Congressional Record United States Th of America PROCEEDINGS and DEBATES of the 110 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION
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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 110 CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION Vol. 153 WASHINGTON, TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 6, 2007 No. 22 Senate The Senate met at 10 a.m. and was U.S. SENATE, The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- called to order by the Honorable JON PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, pore. Is there objection? TESTER, a Senator from the State of Washington, DC, February 6, 2007. Without objection, it is so ordered. Montana. To the Senate: Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, f of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby MORNING BUSINESS PRAYER appoint the Honorable JON TESTER, a Sen- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- ator from the State of Montana, to perform pore. Under the previous order, there fered the following prayer: the duties of the Chair. will be a period for the transaction of Let us pray. ROBERT C. BYRD, morning business, with Senators per- Gracious God, who reveals Yourself President pro tempore. mitted to speak therein for up to 10 gloriously in the rising and setting Mr. TESTER thereupon assumed the minutes each, with the first half hour Sun, make us good stewards of Your chair as Acting President pro tempore. under the control of the majority and blessings. Give us opportunities to help f the next half hour under the control of solve the problems in our world by RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME the minority. using our minds to produce creative so- lutions. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- f Inspire our Senators. As they abide pore. Under the previous order, the RECOGNITION OF MINORITY in Your presence, make them receptive leadership time is reserved. LEADER to Your guidance. Fill their minds with f The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- insight and wisdom, their hearts with RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY pore. The Republican leader is recog- resiliency and courage, and their bod- LEADER nized. ies with vigor and vitality. Today, give f them the grace to think not of what The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- they can get but of what they can give. pore. The majority leader is recog- IRAQ FUNDING nized. Empower them to practice conciliation Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, at without compromise. Place Your arms f this time there is no more important of protection around them and their SCHEDULE issue facing our country than the mis- loved ones. sion and the fate of the American serv- Mr. REID. Mr. President, today the We pray in Your all-powerful Name. ice men and women in Iraq. This Senate will be in morning business. Amen. means, of course, that the men and During the period of morning business, women of this body have no higher the first 30 minutes will be controlled f duty than to express ourselves openly by the majority, with Senators LEAHY, and honestly on this issue—to take a MIKULSKI, and KENNEDY each control- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE stand on where we stand. ling 10 minutes. The next 30 minutes The only truly meaningful tool the The Honorable JON TESTER led the will be controlled by the Republicans. Framers gave us to do this was our Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: Following that division, the remaining ability to fund or to not fund a war. I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the time until 12:30 will be equally divided That is it. And this is what Repub- United States of America and to the Repub- and controlled between the minority licans are insisting upon: that the lic for which it stands, one nation under God, and the majority. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Members of this body express them- The Senate will be in recess this selves on the question of whether to Tuesday, today, for a longer period of f fund or not fund the war in Iraq. time than normal, from 12:30 to 3:30. By blocking a vote on the Gregg The recess is longer because we have a funding resolution, our good friends on APPOINTMENT OF ACTING 2:30 p.m. briefing in room 407 on the the other side are blocking a vote on PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE National Intelligence report we just re- this most essential question—the only The PRESIDING OFFICER. The ceived. question that ultimately matters. Do clerk will please read a communication ORDER OF PROCEDURE we oppose this war to the point of ac- to the Senate from the President pro I ask unanimous consent that the tion or do we simply want to make a tempore (Mr. BYRD). time from 3:30 to 6:30 today also be point? The assistant legislative clerk read equally divided and controlled between Our colleagues say they want the following letter: the majority and minority. progress in Iraq, but by blocking a vote ∑ This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. S1583 . VerDate Aug 31 2005 02:17 Feb 07, 2007 Jkt 059060 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\A06FE6.000 S06FEPT1 mstockstill on PROD1PC66 with SENATE S1584 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE February 6, 2007 on the McCain benchmarks resolution, strategy they know is doomed to failure, and carried it out so incompetently. Far bet- they are blocking a vote that would ac- shouldn’t you be skeptical of their advice? ter for them to heap blame on the war’s op- tually set concrete goals. As the Senate considers a resolution to put ponents for ‘‘losing faith.’’ And they know, as the war’s opponents So let’s be very clear about what itself on record opposing President Bush’s es- calation of the Iraq war through a ‘‘surge’’ of should, that in a democracy whose constitu- happened last night. Our colleagues on troops, Bush’s backers are saying one thing tion accords so much power to the president, the other side do not want to vote on and doing another. turning around even a failed war policy whether troops should be funded—pe- They are saying that the resolution is takes time, persuasion, organizing, legisla- riod. There is no more critical question meaningless and that true opponents of the tive strategizing and pressure. at this moment. We have the duty to war should prove their sincerity by cutting The impatience of the administration’s off funding altogether. But they are doing all critics is entirely understandable. But it take it up, and we will continue to would be a shame if impatience got in the fight for that right. they can to keep the Senate from even vot- ing on a bipartisan anti-surge resolution way of a sensible long-term strategy to bring Mr. President, I yield the floor. that would send a powerful message to Bush America’s engagement in this war to as de- f that most Americans have lost faith in his cent an end as possible as quickly as pos- sible—even if not as quickly as they’d like. RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY bungled war policy. If you doubt that the war’s supporters The anti-surge resolution is a necessary first LEADER. would love its opponents to put all their eggs step, which is why those who are against a The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- in the fund-cutoff basket, consider what it genuine change in our Iraq policy are fight- ing so hard to stop it. pore. The majority leader is recog- means for them to sound as if the adminis- nized. tration’s only serious foes were the likes of (The remarks of Mr. LEAHY per- Dennis Kucinich and Cindy Sheehan. taining to the introduction of S. 495 are f ‘‘I don’t think these resolutions, non- located in today’s RECORD under IRAQ ESCALATION binding resolutions, are going to accomplish ‘‘Statements on Introduced Bills and anything,’’ Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Re- Mr. REID. The issue before the Amer- Resolutions.’’) publican and a Bush loyalist, told Gwen Ifill Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I yield ican people that relates to Iraq is the on PBS’s ‘‘NewsHour’’ last week. ‘‘If we real- surge—the escalation of the war in the floor. ly had the courage of our convictions,’’ The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Iraq. That is the debate that should be Cornyn said, the ‘‘we’’ referring to the war’s pore. The Senator from Maryland. before this body, and last night that opponents, ‘‘if people said, ‘You know what? was prevented. An up-or-down vote on This is an immoral task we’ve asked our f troops to do because we don’t believe in the MCCAIN, who is supporting the surge, IRAQ mission, we think they’re going to fail.’ or a vote in opposition to the surge, They ought to cut off funds. But to have this Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, to my the escalation sponsored by WARNER sort of—this debate without any real con- colleagues, my constituents, and the and LEVIN—that is the issue before this sequence, I just don’t think is the best use of American people, I rise today to abso- body today. our time.’’ lutely say without any equivocation This is a diversion. This is a diver- So Cornyn wants to block a vote on a sup- that I do support the Warner-Biden- sion. We finished the Super Bowl. This posedly unimportant anti-surge resolution, Levin resolution on Iraq opposing the is a trick play by the Republicans. The but he would be happy to entertain a debate escalation of our troops.