Congressional Record—Senate S6177
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June 26, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE S6177 behind this request I have, as is the year finally passed, we put the intel- We believe this new bill we are con- AARP, the AMA, and many support ligence community back in the busi- sidering, H.R. 6304, which passed the groups around the country. That is now ness of intercepting critical intel- House with a strong majority vote of in the RECORD. We put that in the ligence communications from foreign 293 to 129 last Friday, should be passed RECORD yesterday. terrorists talking to each other about here. So this is something we have to do. I possible activities in the United States, As with the Senate’s original FISA would say to my friend, on the 30-day or against our troops and our allies bill passed several months ago, the extension, I understand the seriousness elsewhere, and obviously any of those compromise that is before us required a of his proposal. I have said many times who were threatening the United little give-and-take from all sides. But, on this floor, I will not repeat it in de- States. in essence, what we have before us tail, I have the greatest respect for the I can tell you, without going into de- today is basically the Senate bill all distinguished Senator from New Hamp- tail, that the foreign intelligence col- over again. shire. But it is my understanding that lection from these has been about the I am aware that some on the far left there has been an objection to my pro- most valuable piece of information we wish to paint this as some radical new posal, and he will go ahead and offer have with respect to terrorist intent. legislation. But if you read the lan- the 30-day extension, to which I will So I appreciate the fact that this body guage, it is not different. The press object. is ready to move forward. picked up on this straight away last I will be happy to seriously consider I hope we will have a way forward to week and kept asking me to help them it but not too seriously. get it done by the time we leave for the find the purported ‘‘big changes’’ in Mr. GREGG. Mr. President, I ask Fourth of July recess. It is critical we this bill that no one can find. I have unanimous consent that the Senate get this done promptly. If we go into not been much help to them because proceed to the consideration of a 30-day late July or even into August without the answer is, there is not much that is Medicare extension that is at the desk; getting it done, serious consequences significantly different, save some cos- that it be read a third time and passed; will start to impact our ability to col- metic fixes that were requested by the that the motion to reconsider be laid lect intelligence. majority party in the House. For example, I am pleased that the upon the table. Again, I thank our minority leader, strong retroactive liability protections I think the point is, there are serious Senator MCCONNELL, for his kind that the Senate bill offered are still in reservations on our side of the aisle, words, especially about my very capa- place, and our vital intelligence and I think legitimately other places, ble staff who have worked very hard, not only to help put this bill together, sources and methods will be safe- on the way the House has handled ele- guarded. I am pleased this compromise ments of the Medicare system in this but we have briefed Members of both sides of the aisle, their staffs. We have preserves the ability of the intelligence bill and that is to undermine the abil- community to collect foreign intel- ity of many seniors to participate in spent a lot of time doing that. Of course, as I outlined yesterday, we ligence quickly and in exigent cir- what is known as Medicare Advantage. cumstances without any prior court re- We think there is a better way to do spent a very long 21⁄2 months working with the House. As I indicated, the bill view. it. We think the Senate can do a better I am also pleased the 2012 sunset, 3 this body passed, the FISA amend- job of this bill, and we think 30 days to years longer than the sunset previously ments, we passed 68 to 29 in February work on it makes some sense. offered in any House bill, will give our with the good, strong support of the The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- intelligence collectors and those par- chairman of the committee, Senator pore. Is there objection? ties we need to have cooperate with us ROCKEFELLER. We worked on a bipar- Mr. REID. I object. the certainty they need in the tools tisan basis. We worked with and lis- The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- they use to keep us safe. pore. Objection is heard. tened to the intelligence community to I am confident the few changes we do several things that were critical. f made to the Senate bill in H.R. 6304 No. 1, we wished to make sure there will in no way diminish the intel- RESERVATION OF LEADER TIME was protection for the privacy and con- ligence community’s ability to target The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- stitutional rights of Americans and terrorists overseas, and the Director of pore. Under the previous order, the U.S. persons here and abroad. For the National Intelligence and the Attorney leadership time is reserved. first time, we included that. We also General agreed. That had to be the needed to protect the telephone compa- f test. They worked with us. They made nies or carriers who have participated compromises. When we had a proposal FISA AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2008— in the terrorist surveillance program MOTION TO PROCEED for additional protections for Ameri- under the lawful orders issued by the cans, they agreed. But we had to work The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- President, under his constitutional au- out the language to make sure we pro- pore. Under the previous order, the thority in article II, an act in good vided protections without destroying Senate will resume consideration of faith by those carriers. the basic integrity of the bill. the motion to proceed to H.R. 6304, We provided that immunity, or retro- I believe we did that. We did that which the clerk will report. active liability protection, more accu- with the Senate bill, and we did it The legislative clerk read as follows: rately, that was critical to ensuring again with the minor changes the Motion to proceed to Calendar No. 827, that they can continue to participate. House wanted to make. H.R. 6304, an Act to amend the Foreign Intel- They are loyal American citizens, and Let me address, for the time being, ligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to establish they wanted to be able to help. But the banner issue of the legislation, a procedure for authorizing certain acquisi- when frivolous lawsuits, seeking bil- which is Congress’s affirmation that tions of foreign intelligence, and for other lions of dollars in damages, are filed the telecom providers that may have purposes. against them, whether they partici- assisted the Government after 9/11 The Senator from Missouri is recog- pated or not, and there is no assurance should have the frivolous lawsuits nized. that any telephone company so sued against them dismissed. Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I thank has participated. They cannot use a de- I am confident in the standard of re- our leaders for getting us on this very fense that they did not participate. view in title II of the bill on which we important bill. They have to have protection. agreed with Congressman HOYER and As we have discussed before, the fail- We built in that protection in a way Congressman BLUNT, his counterpart in ure to modernize and authorize the that was acceptable to both sides in the House, namely, a ‘‘substantial evi- Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act this body in the FISA amendments and dence’’ standard, which will ensure last summer has caused serious gaps in also satisfied the concerns of the ma- that those companies that assisted the our intelligence capability. jority party in the House, which, as Government following the September When the Protect America Act that Leader MCCONNELL said, had the votes, 11 terrorist attacks obtain the civil was introduced by our Republican lead- if they had wished to pass our FISA retroactive liability protection they er, Senator MCCONNELL, and me last amendments. deserve. VerDate Aug 31 2005 03:32 Jun 27, 2008 Jkt 069060 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 4624 Sfmt 0634 E:\CR\FM\G26JN6.009 S26JNPT1 wwoods2 on PRODPC60 with SENATE S6178 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE June 26, 2008 Unlike the amendment we defeated tion. Having reviewed the underlying best possible product we can produce in the Senate that asked for the court authorities, the certifications, as one that has already gained an over- to determine whether the providers who has practiced a little bit of law in whelming bipartisan majority in the acted in ‘‘good faith,’’ we affirm in this this area, I can tell you there is no way House. I hope it will also get the same legislation, as we did in the previous they could or should be held liable for kind of response in the Senate. Senate bill, that the providers did act any monetary damages, much less the Our intelligence community deserves in good faith, and that the lawsuits billions of dollars irrationally re- it.