Floor Statements

Mr. President, it has been a long day. We are into our second day now, as it is about 2:20 in the morning. It has been a productive day with the passage of the Defense appropriations conference report, the border security fence bill, the Homeland Security appropriations conference report, the Iran Libya Sanctions Act, and several other key legislative and executive items.

We will return on November 9 for a brief session for the introduction of bills, but no business will be conducted. We will return on Monday, November 13. We will have a busy week, with orientation of new Members and our party conferences. I don't expect votes to begin that week until sometime later Tuesday afternoon. We will get word to Members as to the timing of any votes.

Mr. President, I second that as well. It is interesting, when you are around here at 2:30 in the morning--or, as I said at my retirement dinner, when you are here early in the morning and are among the first people who come in and usually one of the last people leaving, because generally Senator Reid and I are here to close, you get to see a side of this place that a lot of people don't see--the people who keep it clean, who sweep the floors, make sure light bulbs are in place, who make sure there is always clean paint on the walls. It is pretty amazing. It reminds me of a hospital a lot because people get sick 24 hours a day. This is very similar in that the hours are unpredictable, and it is a living democracy in which we have the opportunity to participate. It is one big, huge team that makes it possible. We very rarely pause and say that. It is very important as we all work together to make the country a safer, healthier, and stronger place.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the provisions of H. Con. Res 483.

Mr. President, this morning after a period for the transaction of morning business, the Senate will resume consideration of the Military Commissions Act. Under the agreement that was reached yesterday, we have a limited number of amendments to consider and debate. Yesterday, we defeated the Levin substitute amendment, and Senator Specter offered his amendment on habeas. The Specter amendment is the pending amendment, and we will have more debate on it this morning.

Following the disposition of the Specter amendment, there are three additional amendments in order followed by a vote on passage of the bill. Once we conclude our work on this bill, we will return to the border fence bill with a cloture vote.

We still have a number of important items to complete before the recess, including the DOD appropriations conference report, additional conference reports that become available, executive items and nominations, and the child custody bill, on which I filed cloture yesterday.

We will have votes throughout the course of today's session and into the evening and over the remaining days until we complete our work.

Mr. President, to expand a little bit on the Democratic leader's comments, we entered into a unanimous consent agreement to address this bill with a reasonable amount of time. We are going to need to stick to that in large part because we have, as I outlined, the Hamdan legislation, we have the other three amendments, we have the fence border legislation, which has been pending for several days, DOD appropriations, the Child Custody Act, Homeland Security appropriations, and possibly the port security bill. We have an important Cabinet nomination, the Peters nomination, and then we have an adjournment resolution. That list is big.

As the Democratic leader and I have repeatedly said, we are going to finish this week, and it is already Thursday morning. Once we set a plan, we need to stick with a unanimous consent agreement set out. As we go through these issues, it is going to take a lot of cooperation to accomplish what has been laid out.

With that, I think we will begin a period for morning business.

Mr. President, for the past month we have debated how best to keep America safe. On one point I know all of our colleagues agree is that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed should be brought to justice. He should be prosecuted for masterminding the mass murders of almost 3,000 Americans on September 11. I know the American people and the families of those victims share that goal.

Every terrorist should be held accountable for their crimes against the innocent, against our enduring freedoms, against the values that we all share. Unfortunately, due to the Supreme Court's decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, prosecutions of suspected terrorists like Khalid Sheikh Mohammed are at a stand-still, and these prosecutions will remain at a stand-still until we act to authorize military commissions to try these suspected terrorists.

In addition to halting prosecutions of suspected terrorists, the Hamdan decision has undermined effective interrogation methods employed by our intelligence community. These methods yield critical information that allows us to prevent terrorist attacks and to save innocent lives. The information provided by these enemy combatants is our primary source--our best source--of reliable intelligence.

Past interrogations have guided us to the precise location of terrorists in hiding, explained how al-Qaida leaders communicate with operatives in Iraq, and identified voices in intercepted calls. Without this information, we fight a blind war.

The bill we will vote on in a few minutes addresses the concerns raised by

the Hamdan decision. It provides the legislative framework authorizing military tribunals to prosecute suspected terrorists. It ensures certain protections and rights for the accused such as the right to counsel and the right to exclude evidence obtained through torture.

At the same time, the bill recognizes that because we are at war with a different type of enemy, we should not try terrorist detainees in the same way as our uniformed military or civilian criminals.

The bill also protects classified information from terrorists who could exploit it to plan another terrorist attack.

Finally, the bill allows key intelligence programs to continue while ensuring that our detention and interrogation methods comply with both domestic and international laws, including Geneva Conventions Common Article 3.

