[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 68 (Thursday, May 23, 2002)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4881-S4882]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                            A JOB WELL DONE

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, the Senate has been able to accomplish a 
great


[[Page S4882]]

deal this week. The two managers of the trade bill worked very hard. 
This has been a complicated bill with very technical issues.
  The Presiding Officer, of course, is a member of the Finance 
Committee and has better knowledge of that than most of us, but for 
most Members of the Senate this is a difficult issue because it does 
deal with matters under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Finance 
Committee. In spite of that, we were able to move through this quite 
well. There were some procedural problems that we always have 
postcloture, but I think we were able to do a good job.
  While the Presiding Officer is in the Chamber, I express the 
appreciation of the entire Senate for the work that he does that goes 
unnoticed and is so important. The Presiding Officer is chairman of the 
Intelligence Committee. Again, there are a very select number of people 
who serve on that very small committee. Most of the work that is done 
is in total secrecy. There is not a lot of press around. Evidence is 
being taken and testimony is being given.

  So we rely on you very heavily, and on the Intelligence Committee. 
One member of the Intelligence Committee tonight indicated to me he was 
traveling to South America for obvious reasons. There are a lot of 
problems in South America in which members of the Intelligence 
Committee are involved. While many members are entitled to the same 
information that the chairman of the committee gets all the time, we 
don't do that. That is not within our scope of duties. So we have to 
depend on the chairman. It is a rare occasion when we get a briefing 
from the intelligence community. It does happen. But for the Presiding 
Officer, it happens all the time, every day.
  For example, I tried--because we had matters going on here on the 
Senate floor yesterday on an important issue--to get ahold of a member 
of the Intelligence Committee and could not do that because once in the 
committee you do not take your telephones, your beepers, your 
blackberries. You take none of that. You are away from your staff, 
except those members of the Intelligence Committee, and you are out of 
touch with what is going on here.
  On behalf of the entire Senate, I appreciate the inordinate amount of 
time spent on these matters for these people of Nevada, the people of 
Florida and the whole country. I want that appreciation spread over the 
country.

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