February 13, 2008 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 154, Pt. 2 2013 SENATE—Wednesday, February 13, 2008 The Senate met at 9:30 a.m. and was SCHEDULE licans and the White House have spent called to order by the Honorable BER- Mr. REID. Mr. President, following many weeks slow-walking the bill as NARD SANDERS, a Senator from the my remarks and those of the Repub- part of the Republican strategy to jam State of Vermont. lican leader, there will be a period for the House. We have known that, we the transaction of morning business, have talked about it, and they did a PRAYER with 1 hour equally divided, prior to a good job because we were not able to The Chaplain, Dr. Barry C. Black, of- cloture vote on the conference report pass this bill until last night. I believe fered the following prayer: to accompany H.R. 2082, the Intel- it is wrong and irresponsible for the Let us pray. ligence Authorization Act for 2008. White House to do this. Due to months of White House foot-dragging, the rel- Eternal God, creator and sustainer of ORDER OF PROCEDURE life, no good thing have You withheld On the majority side, I ask that the evant House committees have only now just gotten important documents re- from the children of humanity. time of 30 minutes be divided, with 15 lated to whether the Bush administra- Lead our Senators today along pro- minutes for Senator FEINSTEIN, 10 min- tion followed the law and the Constitu- ductive paths. Teach them to give up utes for Senator ROCKEFELLER, and 5 tion. I cannot speak about those docu- the things that really don’t matter: an minutes for Senator WYDEN. opinion of their personal infallibility; a The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- ments on the floor, but people need devotion to the trivial; a penchant for pore. Without objection, it is so or- time to review and analyze these docu- the petty; a tendency to equate their dered. ments. It is not four or five pages. So we must not let this critical issue be own well-being with the ongoing of the f universe. Remind them that if they resolved by the White House trying to merely do what they please, they shall FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE push everybody around. Let’s work together on this issue. We not be pleased with what they do. Give SURVEILLANCE ACT EXTENSION are all working for the same goal: to them grace to take up the cross of sac- Mr. REID. Mr. President, this morn- protect American citizens against acts rificial service with the goal of pleas- ing the statement was made by the of terror. Congress is prepared to ex- ing You. President in the Oval Office that he tend current law, the Protect America We pray in the Redeemer’s Name. will refuse to sign a temporary exten- Act, by any length for Congress to Amen. sion of the current FISA law. This is a statement from the person who wants complete the indepth analysis and ne- f to unite, not divide. This is part of the gotiations necessary for long-term law broadly supported by the American Orwellian-speak we have had for 7 PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE people. If the President chooses to veto years out of the White House. The Honorable BERNARD SANDERS led Let’s be very clear. President Bush, a short-term extension, as he said he the Pledge of Allegiance, as follows: obviously, is more interested in politi- would this morning, the responsibility I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the cizing intelligence than finding solu- for any ensuing intelligence-collecting United States of America, and to the Repub- tions to the problems we are facing in gap lies on his shoulders and that of lic for which it stands, one nation under God, Vice President CHENEY and theirs this difficult situation. Today, he con- indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. alone, no one else. tinues to try to bully Congress. Let’s f not forget that we would not even be f APPOINTMENT OF ACTING discussing this issue if not for his ac- RECOGNITION OF THE MINORITY PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE tions. LEADER What were some of those actions? In The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- The PRESIDING OFFICER. The their unyielding efforts to expand Pres- pore. The Republican leader is recog- clerk will please read a communication idential powers, President Bush and nized. to the Senate from the President pro Vice President CHENEY created a sys- f tempore (Mr. BYRD). tem to conduct wiretapping, eaves- The legislative clerk read the fol- dropping—including on American citi- FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE lowing letter: zens—outside the bounds of long- SURVEILLANCE ACT U.S. SENATE, standing