The bottom line is the bill before us allows us to bring terrorists to justice through full and fair military trials while preserving intelligence programs--intelligence programs that have disrupted terrorist plots and saved countless American lives.

Our national security demands that we pass this bill tonight. We need this tool in the war on terror. In the 5 years since 9/11 we have not suffered another terrorist attack on U.S. soil. One reason we have remained safe is by staying on the offense against emerging threats. This bill is another offensive strike against terrorism.

For the safety and security of the American people, Mr. President, I urge my colleagues to join us in supporting the Military Commission Act of 2006.

Mr. President, I yield the floor.

Mr. President, 6 years ago, my great-nephew had some peanut butter. He was 13 months old. For most 13-month-old children, this wouldn't be an issue. But for McClain Portis, it was.

You see, unbeknownst to him or his parents at the time, McClain is allergic to peanuts. When he ate that peanut butter, he had an anaphylactic reaction.

Within 30 seconds, his lips and eyes swelled shut, his face turned bright red, and he developed what is called a full body hive.

But McClain's parents were quick thinkers. They called 911, and he was soon better after a dose of epinephrine. That's what calms the anaphylactic reaction, if administered in time.

But 6 hours later, the epinephrine wore off. McClain had a biphasic reaction and had to return to the pediatrician to receive steroids. His older sister, just 4 years old at the time, asked their mother, ``Is my brother going to die?''

McClain is 7 years old now--in first grade. He's an active boy, with many friends. And he enjoys school. But school hasn't been easy--for McClain or his parents.

It's that way for a lot of children with food allergies, especially when they find themselves switching schools.

I recently met another young man from Nashville--Andrew Wright. He's 14 now, and he attends the same high school from which I graduated.

He's endured food allergies nearly his entire life--but somehow the high-spirited teen keeps a positive outlook on life.

For a long time, every year he and his parents had to start from scratch. They had to teach the schools how to recognize and treat an allergic reaction. And they had to teach them about his allergens-- sheep's milk, tree nuts, peanuts, and possibly shellfish. That's stressful work--for Andrew, for his parents, and even for the schools.

Andrew and McClain aren't alone in their struggles. Across the country, 3 million children suffer from food allergies.

Milk. Eggs. Fish. Shellfish. Tree nuts. Peanuts. Wheat. Soy.

Foods that most people enjoy. But these 8 foods account for 90 percent of all food allergic reactions.

And for 3 million American children, these foods frequently aren't safe. Their immune system makes a mistake. It treats something in a certain food as if it's dangerous.

The food itself isn't harmful, but the body's reaction is.

Within a few hours--or sometimes, only minutes--of consuming a food allergen, a host of symptoms can burst forth, affecting the eyes, nose, throat, respiratory system, skin, and digestive system. The reaction could be mild--or it could be more severe, like it was for my great- nephew McClain.

Food-allergic reactions are the leading cause of anaphylaxis. If left untreated for too long, anaphylaxis can prove fatal. But it's treatable--with adrenaline, or epinephrine.

In fact, studies have demonstrated an association between a delay in the administration of epinephrine--or non-administration--and anaphylaxis fatalities.

So it makes sense that we'd want schools to keep epinephrine on hand--in case a child experiences a food-allergic reaction leading to anaphylaxis. And it makes sense that we'd want school personnel to know how to recognize and treat food-allergic reactions.

But currently, there are no Federal guidelines concerning the management of life-threatening food allergies in the school setting.

In fact, in a recent survey, three-fourths of elementary school nurses reported developing their own training guidelines for responding to food allergies.

This means that when children change schools--they're promoted, they move, they're redistricted--for whatever reason--they and their parents face different food allergy management approaches. And there's no across-the-board consistency.

That's why Senator Dodd and I have introduced the Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis Management Act of 2006.

We believe the Federal Government should establish uniform, voluntary food allergy management guidelines--and schools should be strongly encouraged to adopt and implement such guidelines.

The bill directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services--in consultation with the Secretary of Education--to develop voluntary food allergy management guidelines.

The guidelines would help prevent exposure to food allergens and help ensure a prompt response when a child suffers a potentially fatal anaphylactic reaction. Under the bill, these guidelines must be developed and made available within one year of enactment.

Additionally, the bill provides for school-based allergy management incentive grants to local education agencies. These grants assist with the adoption and implementation of food allergy management guidelines in public schools.

There are 3 million American children who suffer from food allergies. We can't cure them of their allergies. But we can help prevent allergic reactions, and we can help ensure timely treatment of them when they occur.

I urge my colleagues to support this bipartisan measure--so we can help keep America's children healthy.

Mr. President, we have had a long and full day today. I have some remarks to make on a couple of bills, and then we will close down, with a brief statement on what I see unfolding over the next couple days.

