Congressional Record, Volume 150 Issue 125 (Wednesday, October 6, 2004)

[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 125 (Wednesday, October 6, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S10543-S10551]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

INTELLIGENCE COMMITTEE REORGANIZATION

The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Alexander). Under the previous order, the
Senate will now proceed to the consideration of S. Res. 445, which the
clerk will report.

[[Page S10544]]

The legislative clerk read as follows:

A resolution (S. Res. 445) to eliminate certain
restrictions on service of a Senator on the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence.

amendment no. 3981

(Purpose: To implement the Congressional oversight recommendations of
the 9/11 Commission)

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, on behalf of Senator Reid and myself, I
send to the desk an amendment in the nature of a substitute and ask for
its immediate consideration.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:

The Senator from Kentucky [Mr. McConnell], for himself, Mr.
Reid, Mr. Frist, and Mr. Daschle, proposes an amendment
numbered 3981.

Mr. McCONNELL. I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment
be dispensed with.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
The amendment is as follows:

Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the
following:

SEC. 100. PURPOSE.

It is the purpose of titles I through V of this resolution
to improve the effectiveness of the Senate Select Committee
on Intelligence, especially with regard to its oversight of
the Intelligence Community of the United States Government,
and to improve the Senate's oversight of homeland security.

TITLE I--HOMELAND SECURITY OVERSIGHT REFORM

SEC. 101. HOMELAND SECURITY.

(a) Committee on Homeland Security and Government
Affairs.--The Committee on Governmental Affairs is renamed as
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
(b) Jurisdiction.--There shall be referred to the committee
all proposed legislation, messages, petitions, memorials, and
other matters relating primarily to the following subjects:
(1) Department of Homeland Security, except matters
relating to the Coast Guard, to the Transportation Security
Administration, to the Federal Law Enforcement Training
Center and the revenue functions of the Customs Service.
(2) Archives of the United States.
(3) Budget and accounting measures, other than
appropriations, except as provided in the Congressional
Budget Act of 1974.
(4) Census and collection of statistics, including economic
and social statistics.
(5) Congressional organization, except for any part of the
matter that amends the rules or orders of the Senate.
(6) Federal Civil Service.
(7) Government information.
(8) Intergovernmental relations.
(9) Municipal affairs of the District of Columbia, except
appropriations therefor.
(10) Organization and management of United States nuclear
export policy.
(11) Organization and reorganization of the executive
branch of the Government.
(12) Postal Service.
(13) Status of officers and employees of the United States,
including their classification, compensation, and benefits.
(c) Additional Duties.--The committee shall have the duty
of--
(1) receiving and examining reports of the Comptroller
General of the United States and of submitting such
recommendations to the Senate as it deems necessary or
desirable in connection with the subject matter of such
reports;
(2) studying the efficiency, economy, and effectiveness of
all agencies and departments of the Government;
(3) evaluating the effects of laws enacted to reorganize
the legislative and executive branches of the Government; and
(4) studying the intergovernmental relationships between
the United States and the States and municipalities, and
between the United States and international organizations of
which the United States is a member.
(d) Jurisdiction of Senate Committees.--The jurisdiction of
the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
provided in subsection (b) shall supersede the jurisdiction
of any other committee of the Senate provided in the rules of
the Senate.

TITLE II--INTELLIGENCE OVERSIGHT REFORM

SEC. 201. INTELLIGENCE OVERSIGHT.

