Floor Statements

Madam President, for all Members, this will be our last vote. There will be a voice vote following this vote. On Monday, July 9, starting at 5:30 p.m., maybe even 5:15 p.m., we will have a series of three or four rollcall votes.

Madam President, I ask for the yeas and nays on this nomination.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, we had a number of conversations this afternoon on the floor about ethics and lobbying reform. We are not going to move on that anymore today. We will renew our request tomorrow, until we get this done. I hope we can get it done. It is really important for the country.

Mr. President, I am reading now into the Record a statement that was issued today. I received it in my office, as all Senators did:

Statement on status of 9/11 Commission recommendations

bill, dated June 28, 2007.

The 9/11 families are grateful to Congressional Leadership

for taking the difficult step of removing a controversial

labor provision from pending security legislation intended to

implement the remaining 9/11 Commission recommendations.

I will read that again; I didn't do a very good job of it.

The 9/11 families are grateful to Congressional Leadership

for taking the difficult step of removing a controversial

labor provision from pending security legislation intended to

implement the remaining 9/11 Commission recommendations. We

recognize that this was a difficult decision for them,

considering their party's longstanding dedication to the

principles involved.

Passage of this bill is long overdue, particularly in light

of bipartisan support at the bill's inception in both the

House and Senate. The Democrats have taken an important step

toward improving our national security by removing what the

opposition identified as an impediment to the bill's passage.

Senate Republican leadership must, in turn, stop blocking

the naming of conferees so that this critical legislation can

move forward. Similarly, the Administration should cease its

threats to veto legislation regarding the provisions that go

to the heart of the 9/11 Commission recommendations.

Everyone must work together. The safety and security of our

country is at stake.

This is signed by Carol Ashley, whose daughter Janice was lost in that terrorist attack of September 11; Rosemary Dillard, who is the widow of Eddie, who was killed in that terrorist attack; Beverly Eckert, who is the widow of Sean Rooney, who was killed in that attack; Mary Fetchet, the mother of Brad, who was killed in that terrorist attack; Carie Leming, whose daughter Judy was killed in that terrorist attack; and Abraham Scott, the widower of Janice, who was killed in that attack.

These are members of organizations that have been steadfast in making sure everything is done so that we don't have other terrorist attacks and that we implement the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. Those organizations are Voices of September 11th, 9/11 Pentagon Families, and Families of September 11, which are organizations well known throughout the country.

Earlier this spring, the Director of National Intelligence, ADM Mike McConnell, told our Armed Services Committee in a public hearing that al-Qaida's franchise is growing and its leadership remains alive and well along the Afghanistan/Pakistan border and that any new attack on the United States ``most likely would be planned and come out of the [al-Qaida] leadership in Pakistan.'' We think that is incredible. Almost 6 years after 9/11, we face the same threat we faced that day: Osama bin Laden and a determined extremist group intent on harming Americans. Unfortunately, it is painfully clear that much more can and must be done to protect America from terrorist attacks.

Three years ago, the bipartisan 911 Commission recommended ways to strengthen our defense against terrorism. Unfortunately, the Bush administration and the Republican-controlled Congress failed to act on most of these recommendations. That is why one of the first bills passed in the House and the Senate at the start of this session of Congress would finally and fully implement the unanimous recommendations of the 9/11 Commission.

As my colleagues know, since we acted on a broad bipartisan basis, House and Senate Democrats and Republicans have worked tirelessly to resolve the differences over this bill and get it to the President's desk so it can be signed into law. However, twice this week, my Republican colleagues have objected to moving forward so we can complete action on this bill.

On Tuesday, a Republican Senator made it clear for the record that the Republicans objected to proceeding to conference because of a provision in the bill regarding TSA screeners, which had prompted the President to issue a veto threat on the bill.

Although the provision would improve efficiency, morale, and skills of TSA screeners, President Bush strenuously opposed it.

In an effort to demonstrate our commitment to completing this important legislation as quickly as possible, we informed our Republican colleagues we were prepared to address their objections and remove this provision during conference negotiations. But my Republican colleagues apparently decided to shift the goalposts.

Yesterday, when I asked for consent to proceed with the commitment that the TSA provision not be included in the conference, Senator Lott objected on behalf of Senate Republicans. But this time he would not say why he objected. He just objected.

Once we made our intentions clear about their expressed concern, I certainly don't understand why my Republican colleagues continue to object to moving forward to complete action on this bill. Why do they keep shifting the goalposts? Of what are they afraid?

This strange behavior is not lost on the American people. Today, representatives of the 9/11 victims, their families, let their views be heard. I have read their statement into the Record. The American people expect us to finish this work as rapidly as possible.

There can be little doubt that America will be more secure when this bill is signed into law. That is why I believe we need to take the next procedural step as part of our regular order, which is to appoint conferees to finish these negotiations.

