Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act -- Motion to Proceed
Floor Speech
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - December 17, 2007)
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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, heading into our last work week, Republicans remain focused on the two principles that have guided us all year: protecting and defending the country from harm and protecting taxpayers' wallets. In these last few days, we will face some of the most crucial tests of the year on both fronts.
On security, Senate Republicans will amend the House version of the Appropriations bill to include funding for the troops in Iraq. Our men and women in uniform deserve our support wherever they are serving.
These funds are dangerously overdue. Delaying them further could put the Pentagon in serious straits and potentially jeopardize the universally acknowledged gains of the Petraeus plan.
We will also need to act wisely on reforming the FISA law that lets our intelligence agents track terrorists overseas. The success of this law over the last several years should be obvious to everyone.
The Intelligence Committee has produced a bill that would retain its core strengths; that has broad bipartisan support; and that, with slight modification, the President would sign into law. We need to act on this version of the revision without any political games.
On protecting taxpayers, we have two major pieces of legislation to finish: AMT, and a fiscally responsible omnibus bill.
A quarter of the way into the fiscal year, we have passed 1 of 12 Appropriations bills from last year.
We need to evaluate this omnibus and make sure it is written in a form the President will sign. That means funding for our forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, no excess spending, and no poison pills in the form of politically motivated policy riders.
Crucially, we also need to assure middle-class Americans we are not going to raise their taxes or further delay their tax refunds. The House needs to patch the AMT tax that now threatens 23 million taxpayers it was never meant to affect, and they need to do so without raising other taxes on these households.
We saw last week we could get legislation out the door when we work together. After Republican insistence, we passed an energy bill without raising taxes or utility rates. We will need to repeat that effort this week on several issues that lie at the very heart of our responsibilities to the American people.
We need to ensure the safety of our citizens. We need to keep them from being hit by new and unnecessary taxes.
We will need to do all this and act on several important executive nominations. New week. Much to do. America's watching. Let's get to work.
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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, we will have a cloture vote shortly on the motion to proceed to the FISA reform legislation that the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence reported last fall. I am glad we are proceeding to this bipartisan bill rather than to either of the rule XIV proposals. Both of those proposals would carve out core components of the Intel Committee's bill and likely would not obtain a Presidential signature.
The Intelligence Committee bill is a rarity in this Congress. It is the product of weeks of painstaking negotiations between Senate Republicans and Democrats, and benefited from the participation of intelligence experts in the administration.
The overwhelming bipartisan vote in the Intel Committee reflected the care, concern, and good faith that went into crafting that bill. The final vote was not 15 to 0, but a vote of 13 to 2 is pretty close.
What is all the more impressive about the Intel bill is that this accomplishment is in an area--foreign intelligence surveillance--that is highly sensitive.
Modifications to the Intel bill still need to be made, but it contains the two main ingredients that are needed for a Presidential signature: It will allow intelligence professionals to do their jobs, and it will not allow trial lawyers to sue telecom companies that helped protect the country.
Unfortunately, the Judiciary Committee bill lacks all the hallmarks of the Intelligence Committee's product. It does not provide our intelligence community with all the tools it needs. It does not protect telecommunications companies from lawsuits. It does not enjoy bipartisan support. And, most importantly, it will not become law.
So I think we have one approach that could lead to an important accomplishment, and we have one that will not. I am hopeful we will choose the right path.
Finally, I wish to make a couple of brief comments about the floor process for the FISA reform legislation.
I will be voting for cloture on the motion to proceed to the Intel bill, and I encourage all of our colleagues to do the same. A cloture vote is needed because of objections to the bipartisan bill by Senators Feingold and Dodd and others. It is certainly their right to object to the Senate's consideration of this important legislation. But it is also the right of other Senators to proceed carefully and thoughtfully on this matter.
Legislation dealing with our foreign intelligence surveillance capabilities is complex, and what we do determines if we are able to adequately defend the homeland from attack. Thus, Republicans will insist on being able to debate and study the complicated consequences of amendments that are offered. That is every Senator's right and, especially in this area, every Senator's duty.
I thank the Chair and yield the floor.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
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Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, later today we hope to clear the Burma Democracy Promotion Act of 2007. This legislation, which ratchets up our already tight sanctions against the Burmese junta, has bipartisan support in the House and Senate and comes at a critical time for the suffering people of Burma.
I am pleased to be joined by Senator Biden, the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, on this legislation, who has been an ally of mine on other sanctions legislation, and by Senator Feinstein, as always in the forefront of any issue related to Burma. The Burmese people have no greater friend than Senator Feinstein. Sixteen other cosponsors have offered their support to this important and timely bill.
The Senate bill would take a number of steps. It would first put in place new financial sanctions and an extended visa ban on senior junta officials. It would close existing loopholes that allow indirect importation of Burmese gems and timber, and it urges an international arms embargo on Burma, which faces no external military threats.
This legislation would also establish a special representative and policy coordinator for Burma, appointed by the President and subject to Senate confirmation. The United States is fortunate to already have a stellar chargé d'affaires in Rangoon. However, her focus is, as it should be, on bilateral relations with Burma. The new envoy would help to ensure that U.S. diplomacy is multilateral in scope, sustained, and fully coordinated with other international efforts.
Now, the House passed its version of enhanced Burma sanctions last week. I am hopeful the two bodies will soon reconcile these bills so we can get this legislation signed into law.
Mr. President, the entire world was inspired by the brave Burmese protesters who peacefully protested for justice earlier this year, and we were appalled at the violent Government reprisals that followed. We mourn the dead, and we pray for those who are still missing.
Since those sad days, a fickle news cycle has moved on to other matters. But with this legislation, we show that the U.S. Congress has not forgotten the people of Burma, and neither has the administration, as witnessed by the strong leadership of the First Lady on this issue. It is my hope the U.N. Security Council has an equally long memory and will soon take up and pass an arms embargo against the Burmese regime. In the end, multilateral sanctions are the most effective means of pressuring this regime to change its misbegotten course. With this legislation, we aim to lead by example. Our hope is that others will soon follow.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
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