(a) Committee on Armed Services Membership.--Section
2(a)(3) of Senate Resolution 400, agreed to May 19, 1976
(94th Congress) (referred to in this section as ``S. Res.
400'') is amended by--
(1) inserting ``(A)'' after ``(3)''; and
(2) inserting at the end the following:
``(B) The Chairman and Ranking Member of the Committee on
Armed Services (if not already a member of the select
Committee) shall be ex officio members of the select
Committee but shall have no vote in the Committee and shall
not be counted for purposes of determining a quorum.''.
(b) Number of Members.--Section 2(a) of S. Res. 400 is
amended--
(1) in paragraph (1), by inserting ``not to exceed'' before
``fifteen members'';
(2) in paragraph (1)(E), by inserting ``not to exceed''
before ``seven''; and
(3) in paragraph (2), by striking the second sentence and
inserting ``Of any members appointed under paragraph (1)(E),
the majority leader shall appoint the majority members and
the minority leader shall appoint the minority members, with
the majority having a one vote margin.''.
(c) Elimination of Term Limits.--Section 2 of Senate
Resolution 400, 94th Congress, agreed to May 19, 1976, is
amended by striking subsection (b) and by redesignating
subsection (c) as subsection (b).
(d) Appointment of Chairman and Ranking Member.--Section
2(b) of S. Res. 400, as redesignated by subsection (c) of
this section, is amended by striking the first sentence and
inserting the following: ``At the beginning of each Congress,
the Majority Leader of the Senate shall select a chairman of
the select Committee and the Minority Leader shall select a
vice chairman for the select Committee.''.
(e) Subcommittees.--Section 2 of S. Res. 400, as amended by
subsections (a) through (d), is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``(c) The select Committee may be organized into
subcommittees. Each subcommittee shall have a chairman and a
vice chairman who are selected by the Chairman and Vice
Chairman of the select Committee, respectively.''.
(f) Reports.--Section 4(a) of S. Res. 400 is amended by
inserting ``, but not less than quarterly,'' after
``periodic''.
(g) Staff.--Section 15 of S. Res. 400 is amended to read as
follows:
``Sec. 15. (a) The select Committee shall hire or appoint
one employee for each member of the select Committee to serve
as such Member's designated representative on the select
Committee. The select Committee shall only hire or appoint an
employee chosen by the respective Member of the select
Committee for whom the employee will serve as the designated
representative on the select Committee.
``(b) The select Committee shall be afforded a supplement
to its budget, to be determined by the Committee on Rules and
Administration, to allow for the hire of each employee who
fills the position of designated representative to the select
Committee. The designated representative shall have office
space and appropriate office equipment in the select
Committee spaces, and shall have full access to select
Committee staff, information, records, and databases.
``(c) The designated employee shall meet all the
requirements of relevant statutes, Senate rules, and
committee clearance requirements for employment by the select
Committee.''.
(h) Nominees.--S. Res. 400 is amended by adding at the end
the following:
``Sec. 17. (a) The select Committee shall have final
responsibility for reviewing, holding hearings, and voting on
civilian persons nominated by the President to fill a
position within the intelligence community that requires the
advice and consent of the Senate.
``(b) Other committees with jurisdiction over the nominees'
executive branch department may hold hearings and interviews
with that person.''.

TITLE III--COMMITTEE STATUS

SEC. 301. COMMITTEE STATUS.

(a) Homeland Security.--The Committee on Homeland Security
and Governmental Affairs shall be treated as the Committee on
Governmental Affairs listed under paragraph 2 of rule XXV of
the Standing Rules of the Senate for purposes of the Standing
Rules of the Senate.
(b) Intelligence.--The Select Committee on Intelligence
shall be treated as a committee listed under paragraph 2 of
rule XXV of the Standing Rules of the Senate for purposes of
the Standing Rules of the Senate.

TITLE IV--INTELLIGENCE-RELATED SUBCOMMITTEES

SEC. 401. SUBCOMMITTEE RELATED TO INTELLIGENCE OVERSIGHT.

(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Select
Committee on Intelligence a Subcommittee on Oversight which
shall be in addition to any other subcommittee established by
the select Committee.
(b) Responsibility.--The Subcommittee on Oversight shall be
responsible for ongoing oversight of intelligence activities.

SEC. 402. SUBCOMMITTEE RELATED TO INTELLIGENCE
APPROPRIATIONS.

(a) Establishment.--There is established in the Committee
on Appropriations a Subcommittee on Intelligence. The
Subcommittee on Military Construction shall be combined with
the Subcommittee on Defense into 1 subcommittee.
(b) Jurisdiction.--The Subcommittee on Intelligence of the
Committee on Appropriations shall have jurisdiction over
funding for intelligence matters.

TITLE V--EFFECTIVE DATE

SEC. 501. EFFECTIVE DATE.

This resolution shall take effect on the convening of the
109th Congress.

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I rise today to introduce, along with
Senator Reid and the majority and Democratic leaders, an amendment to a
resolution to reform the Senate's oversight of intelligence and
homeland security matters. If enacted, it will mark the most
significant changes made in this body since the 1970s relating to the
way the Senate operates.