Mr. President, the Senate has before it two very important bills dealing with critical foreign policy issues facing our Nation.

One of them is the Iran Freedom Support Act, H.R. 6198. This is a bipartisan bill which passed the House earlier today by voice vote. In other words, it was a noncontroversial bill in the House. It was cosponsored there by Congressman Tom Lantos, the ranking Democrat on the Committee on International Relations, as well as by Congressman Gary Ackerman, the ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on Middle East and Central Asia. The Iran Freedom Support Act is also strongly supported by the Bush administration.

Enactment of this bill is time-sensitive because it will extend for another 5 years the provisions of the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act, or better known here on the floor as ILSA. ILSA has been an important element of the U.S. sanctions regime against Iran for the past 10 years, and ILSA will expire tomorrow unless Congress acts to extend it.

Iran is continuing to defy the will of the international community by persisting with its efforts to produce nuclear weapons in violation of international nonproliferation norms. I could not think of a worse time than now to allow ILSA to lapse; the signal this would send to Iran of U.S. irresolution and weakness would be terrible.

Just today, President Ahmadi-Nejad publicly declared that Iran will not suspend its nuclear enrichment program, despite being called to do so by the United Nations Security Council. The U.N. is now poised to impose multilateral sanctions on Iran if it continues to defy Security Council mandates. But if we allow ILSA to lapse, the Congress will be relaxing U.S. sanctions on Iran at the very same time the rest of the world is thinking about tightening sanctions.

This is not the kind of leadership I was elected to the Senate to provide, and I think every Senator will have to lower their head in shame if the Senate fails to act tomorrow to extend ILSA.

H.R. 6198 has been cleared on our side of the aisle. We are ready to pass it. We are ready to pass it tonight. I will not ask unanimous consent to pass it tonight, however, because I understand it has not been cleared on the Democratic side of the aisle. I hope that does change overnight, but whether it changes or not, I wish to serve notice to all Senators that tomorrow I will ask unanimous consent to pass H.R. 6198, and I hope there will be no Member of this body who steps forward at that time to reward Iran's intransigence by blocking passage of this bipartisan legislation.

The second very important bill affecting our foreign policy that is today pending before the Senate is the United States-India Peaceful Atomic Energy Cooperation Act, S. 3709. This bill was reported by the Committee on Foreign Relations on July 20 and has been pending before us since that time. It is strongly supported by Chairman Lugar and the ranking Democrat of that committee, Senator Biden. Together they have developed a managers' amendment that they both support and that they would like the Senate to approve. The House companion measure has already passed that body by a wide margin.

Enactment of this legislation is essential in order to begin a new era in relations between our Nation and India, the world's largest democracy. This legislation will enable us to commence cooperation with India in the area of civil nuclear energy, something that is today contrary to U.S. law. We need to be able to do this to fulfill commitments President Bush made to Prime Minister Singh of India on July 18 of last year. If we are unable to fulfill those commitments, the disappointment in India will be such that United States-India relations could be set back by many years, and the promise of a new era in relations that was born on July 18 of last year will be lost.

Like the Iran bill, the India legislation has been cleared on our side of the aisle. Republican Members of the Senate are ready to approve the managers' amendment to S. 3709 tonight, in its current form, with no further debate or amendment.

Regrettably, the same is not true on the other side of the aisle. Senate Democrats are not ready tonight to pass the managers' amendment to this legislation in its current form.

This is regrettable because if the Democrats would permit us to pass the

bill tonight, we could send it to conference over the recess, where the differences between the House bill could be resolved, and we could be assured of sending this bill to the President before we adjourn.

I understand that the reason they are not prepared to pass the legislation is because they have a large number of amendments they wish to offer. Some of these Democrat amendments are so-called killer amendments which, if adopted, would simply make this legislation unacceptable to the Indian government. Others of the Democrat amendments are not necessarily designed to kill the legislation, but their sheer volume will slow down this whole process considerably and could, as a practical matter, make it impossible for the Senate to consider this legislation this year.

I have worked with my colleague, Senator Reid, to come up with some sort of unanimous-consent agreement that would enable us to consider this legislation in a reasonable period of time. We have not yet succeeded, but I will keep trying. We need to bring this matter to a resolution before we recess.

Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk that is due for its second reading?

Mr. President, in order to place the bill on the calendar under rule XIV, I object to further proceedings.

Mr. President, I understand there are four bills at the desk, and I ask for their first reading en bloc.

Mr. President, I now ask for a second reading and, in order to place the bills on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, I object to my own request, en bloc.

