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 SENATE—Saturday, February 17, 2007 The Senate met at 12 noon and was Ms. CANTWELL thereupon assumed EXPRESSING THE SENSE OF THE called to order by the Honorable MARIA the chair as Acting President pro tem- CONGRESS ON IRAQ—MOTION TO CANTWELL, a Senator from the State of pore. PROCEED Washington. f The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- PRAYER pore. Under the previous order, the RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY Senate will resume consideration of The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- LEADER the motion to proceed to S. 574, which fered the following prayer: Let us pray. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- the clerk will report. Eternal God, on this wintry weekend, pore. The majority leader is recog- The assistant legislative clerk read we pause to thank You for life and nized. as follows: health and love. Without Your love, we Motion to proceed to the consideration of f would falter. Faced with challenges S. 574, a bill to express the sense of Congress on Iraq. that demand greater-than-human wis- SCHEDULE dom, we find comfort in the knowledge The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Mr. REID. Madam President, this that You care. Free us from guilt pore. The Senator from Kentucky is afternoon we will resume consideration through the power of Your limitless recognized. of the motion to proceed to S. 574, with forgiveness. Mr. BUNNING. Madam President, I Today, O Lord, keep our lawmakers the time until 1:45 p.m. equally divided rise today to speak again on the mis- faithful in the performance of their du- between the two leaders or their des- handling of the debate over the Iraq ties. Remind them of their total de- ignees; further, the Republican leader war resolutions. This debate has rami- pendence on You. Open their minds to will control the time between 1:25 and fications which will damage the insti- opportunities to do Your work on 1:35, and the majority leader will con- tution of the Senate and lower the mo- Earth. Give them wisdom for the cru- trol the time between 1:35 and 1:45 p.m. rale of our troops. cial decisions that affect our Nation At 1:45 p.m, the Senate will proceed to Here is the truth the American peo- and world. Inspire each Senator to do the rollcall vote on cloture on the mo- ple need to know: Republicans in the justly, to love mercy, and to walk tion to proceed. Senators should be Senate have not prevented any debate humbly with You. We pray in Your aware there is a possibility of addi- over the war in Iraq. We are debating wonderful Name. Amen. tional rollcall votes this afternoon, and the war again today. We have debated they would occur shortly after the clo- f the war in the past. And we will con- ture vote if cloture is not invoked. tinue to debate the war in the future. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ORDER OF PROCEDURE What we have prevented is the major- The Honorable MARIA CANTWELL led Madam President, I would also ask ity leader dictating to the minority ex- the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: that on our side, the allotted time of actly which resolutions we will vote I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the the Senators be limited to 5 minutes on. My friends on the other side of the United States of America, and to the Repub- each. aisle have misled the American people lic for which it stands, one nation under God, The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- about this debate. indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. pore. Without objection, it is so or- Our Republican leader, my colleague f dered. and close friend from Kentucky, has APPOINTMENT OF ACTING tried to negotiate for more—I repeat— f PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE more debate on additional resolutions The PRESIDING OFFICER. The RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY expressing a broad range of viewpoints. clerk will please read a communication LEADER This is the U.S. Senate. The majority cannot tell the minority we are going to the Senate from the President pro The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- to have one vote—take it or leave it. tempore (Mr. BYRD). pore. The Republican leader is recog- And let me be clear: I am not running The assistant legislative clerk read nized. the following letter: from a vote on any of these resolu- U.S. SENATE, f tions. I don’t know one of my Repub- PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, lican colleagues who is afraid to cast a Washington, DC, February 17, 2007. SCHEDULED TIME IN OPPOSITION vote on any of the proposed resolutions To the Senate: Mr. MCCONNELL. Madam President, relating to Iraq. I have said repeatedly Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, all of the time in opposition to the pro- and I will say it here again today: Non- of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby posal the majority leader is describing binding resolutions that question mili- appoint the Honorable MARIA CANTWELL, a Senator from the State of Washington, to has been scheduled, and we will be fill- tary strategy are not in the best inter- perform the duties of the Chair. ing all of that time on this side of the ests of our Nation. They are not in the ROBERT C. BYRD, aisle. best interests of the Senate. They don’t President pro tempore. I yield the floor. have the effect of law. They only affect ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a member of the Senate on the floor. 4579 VerDate Nov 24 2008 10:03 Mar 08, 2010 Jkt 059102 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 0685 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR07\S17FE7.000 S17FE7 WReier-Aviles on DSKGBLS3C1PROD with BOUND RECORD 4580 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 153, Pt. 4 February 17, 2007 our soldiers by sending them mixed sig- commitment that we Republicans be factions that can slow the bloodshed nals. But if we must go down that path, allowed to offer our own resolution of and promote stability. let’s vote. However, the majority lead- our own choosing. Our resolution, the My plan allows for a limited number er cannot dictate the terms of the vote. Gregg resolution, gives support to our of U.S. troops to remain as basic force If he could, this would be the House of troops. Unlike the resolution before us protection, to engage in counterterror- Representatives. But it is not. This is today, it does not send contradictory ism, and to continue the training of the U.S. Senate. This is a body with signals to the troops by telling them Iraqi security forces. rules that encourage opposing view- that on one hand we oppose their mis- And if the Iraqis are successful in points, not stifling debate by the ma- sion but on the other hand we support meeting the 13 benchmarks for jority leader hand-selecting one resolu- them as soldiers. That is not the mes- progress laid out by the Bush adminis- tion and forcing the other 99 of us to sage we need to be sending to our tration itself, this plan also allows for vote on it. troops at this critical time. the temporary suspension of the rede- But here we are. Americans are Mr. OBAMA. Madam President, I will ployment, provided Congress agrees watching this discussion right now. vote today to bring up a resolution for that the benchmarks have actually And it is not just a debate about Sen- debate that would disapprove of the been met and that the suspension is in ate floor procedures; this is about how President’s policy of escalation in Iraq. the national security interest of the we as Senators should conduct debate Last November, the American people United States. when we have troops in harm’s way. sent a clear message to their represent- The U.S. military has performed val- Many Americans oppose our efforts in atives in Washington. With their votes, iantly and brilliantly in Iraq. Our Iraq. That is their right. I respect their the American people said they wanted troops have done all that we have convictions. Yet they are misguided, a change in direction with regard to asked them to do and more. But no because I believe the cost of failure in the war in Iraq. Unfortunately, the amount of American soldiers can solve Iraq is too high to leave now. I do not White House—and its defenders in the the political differences at the heart of want to have to send American soldiers Senate—has ignored that will and somebody else’s civil war, nor settle back to Iraq in a few years to deal with fought to keep this day from happening the grievances in the hearts of the an even tougher situation. I do not for as long as they could. combatants. want to leave a breeding ground of ter- We may fail to get the required num- It is my firm belief that the respon- ror. But I understand there are many ber of votes to debate this very simple sible course of action for the United Americans who want this war to end, resolution. And even if we do get States, for Iraq, and for our troops is to regardless of the consequences of leav- enough votes, I realize that this resolu- oppose this reckless escalation and to ing soon.