SENATE—Monday, February 27, 2006
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February 27, 2006 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE 2127 SENATE—Monday, February 27, 2006 The Senate met at 2 p.m. and was Prime Minister of Italy. That address having acquired those assets from a called to order by the President pro will be at 11 a.m. on Wednesday, and British firm which has been conducting tempore (Mr. STEVENS). Senators should gather in the Chamber those operations for some time. at 10:30. The Senate will proceed at I am very pleased that the leadership PRAYER 10:40 to the Hall of the House of Rep- of the Senate—notably my distin- The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- resentatives for that address. guished majority leader, with whom I fered the following prayer: I yield the floor. have been in conversation in the past 72 hours—is taking a leadership role. I Let us pray. f Abiding God, this is the day You cre- hope the other side shortly will speak ated, and we rejoice. Thank You for RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY to their role in bringing into focus the Your unspeakable gifts and wondrous LEADER importance of this issue and facili- tating the several committees of the love. Lead the Members of this body The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senate to have hearings, briefings, or with Your truth. Help them to walk Democratic leader is recognized. otherwise acquire the facts. faithfully according to Your precepts. f Last week, I believed it was impera- Keep them near You as You teach them tive that a certain amount of facts get ORDER OF PROCEDURE the power of sacrifice. Prepare them into the public domain as quickly as for the testing of their faith, and keep Mr. REID. Mr. President, I see here possible. On short notice, I held a brief- them from being intimidated by the two friends on the Republican side who ing—in contrast to a full hearing—a forces of evil. Keep them from strife wish to speak. Senator ALEXANDER briefing by the Senate Armed Services and division, as You give them prudent wishes to speak, I understand, as soon Committee and the principals, basi- speech and a desire for unity. as morning business is announced, and cally the Deputy Secretaries of the Help us all to walk with obedience Senator WARNER. various departments and agencies and living faith. And Lord, today we Mr. WARNER. If the Senator is ask- which have the primary responsibility dedicate ourselves to You all over ing, yes, I will take 7 or 8 minutes. within the group of 12 of the organiza- again. Mr. REID. When morning business is tion known as CFIUS, or the Com- We pray in Your glorious Name. announced, Senator WARNER will be mittee for Foreign Investment in the Amen. recognized for up to 10 minutes and United States. f Senator ALEXANDER—for how long? The manner in which the President, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mr. ALEXANDER. Five minutes. acting upon the recommendation of the Mr. REID. And when they finish their CFIUS group, indicated that he and the The President pro tempore led the statements, I ask that the Senator administration approved of this trans- Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: from New York be recognized after action will be examined in the context I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the morning business is announced. of these committee hearings and also United States of America, and to the Repub- The PRESIDENT pro tempore. With- the intelligence that was a key factor lic for which it stands, one nation under God, out objection, it is so ordered. because everyone is constantly con- indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Mr. REID. I thank the Chair. cerned about the security of this Na- f tion as it relates to the war on ter- f RECOGNITION OF THE ACTING rorism and most specifically the port MAJORITY LEADER MORNING BUSINESS security situation. Very legitimate The PRESIDENT pro tempore. Under concerns, very legitimate arguments, The PRESIDENT pro tempore. The very legitimate positions, in some acting majority leader is recognized. the previous order, there is now a pe- riod for the transaction of morning ways, have been stated at all levels of f business up to 3 o’clock, with Senators our society. I believe it is important, SCHEDULE permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes before people become rigid in their each. Does that apply? thinking, that they at least possess all Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, of the basic facts. Mr. MCCONNELL. The Democratic today we have returned from the Presi- My remarks today will not address leader is simply arranging the order; is dents Day break to resume our debate the past. I am concentrating on look- that correct? on the PATRIOT Act. At 3 today, fol- ing forward, as I have spent a great Mr. REID. That is right. lowing our morning business period, we deal of time in the past week on this The PRESIDENT pro tempore. With- will return to consideration of S. 2271, situation. This particular contract, out objection, it is so ordered. the PATRIOT Act amendments bill. this one commercial situation, is of Tomorrow at 2:30, we will have a clo- The Senator from Virginia. importance to many parties and of im- ture vote on the underlying bill. If clo- f portance to this country, but it has ture is invoked, we will proceed to vote ramifications across our global econ- PORT SALE REVIEW on passage of the bill at 10 a.m. on omy. Our Nation is daily dealing in a Wednesday. The 2:30 cloture vote on Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, we one-market economic market. Really Tuesday will be the first vote of this awakened this morning with the news, it is a one-world market of diplomacy week. confirmed, that major steps are going among the free nations as well. Indeed, There are a number of important forward in connection with this very it is a one-world market in terms of conmittee meetings going on this important issue of the ports. I use that our individual and collective securi- week, including the discussion on lob- generic term, ‘‘the ports,’’ because it ties, particularly in the war on ter- bying reform. The majority leader has relates to a transaction that has been rorism. stated that it is his expectation to thus far approved by the administra- It has been fascinating to me, al- begin consideration of that reform leg- tion whereby a company, owned by the though I have visited the UAE in times islation next week. We will also have a United Arab Emirates, will be engaging past, to focus once again on this piv- joint meeting to hear an address from in terminal operations in a half dozen otal and rapidly growing nation, a na- the Honorable Silvio Berlusconi, the or so of our terminals here in the U.S., tion of several emirates which have ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. VerDate Sep 11 2014 09:06 Mar 13, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\FDSYS\BOUNDRECORD\BR27FE06.DAT BR27FE06 ejoyner on DSK30MW082PROD with CONG-REC-ONLINE 2128 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE February 27, 2006 drawn together, a nation which is be- than receive the entire record and deci- CELL PHONE USE ON PLANES coming one of the major financial mar- sion making of CFIUS on the eve of Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I kets in the world and major investors going on another recess period. thank the leadership for allowing me in the world. Also, we have to be extremely careful these few minutes. There are a number According to the United States Trade in this 45-day process because we will of grave issues facing our country. The Representative, the United States and be setting precedents as to how our Na- Senator from Virginia has talked about UAE engaged in $4.6 billion worth of tion proceeds under the CFIUS process. the management of ports. The gov- trade in 2003—and that figure has dou- We have to proceed with a certain ernors from across America are meet- bled since then according to the Finan- amount of confidentiality because ing here to talk about National Guard cial Times. More than 500 U.S. compa- when other free enterprises come to in- strength and about the rising costs of nies have regional headquarters in the vest in the U.S., they will go before Medicare. We are all interested in Emirates. Oil and Gas are leading in- CFIUS for review. Thousands of these those issues, but this issue I rise to dustries in the UAE, as the country cases have been handled. We have been speak about is one that threatens our holds approximately 8 percent of the doing it since, roughly, 1988, and even national unity as much as any of those world’s crude oil reserves and has the graver issues. 5th largest natural gas reserves. In ad- going back before that under the De- Let me put it this way: Where is dition, at the end of 2005 Emirates pur- fense Production Act to the 1950s. Dave Barry when we really need him? chased 42 Boeing 777 aircraft for ap- While it is important that we know As he would say, what I am about to proximately $9.7 billion. This rep- more of the facts; we have to do it in a say to you, I am not making up. resents some of the vast investments way to preserve a certain degree of Apparently someone has discovered by UAE in America and American in- confidentiality in the business world.