Senate the Senate Met at 9:30 A.M
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E PL UR UM IB N U U S Congressional Record United States th of America PROCEEDINGS AND DEBATES OF THE 108 CONGRESS, SECOND SESSION Vol. 150 WASHINGTON, THURSDAY, MARCH 25, 2004 No. 39 Senate The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was lic for which it stands, one nation under God, Senator DEWINE will be here to manage called to order by the Honorable JOHN indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. the bill on this side of the aisle. I un- E. SUNUNU, a Senator from the State of f derstand Senator FEINSTEIN may offer New Hampshire. APPOINTMENT OF ACTING her substitute amendment first. There will be up to four hours of debate in re- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE ate will be led in prayer this morning lation to the Feinstein amendment. by our guest Chaplain, Rev. Fredricka The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senators should expect the first vote A. Steenstra of Christ Episcopal clerk will please read a communication to occur sometime just after the lunch Church, Elizabeth City, NC. to the Senate from the President pro hour. As always, we will notify all Sen- tempore (Mr. STEVENS). ators when votes are about to occur. PRAYER The legislative clerk read the fol- f lowing letter: The guest Chaplain offered the fol- RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME lowing prayer: U.S. SENATE, The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Gracious God, accept our thanks and PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, pore. Under the previous order, the praise for all that You have done for Washington, DC, March 25, 2004. To the Senate: leadership time is reserved. us. We thank You for the splendor of Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, f creation, for the beauty of this world, of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby and for the wonder of life. We thank appoint the Honorable JOHN E. SUNUNU, a THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION’S You for the blessing of living in this Senator from the State of New Hampshire, MISTREATMENT OF RICHARD Nation and for the freedoms we enjoy. to perform the duties of the Chair. CLARKE AND OTHERS We thank You for the men and women TED STEVENS, President pro tempore. Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I have of the Senate, both the Senators and a simple request for the President their staffs. We are grateful for the sac- Mr. SUNUNU thereupon assumed the today: Please ask the people around rifices they make in order to serve the chair as Acting President pro tempore. you to stop the character attacks they people of this Nation faithfully and in f are waging against Richard Clarke. accordance with Your will. RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING Ask them to stop their attempts to We thank You also, Lord, for setting MAJORITY LEADER conceal information and confuse facts. the people of our Nation and our Sen- Ask them to stop the long effort that ators at tasks which demand our best The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- has made the 9/11 Commission’s work efforts, and for leading us to accom- pore. The assistant majority leader is more difficult than it should be. plishments which satisfy and delight recognized. Regardless of whether one agrees or us. We thank You also for those dis- f disagrees with Mr. Clarke’s facts, he appointments and failures that lead us SCHEDULE set an eloquent example for all of us to acknowledge our dependence on You yesterday. He acknowledged to the alone. Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, this families of the victims of September 11 Bless our Senators this day and in all morning the Senate will conduct a pe- that their Government had failed the days ahead, that they may enact riod of morning business until the hour them. He accepted responsibility for such laws as shall please You, O God, of 10:30, with the first half of that time September 11. He made himself ac- and further the welfare of Your people. under the control of the majority lead- countable and he tried, in my view, to Give all who labor in this great institu- er or his designee and the second half help us understand what happened in tion a zeal for justice and the strength under the control of Senator DASCHLE the months and years before September of forbearance that they may help the or his designee. 11. I could not be more disappointed in people of this Nation to use our liberty Following morning business, the Sen- the White House response. They have rightly, in accordance with Your gra- ate will begin consideration of the Un- known for months what Mr. Clarke was cious will. Amen. born Victims of Violence Act. That bill going to say. Instead of dealing with it f will be considered under a consent factually, they have launched a shrill agreement which allows for two attack to destroy Mr. Clarke’s credi- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE amendments to be offered. The debate bility. The Honorable JOHN E. SUNUNU led is limited on the amendments and the I know something about those at- the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: underlying bill. Therefore, we will vote tacks. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the throughout the day and complete ac- On several occasions, I have been on United States of America, and to the Repub- tion today on the Unborn Victims bill. the receiving end of the White House ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S3119 . VerDate jul 14 2003 03:08 Mar 26, 2004 Jkt 029060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A25MR6.000 S25PT1 S3120 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE March 25, 2004 broadsides. I saw the White House fe- Rice’s full cooperation is political con- of the great leaders in the history of rocity firsthand. I saw the people sideration. The September 11 families our country. around the President attack JOHN deserve better than that and, just as Mr. DASCHLE. I thank the Senator MCCAIN when he ran for President in importantly, our country deserves bet- from Nevada for his very kind words, 2000. I will never forget the distortions, ter. and I thank my colleagues for yielding the recklessness, and the viciousness of There is only one person who can the floor to accommodate my leader those attacks. They were wrong and change what is going on at the White time this morning. they impugned one of our great patri- House, and that is the President. So I I yield the floor. appeal to President Bush to change it. ots. f I saw the same viciousness 2 years He deserves better than the tactics his ago when Senator Max Cleland, a man staff are using and, as I have said, the MORNING BUSINESS who served when called during the September 11 families and our country The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Vietnam war, had his reputation and deserve better, too. pore. Under the previous order, there patriotism smeared in his reelection I yield the floor. will be a period for the transaction of campaign. The idea that a man who Mr. REID. Would the Senator allow morning business until 10:30 a.m. The gave so much to his country could be me to ask him a question through the majority leader or his designee will smeared by those who are willing to Chair? control the first half of this time and give so little haunted me then as it Mr. DASCHLE. Yes. the minority leader or his designee will The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Sen- haunts me now. There are some things control the remaining time. ator from Nevada. that simply ought not to be done in Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a Mr. REID. I have listened to the politics, and that line was crossed by quorum, and have the time run equally statement of the Democratic leader. I attacks on both Senator MCCAIN and on both sides. acknowledge what happened to Senator Senator Cleland. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- MCCAIN and the tragedy with Max Last year, I watched the people pore. The clerk will call the roll. Cleland, but one thing I did not hear around the President set their sights The legislative clerk proceeded to the leader mention was what was done on Ambassador Joe Wilson when he call the roll. to Paul O’Neill when he published his stepped forward to tell the truth about Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I book, ‘‘The Price of Loyalty,’’ a man the President’s claims on Iraq, Niger, ask unanimous consent that the order who is a certified, card-carrying con- and uranium. The White House did not for the quorum call be rescinded. servative Republican, one of the great battle Ambassador Wilson on the facts. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- businessmen in the history of our coun- Instead, they put his wife’s life in dan- pore. Without objection, it is so or- try, who in effect was trashed for what ger by disclosing publicly that she was dered. a deep cover agent for the CIA. That he thought was good for the country. was a grossly irresponsible act done for I heard the Senator describe Joe Wil- f the worst of reasons—to avoid account- son and what was done to his wife and UNANIMOUS CONSENT ability and unwelcome political con- Richard Clarke, but the one thing the AGREEMENT—H.R. 4 sequences. It ought never have hap- leader undersold—in keeping with the Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, I pened.