Federal law. The President Mr. MCCONNELL. Mr. President, PRESIDENT PRO TEMPORE, could easily have come to us and said: with regard to the Foreign Intelligence Washington, DC, February 13, 2008. Let’s change this law, and we would Surveillance Act, it passed in the Sen- To the Senate: have gone along with probably little ef- ate yesterday 68 to 29—an over- Under the provisions of rule I, paragraph 3, fort. But, no, he did not do that. He whelming bipartisan ratification of the of the Standing Rules of the Senate, I hereby just went around the law, and when we Rockefeller-Bond bipartisan com- appoint the Honorable BERNARD SANDERS, a passed the law to try to change it, he promise to get us a permanent Foreign Senator from the State of Vermont, to per- went around that too. Intelligence Surveillance Act in place. form the duties of the Chair. Congress has repeatedly amended the There were a number of efforts to ROBERT C. BYRD, President pro tempore. Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act weaken the bill on the floor of the Sen- to reflect new technology and the le- ate. They were all defeated on a bipar- Mr. SANDERS thereupon assumed gitimate needs of the intelligence com- tisan basis. Most of them were defeated the chair as Acting President pro tem- munity. We have done that often and by a margin of 2 to 1. pore. for good reason. But, whether out of Over in the House, we have heard f convenience, incompetence, or disdain from 21 Democratic Members, the for the rule of law, this administration ‘‘Blue Dogs,’’ who say the House ought RECOGNITION OF THE MAJORITY chose to ignore Congress and basically to take up this overwhelmingly bipar- LEADER ignored the law, ignored the Constitu- tisan Senate bill and pass it and send it The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- tion. to the President for his signature. pore. The majority leader is recog- Congress is working updates to the We had an important bipartisan vic- nized. FISA law as we speak. Senate Repub- tory just last week on the stimulus ● This ‘‘bullet’’ symbol identifies statements or insertions which are not spoken by a Member of the Senate on the floor. VerDate Mar 15 2010 13:00 Sep 29, 2010 Jkt 069102 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 0686 Sfmt 0634 E:\BR08\S13FE8.000 S13FE8 erowe on DSK5CLS3C1PROD with BOUND RECORD 2014 CONGRESSIONAL RECORD—SENATE, Vol. 154, Pt. 2 February 13, 2008 package. We have an opportunity to do ‘‘beat-up’’ Ford trucks and liked to get son, Julie Ann Dent, and Peggy Ann it again this week on this extraor- under the hood and tinker with them Cubert; his brother Steven Wayne dinarily important piece of legislation. to keep them running until they Cubert, and many other beloved family In thinking about how long we have couldn’t go anymore. members and friends. Clinton was pre- been dealing with this legislation, we Family members called him ‘‘Clin- deceased by his parents, C.D. and Vir- passed a short-term extension back in ton,’’ but he also earned an unusual ginia Cubert. August. We have had 6 months to fig- nickname. Because Clinton was willing Clinton was taken from his loved ure out what we wanted to do. We to trade his entire lunch for the one ones before his time, but it must have passed extremely important legisla- food he loved so much, his friends been a blessing for them that he was tion—probably the most important called him ‘‘Cornbread.’’ able to come home and say goodbye. I piece of legislation we will pass this Clinton met Amy, his wife, in am sure they will treasure forever Congress—yesterday on an over- Lawrenceburg when they were both in every moment spent with Clinton. ‘‘No whelming bipartisan vote. The House their early twenties. Amy thought one will forget his laughter,’’ wrote his of Representatives surely has followed Clinton looked very handsome in his daughter Sarah, ‘‘like the boom of gun- what we have done. There is a bipar- uniform. Clinton and Amy raised two shots during the funeral or the bag- tisan majority in the House of Rep- wonderful young women, Alisha pipes playing Taps.’’ resentatives for what we did yesterday Danielle and Sarah Dawn. This Senate will not forget MSG in the Senate. We know that. There is Clinton enlisted in the National Clinton Cubert’s bravery and service. a bipartisan majority in the House of Guard in 1987 and went on to serve with Kentucky and the Nation are richer for Representatives to take up and pass distinction for nearly 19 years. Nor- his contributions to freedom’s cause. the Senate-passed bill in the House of mally he worked in the Combined Sup- I yield the floor, Mr. President. The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tem- Representatives now.