Therefore, Mr. President, I make the following unanimous consent request: That the homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee be discharged from further consideration of H.R. 1 and that the Senate then proceed to its immediate consideration--I am sorry, whenever I see that H.R. 1, it confuses everybody; that is what we

did that the Senate proceed to its immediate consideration; that all after enacting clause be stricken and the text of S. 4, as passed in the Senate, on March 13, be inserted in lieu thereof; that the bill be read a third time, passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table; that the Senate insist on its amendment, request a conference with the House on the disagreeing votes of the two Houses, and the Chair be authorized to appoint conferees on the part of the Senate, with the above occurring with no intervening action or debate.

Mr. President, does the Senator from Oklahoma wish to make a statement?

Mr. President, I say through the Chair to my friend, I guess I will ask the question: Who have you talked to who said you can't have this postaudit program in the bill?

I will be happy to work with Senator Lieberman. He is a person who has a reputation for being fair. He would be the chair of this conference, as far as I know.

I say to my friend, I will be happy to take a look at this issue--no guarantees. It sounds reasonable what the Senator is asking. I ask of the Senator, let us go to conference. If something comes back out of conference--I will personally look into this. I will talk with Senator Lieberman about this issue. I don't know the bill that well because it has been through a committee of which I have no knowledge. But give us a chance. I don't know who the distinguished Republican leader will put on the conference. This is going to be a real conference, an open conference, where people will be able to, in a public meeting, say: I want to offer this amendment, and then the conference can either accept it or reject it.

I think the Senator from Oklahoma should give us a chance. This is an important issue. There are provisions that should be implemented-- should have been implemented a long time ago.

I recognize that the Senator has a daughter in New York. I have listened to my colleague, the senior Senator from New York, on more than one occasion about what the people of New York went through, we all went through. America through long-lens glasses watched what happened on 9/11. These people in New York, widows and widowers--and I read their names into the Record--have a better feeling about these issues and we need to get this done.

I commit to my friend, the junior Senator from Oklahoma, that I will personally take a look at this issue. I know how thoughtful he is and how he feels about the money that is spent by the American taxpayers. I will make every effort to make sure the Senator from Oklahoma is treated fairly. Even though he is not a member of the conference, I will arrange it, if he is not on the conference committee, he can come and talk to the conferees. I will do whatever I can to help alleviate any of the concerns he has.

Mr. President, I say to Senator Coburn, I received a note. This is from Senator Lieberman's staff:

We have worked very close with Senator Coburn's staff--in

particular his subcommittee staff director--Katie French.

Coburn's provisions were included in S. 4. The House

negotiators opposed them and after long negotiations Katie

signed off on our final agreement.

Beth worked on this and will send more information in a

moment.

It appears they have worked this out.

If this is the case, tomorrow in the Senator's absence, can we go ahead with this bill?

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to executive session to consider Executive Calendar Nos. 115, 153, 164, 166 through 205 and 207 through 229; and all nominations on the Secretary's desk; that the nominations be confirmed; the motions to reconsider be laid upon the table; the President be immediately notified of the Senate's action and the Senate then return to legislative session.

Mr. President, it goes without saying I am disappointed that the two issues we have had to do--so important--ethics and lobbying reform and the 9/11 Commission recommendations implementation--that there have been objections. All kinds of reasons, but it seems to me it is an effort that is not in keeping with what is good for our country. I accept what has happened, and we will be back tomorrow with our request for the lobbying reform.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to H. Con. Res. 179, the adjournment resolution.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the concurrent resolution be agreed to and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

I ask unanimous consent the Senate proceed to H.R. 1830.

Mr. President, before I ask this be completed, I am glad this is being done. I am disappointed it is only until the end of February.

I traveled to Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador. This is so important to those countries. I am glad we will get it extended. It would have expired at the end of this month. It will not expire now. I hope by next February we can have a multiyear extension. I have spoken to Senators Grassley and Baucus. I hope that is the case.

I ask unanimous consent the bill be read three times and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid on the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.

I ask unanimous consent the cloture motion on the motion to proceed to H.R. 1585 be withdrawn, that the motion to proceed be agreed to, and the Senate resume consideration of the bill on Monday, July 9, after the conclusion of morning business.

Mr. President, this is the Defense authorization bill. I hope there will be a little conversation about this tomorrow. This will get us back and focusing on the intractable war that is taking place in Iraq.

I made a call a day or two ago to speak to Keith Modgling, the father of Josh. He just turned 22. He was in Iraq for less than a month. He was killed.

We are going to refocus on this. It is important we do that.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand adjourned until 9:45 a.m. Friday, June 29. On Friday, following the prayer and pledge, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the morning hour be deemed expired, and the time for the two leaders be reserved for their use later in the day; that there then be a period for morning business with Senators permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes each.

If there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand adjourned under the previous order.

Mr. President, this morning we will resume consideration of S. 1639, the immigration legislation. As I said yesterday, cloture was filed on the bill. Any germane first-degree amendments need to be filed today by 1 p.m.

Also, another reminder to Members about the briefing by Admiral McConnell which will take place in S-407 and will run until 11:30 this morning. I will say to everyone, we could have votes during that period of time. I announced that last night. That is very possible, that we will have votes on this immigration bill. We are under postcloture rules. We are going to finish this legislation this week. And we very much appreciate the admiral coming down here, but, of course, he did not know what our schedule would be. But others may be inconvenienced because there very well could be votes.

