very riod of time. We have been willing to offering an extension of the law and real possibility is that there is at least extend the law for a limited period of they keep refusing. some willingness on the part of some time. Mr. REID. Mr. President, I say to my on the other side to just let the law ex- I think what this all boils down to is friend, the distinguished Senator from pire. that we should extend the law for a Illinois, I personally have been to the Now, contrary to what some are say- long period of time because the only floor and offered on many occasions to ing, the expiration of this important issue—there are other issues, of course, extend the time. We could all see the antiterrorist tool has serious con- but the main issue is whether there train wreck coming, and we believed sequences; that is, if we don’t get this will be retroactive immunity for the that it was necessary to extend this job done, the notion that somehow it phone companies. That is what it all law. doesn’t make any difference is cer- boils down to—whether there is going I don’t know—I say very positively to tainly not true.