[[Page S10545]]

Let me speak for a moment about why we must make significant reforms.
The world did not change on September 11, 2001, only our perception of
it did. In fact, the world had changed long before that particular
clear September day. Frankly, we are nearly a decade late realizing it.
The first clue the world had changed and that a new enemy lurked in
the shadows occurred on February 26, 1993, when Islamic terrorists
bombed the World Trade Center, killing six and injuring hundreds.
These terrorists had ties to al-Qaida, which was busy then building
its army of terrorists in the Sudan.
Four years later, on August 7, 1998, al-Qaida attacked two U.S.
embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, killing hundreds and injuring
thousands.
And on October 12, 2000--nearly 4 years ago today--these same al-
Qaida terrorists attacked the USS Cole while it was in port in Yemen.
These terrorists killed 17 soldiers and injured 40 more.
And yet it took the carnage of September 11 to awaken America, the
Congress, our governmental institutions, and our CIA analysts to the
magnitude of the threat that Islamic terrorism poses to the American
people.
It took September 11 to show us how much the world had changed since
the days of the Cold War.
In the wake of those attacks, Congress and the President swung into
action--and brought the fight to the enemy.
We in Congress passed the PATRIOT Act, which reformed the FBI and
provided our law enforcement agencies with greater tools to combat
terrorism. We fast-tracked the procurement of specialized equipment
such as the Predator unmanned aerial vehicle for our military forces in
Afghanistan.
Congress created the Department of Homeland Security to consolidate
and coordinate Government activities that protect America, and to solve
some of the problems that contributed to the failure to anticipate
September 11.
The administration has issued important executive orders reforming
the intelligence community in a way that facilitates coordination of
essential information.
Today, the Senate passed the Intelligence Reform Act of 2004, which
dramatically reforms our intelligence agencies. These reforms will
improve the collection, analysis, and integration of our Nation's most
vital intelligence, assuring that red flags are no longer ignored.
What we have not done, however, is reform ourselves.
Congress, as did our intelligence agencies, failed to appreciate the
threat prior to September 11. We certainly appreciate it now. And I
hope we can reform this institution in a way that allows us to better
monitor and influence the executive agencies tasked with keeping
America safe.
It is time to put our own house in order.
In August, Senator Frist and Senator Daschle--in response to the 9/11
Commission recommendations--asked the Senate to do just that. They
created a working group of 22 senior Members of the Senate, and asked
Senator Reid and me to chair it.
We worked closely with these Members to discuss the advantages and
disadvantages of the 9/11 Commission recommendations, and also to
brainstorm new ideas and improvements to our oversight of the
intelligence community and Department of Homeland Security.
I want to thank these Members for their many good ideas and for their
patience and willingness to work on a bipartisan basis to do something
that is very difficult but also very worthwhile.
After convening a number of meetings with our Members, Senator Reid
and I met frequently to hammer out a list of recommendations that
broadly reflects the consensus or majority views of our group.
Not every Senator will be happy with each and every recommendation.
But such is the nature of compromise. We have endeavored to be honest
brokers, and I hope we have achieved that goal.
Some Members will complain this reform goes too far. Others will
complain it does not go far enough.
I hope most Members will agree with me that it is an appropriate
balance of reform that improves our ability to conduct oversight of
intelligence and homeland security during a very serious time for our
country.
Neither Senator Reid, nor I, nor the 20 other members of our working
group have a monopoly on wisdom. And were our recommendations part of
the New Testament, they would not be written in red ink.
The resolution before us today is not a final product. It is a work
in progress. And we hope Members who want to improve upon this
resolution will come to the floor and offer amendments.
We would like to accept non-controversial amendments, and to allow
Members to vote on amendments that may be a bit more contentious. We
want the Senate to work its will.
But before ceding control of this resolution to the will of the
Senate, let me describe the philosophy behind our recommendations, as
well as some of the recommendations themselves.
The most sweeping change we recommend is to consolidate Congressional
jurisdiction over the Department of Homeland Security. If you don't
think this is major reform, ask the roughly 25 Senate committee or
subcommittee chairmen who currently have jurisdiction over Homeland
Security agencies or programs.
Trust me. They have made sure Senator Reid and I know how significant
this reform is.
The current system of homeland security is broken. These 25 different
Senate committees or subcomittes can only have a narrow view of part of
the department's activities.
Congressional oversight is like a team of blindfolded scientists,
each examining a different part of a horse and trying to describe what
kind of animal it is. No committee can step back and look at the horse
as a whole.
The Department of Homeland Security deserves its own authorization
committee. We wouldn't divide jurisdiction over the Department of
Defense by creating an Army committee, a Navy/Marine committee, and an
Air Force committee. So why have we done so with Homeland Security?
The status quo also hampers the Department's ability to do its
primary job: protecting the homeland.
Currently, the department has to report to 88 House and Senate
committees or subcommittees.
This year alone, Secretary Ridge or his subordinates have testified
at 164 hearings. They have given over 1300 briefings. And the year
isn't over yet.
Mr. President, that's almost 40 briefings a week. In fact, there are
probably Homeland Security personnel crawling around Capitol Hill right
now, when they should be back in their offices working to keep us safe.
We didn't create the Department of Homeland Security so that it can
provide us with a gluttony of power point presentations but to keep
America safe. We should consolidate jurisdiction so that both Congress
and the Department can do their job more effectively, and more
efficiently.
To do this, we recommend that jurisdiction over the Department be
integrated under the Governmental Affairs Committee, which should be
renamed the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee.
There will be exceptions to this jurisdictional consolidation. And we
encourage Members who are concerned about jurisdictional issues to file
amendments to work with the chairman and ranking member of Governmental
Affairs to reach agreements about appropriate jurisdictional
arrangements.
We welcome amendments and debate on these issues.
On Intelligence oversight, the working group believed that our
oversight of intelligence must be strengthened.
The task force wanted to work with the committee to help structure it
so it was comprised of devoted experts who have the time and expertise
in the intelligence field. The members now serving on the committee
have done so with great distinction. But they need better tools and
fewer competing demands on their time in order to conduct focused and
comprehensive oversight.
And so we have recommended the status of the committee be raised from
B to A. This may seem like a minor and arcane detail, but it means a
great deal. On my side of the aisle, Senators can serve on the
committee without having to give up any other assignments. Some Members
serve on three or four other committees in addition to intelligence.