Mr. President, as in executive session, I ask unanimous consent that the injunction of secrecy be removed from the following agreements transmitted to the Senate on September 28, 2006, by the President of the United States:

Mutual legal assistance agreement with the European Union, Treaty Document 109-13.

Extradition agreement with the European Union, Treaty Document 109- 14.

I further ask that the agreements be considered as having been read the first time; that they be referred, with accompanying papers, to the Committee on Foreign Relations and ordered to be printed; and that the President's messages be printed in the Record.

Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that when the Senate completes its business today, it stand in adjournment until 9:30 a.m. on Friday, September 29. I further ask that following the prayer and pledge, the morning hour be deemed expired, the Journal of proceedings be approved to date, the time for the two leaders be reserved, and the Senate proceed to a period for the transaction of morning business, with the time equally divided between the two leaders or their designees until 10 a.m.; further, that at 10 a.m., the Senate proceed to a vote on the adoption of the conference report to accompany H.R. 5631, the Department of Defense appropriations bill.

Mr. President, today we had a very busy day. We passed the Military Commissions Act, the Terrorist Tribunal Act, and also invoked cloture on the border fence bill, another very important piece of legislation. This evening, we reached agreement to consider the Department of Defense appropriations bill conference report, and tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock the Senate will vote on that conference report, and then we will resume the postcloture debate on the border fence bill.

I remind my colleagues to be prepared for a busy day tomorrow, with votes throughout the day. Given the cloture vote this evening of 71 to 28, I hope we can expedite the border fence bill and finish it at an early hour tomorrow.

This is a very important bill that focuses on border security and border security first, recognizing we have a lot more to do in the future, but it does give us that opportunity to address the fact that we have millions of people coming across the U.S. border every year illegally, and we need to start the enforcement of that border and that border security by a physical structure, UAVs, with cameras and sensors, specifically 700 miles of fence along that border.

Following that, we will have the cloture vote on the message on the Child Custody Act, a very important bill that addresses one of our major initiatives here; that is, to secure America's values and look at the issue of a young girl being taken for an abortion across State lines without parental permission. It is common sense. We passed it on the floor of the Senate not too long ago, and this is an amended version that came over from the House, and now is the time for us to pass it once again.

Beyond that, we have a number of other outstanding items that will need to be addressed before the recess. As we speak, issues surrounding our ports, again another part of that major thematic for this month of securing our homeland as we work on border security and funding the war on terror and giving our Government, our military, and our CIA the tools that we need to carry out this war on terror for our ports.

Our port security has to be addressed. It is being addressed in conference. Conferees were appointed by the House earlier tonight and that conference met tonight, so I am very hopeful that we will be able to address port security over the next 24, 36 hours.

In addition, we have nominations of the various judges that we need to consider before we leave. We have a treaty, U.S.-U.K. extradition that we need to address before we leave. There are other cleared items, including a large energy package. All of these are being held up tonight by the other side of the aisle, but I am very hopeful that we will be able to address these issues over the course of the next day or so.

If we are unable to complete all of our work tomorrow, Senators can expect a Saturday session. It is clear, as I set out really 2 weeks ago, that we have a large agenda. We are moving along very, very well, making real progress, as shown by the six votes that we had over the course of the day. But we have a lot more to do, and we will stay until we finish that work either late tomorrow or into Saturday.

Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. President, we have a period of 1 hour of morning business to start today's session. Following morning business, we have 1 hour of debate prior to a scheduled cloture vote on the pending amendment relating to military tribunals, to the military commissions. Before that cloture vote begins, the Democratic leader and I will continue to work toward an agreement that would allow us to consider the military tribunal legislation as a freestanding measure under a specific time agreement. We started talking about that yesterday and worked through the night, and we will continue over the course of the morning to reach that agreement. We are working in good faith toward an understanding on this bill and hope we will be able to work that out prior to that 11:30 a.m. vote. I will keep our colleagues posted as to the outcome of those talks.

If we are able to reach a consent agreement, then I will vitiate the order for the cloture vote, and we will proceed directly to the military tribunals, the so-called Hamdan legislation, today. Votes will likely occur throughout the afternoon either on the cloture vote on that issue or on amendments that may be considered to the freestanding bill.

We have a number of other important items to consider this week. The Defense appropriations conference report has been filed, and we do not expect that to take very much time at all. It may even be that we can do that at some point later today.

We have the Homeland Security appropriations that will shortly be completed, as well as other conference reports that are underway, such as port security, which may become available.

I remind my colleagues that we have a policy meeting on this side of the aisle to occur from 12:30 p.m. to 2:15 p.m. today. If we can schedule debate on one of these issues during that time, we will likely be able to remain in session in order to make progress.

I have a brief statement. Does the Democratic leader have comments?