Let me say a couple of things before we get to immigration. I would notify the two managers that I may have to have a short quorum call because there are some changes they are making on procedural matters. I think we need a couple of minutes to get that straightened out.

I sought yesterday to move to S. 1, the ethics and lobbying reform bill. There was a reason the bill came first. From the first day, we knew that all progress would depend on renewing the peoples' faith in the integrity of this institution, the Congress. This legislation which passed here in the Senate does just that: It prohibits lobbyists and those who hire lobbyists from giving gifts to lawmakers and staff; it prevents corporations and lobbyists from paying for questionable travel for Members and staff; it requires Senators to pay fair market value for chartered flights, putting an end to abuses of corporate travel; slows the revolving door by extending the ban on lobbying by former Members of Congress and senior staffers; prevents Senators from even negotiating for a job as a lobbyist until their successor has been elected; puts an end to the pay-to-play schemes that became notorious around here; it shines the light of day on lobbying activities by vastly increasing disclosure requirements; requires the Senate disclose all earmarks--this is the first time ever. We passed the ethics and lobbying reform bill here with overwhelming support from Senators on both sides of the aisle. The House did the same thing.

Yesterday, I asked consent to send our legislation to conference. The Republicans objected. I think it is interesting that on the same day this objection took place preventing us from moving forward to complete this legislation, there was yet another sign of how desperately needed this reform is. Yesterday, Stephen Griles, President Bush's former Interior Deputy Secretary, the No. 2 in charge, was sent to prison and fined for his corruption. This sentence came after Griles admitted to obstructing the investigation of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs. Now Mr. Griles will face justice for his contribution to disintegrating the peoples' trust in their Government. But now we have a chance to look forward, to stop the Jack Abramoffs, the

Safavians, the Neys and others and the Stephen Griles of the future before they have a chance to corrupt our system even more, to deliver to the American people a government as good and as honest as the people it represents.

I will come, before the day is out, and ask once again unanimous consent to appoint conferees in this legislation. The eyes of the country are upon us as to what we are going to do with ethics reform and lobbying reform in this Congress. Are we going to be prevented from completing this legislation? The answer is up to the minority, the Republicans.

Yesterday, I came to the floor to express appreciation to Richard Lugar, the senior Senator from the State of Indiana, former chairman and current ranking member of the Foreign Relations Committee, for his comments on the tragic war in Iraq.

I have said on previous occasions that Democrats are virtually unanimous in our opposition to the war and united in our efforts to change course. But we face an obstinate President who refuses to hear the call of the American people. We face a Republican minority that has largely stood by his side as conditions in Iraq have deteriorated, and we have more than 3,500 dead Americans. I understand those who are wounded are approaching 30,000, a third of them grievously wounded.

Opposing the President of one's own party, especially on a war, is no small thing. And now Senator George Voinovich, another key Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, has stepped forward along with Senator Lugar to question what is going on in Iraq. In a letter to President Bush, Senator Voinovich urges the President to finally wake up to the truth so many of us already know: This war cannot be won militarily, can only be won politically, diplomatically, and economically. Senator John Warner said yesterday that he expects more Republicans to join our call for a responsible change of course.

When this war finally ends--and we are in the fifth year of this war, and it will end--this last period of time where we have had Lugar, Voinovich, and Warner speak out about the present situation in Iraq could be the turning point. This could be the moment when we break down the aisle that separates the two parties on Iraq.

So I say to my Republican colleagues who continue to follow President Bush's lead: Join with us. When I say ``us,'' we now have at least five Republicans that I know of, and I would be happy to run through the names: Hagel, Smith, Voinovich, Lugar, and Warner have already spoken out. Join with us. We can extricate our troops from the firing line of another country's civil war. We can begin to rebuild our battered military so they can focus on the real threats we face around the world.

Remember what the National Council of Mayors did yesterday. They also said, and voted by a majority, the war should end as soon as possible.

The first step has been taken by my Republican colleagues. We need more help. Now we need to put their brave words in action by working together to bring home our brave troops and deliver the responsible end to the war that the American people demand and deserve.

I suggest the absence of a quorum.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. President, I understand the manager of the bill on the Republican side wishes to make a statement. I ask that it be made as in morning business. I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Pennsylvania be recognized for 20 minutes and that at the conclusion of that 20 minutes, I be recognized.

Mr. President, would the Chair report the bill, please.

Mr. President, I appreciate the cooperation of all Senators, those for the bill, those who have some misgivings about the legislation. I think we are at a process here now where I am going to ask unanimous consent that the time between now and 11:30 be for debate only, equally divided between the two managers, and of the minority time, there be 10 minutes for Senator DeMint, and that following the use of all this time, at 11:30, I be recognized.

Mr. President, having heard from my friend from South Carolina, I ask unanimous consent that the time between now and 11:30 be for morning business--we can go into morning business--and the time be equally divided between the two managers; and of the minority time there be 10 minutes for Senator DeMint--recognizing that people can talk about immigration or anything they want during this period of time--and that at 11:30 I be recognized.