[[Page S10546]]

Quite simply, they cannot devote the time necessary to conduct
effective oversight with so many other obligations.
This elevation in status will require Senators interested in
intelligence to make a choice to serve on the committee. But once on
the committee, they will not be term limited, and each member of the
committee will be able to play an integral role in conducting
oversight.
The Intelligence Committee is an important committee, and a popular
committee, and I am confident that a good number of members will want
to serve on it.
As I have said, we also have removed term limits, in order to allow
members to develop the expertise needed to conduct effective oversight.
No other Committee in the Senate says after you've spent 8 years
becoming an expert that you get the boot. Now the Intelligence
Committee won't have to say goodbye to its most experienced members.
We have allowed members to hire personal designated staff, to give
them a trusted representative on the committee. There was strong
support for this recommendation, which will reinstate previous
committee policy.
In addition to the 14 suggested improvements to the Select Committee
on Intelligence, we also have recommended the Appropriations Committee
create a Subcommittee on Intelligence.
Appropriations jurisdiction over oversight is currently dispersed
throughout multiple subcommittees. We propose the creation of an
Intelligence Subcommittee of Appropriations that would consolidate the
roughly 80 percent of the intelligence budget that will come under the
jurisdiction of the national intelligence director.
This subcommittee will improve the Appropriations Committee's ability
to live up to its responsibility to exercise oversight over the
national intelligence budget. For the same reasons that homeland
security jurisdiction should be consolidated, so, too, should
intelligence appropriations jurisdiction.
Not all of us agree on this recommendation, and I fully expect that
Senators will offer an amendment to implement the 9/11 Commission's
recommendation to create a combined authorization and appropriations
committee.
These recommendations require us to use a different set of muscles in
our oversight. And some of these reforms are not easy. But few things
worth doing are.
We have a historic opportunity to reform this Chamber for the better,
and I believe we should not shirk our responsibility to do so. We must
do it now in order to do all we can to protect the American people from
the next major terrorist attack.
This is a partisan body, and we have pointed fingers for 3 years
about who was to blame for the failures of our intelligence and
homeland security prior to 9/11. Some blamed the Clinton
Administration, others blamed the Bush Administration. Some saw fault
in the FBI, others in the CIA, and still other in the military's
aversion to covert operations. We are good at pointing fingers at
others, but we have not pointed them at ourselves.
Just as our CIA analysts failed to piece together the clues about al-
Qaida's intention to attack our cities with hijacked airplanes, so,
too, did we fail to question their assessments. We failed to question
their focus on old threats. We failed to challenge them to take risks.
We failed to question the lack of CIA operatives in Iraq, or why our
human intelligence capabilities had become so eroded. Despite the
numerous attacks on American targets by Islamic radicals, we failed to
put more money in the intelligence budget to hire Arabic linguists.
These are not the faults of the Clinton administration or the Bush
administration. They are our fault, too, and we have a chance today to
correct them.
I say to my colleagues, I believe we have an opportunity to improve
our oversight of the arms of Government that keep America safe. Let us
not cause some future generation to look back 50 years from this moment
and ask the question: Why did they not act?
Now is our opportunity to do just that, and I encourage my fellow
Senators to come to the floor and offer amendments so that we can move
this package forward as soon as possible.
Mr. President, I yield the floor.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, about an hour ago, the Senate marked a
historical moment with the passage of S. 2845, the National
Intelligence Reform Act of 2004. Passage of that act was a major
milestone--a major milestone--on the road to the most significant
overhaul of our intelligence community in over 50 years.
The Senate bill includes nearly all of the recommendations made by
the 9/11 Commission as they centered on intelligence reform within the
executive branch--39 recommendations.
It is important to note, however, the Commission said that
overhauling the executive branch is not enough and, thus, we are now on
the Senate resolution to address the final two recommendations of the
9/11 Commission, and that is the overhaul of how we do business in
oversight of intelligence functions.
The Democratic leader and I were just talking about how pleased we
were in the fulfillment of the process we set out at the end of July
where both arms--one being the one we just completed on the Senate
floor in the form of the executive branch intelligence jurisdiction,
and the second arm being the overhaul of our Senate oversight--has
worked so well to date, but we still have that second arm to address,
and that is what we are on today.
The Democratic leader and I have come to the floor to outline to our
colleagues, A, the importance of completing that oversight function
reform in this body but, B, and equally important, to point out we do
not have very much time to address this issue with the range and number
of other issues we have to address. We have plenty of time to address
these issues, but we need to do so in an expeditious way, in a way that
allows people to have their amendments considered, to have them
debated, and to have them voted upon, but we need to do so in a timely
manner.
We ask our colleagues to bring their amendments to the resolution to
the managers so they can be considered.
With that, I turn to the Democratic leader, and then I will have
further comments on other legislation we have to address before
departing.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Democratic leader.
Mr. DASCHLE. Mr. President, I associate myself with the remarks of
the majority leader. He made note of the fact that this is a historic
day. This is a day when the Senate, with an overwhelmingly bipartisan
vote, responded to the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission and other
commissions that have urged our Government to take action to make us
safer. We made a major step today in creating the infrastructure to
make America safer.
I compliment the majority leader for his efforts and also, of course,
the two managers. Senator Collins and Senator Lieberman deserve great
credit for the work product we voted on only moments ago. This is
historic not only for its substance, but I would like to think it is
also historic for the process that brought us here.
As the majority leader has noted, we have an opportunity to replicate
the substance and the process with the second piece of our work. I
think in an equally bipartisan fashion, Senator McConnell and Senator
Reid have worked hand in glove. They deserve great commendation and
credit for the work they have done.
They have consulted with every Member of the Senate. They have worked
particularly with our chairs and ranking members, and they have now
brought us a work product that was amended slightly as a result of that
consultative process last night.
After working and laying out the work product, they listened, they
responded, and we have the response they put into the Record last
night. So everybody has had a chance to review their work, and we are
now, as the majority leader noted, asking for the

[[Page S10547]]

same degree of cooperation and bipartisanship on this legislative work
as we have on the bill.
In that context, it will be important for Senators to indicate to us
as quickly as possible their intent with regard to amendments. I know
both cloakrooms are going to be seeking the response of Senators who
may wish to offer amendments.
Based on that response, because of the time of year, we may be
required to file cloture just so we can accelerate the consideration of
this effort. I will support that effort if it may be required, but,
again, as we have done each day during the deliberations of the bill, I
hope we could start the day with somewhat of a status report on where
we are and what needs to be done and a reiteration of the importance of
this work and our efforts in doing it in the same manner.
So I hope we can continue as we have. As I said, this is a historic
day, but there is much more history to be made and so much more work to
be done.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, while the Democratic leader and I are both
on the floor, because it reflects the discussions we have had over the
course of today, there is other business that we will be conducting
over the course of the week. There has been huge progress made today on
a bill in conference, the FSC/ETI manufacturing jobs bill. We expect to
address that hopefully very soon--I believe the House will be
addressing it tomorrow--maybe tomorrow night or late tomorrow
afternoon. It is a bill we are both committed to addressing before we
leave.
As everyone knows, we had planned to leave on Friday, October 8. It
is a bill that also has been handled in an admirable way in conference
by Chairman Grassley, and Chairman Thomas from the House, with a very
open discussion, open debate, and votes in the conference. We plan on
addressing that bill as soon as it is available and the plans will be
to complete that as well before we depart.
Homeland Security appropriations is currently in conference and we
expect to be able to address that as well.
I mention all of those bills because tonight is Wednesday and we have
Thursday and Friday. Although our shared goal is that we leave Friday,
if it requires being here Saturday or later, it means that we would
have to do just that. It should not. The way these bills have been
handled over the last several weeks, it simply should not require going
into Saturday, but if necessary, we may just have to do that.
I will comment briefly on the resolution as well because I have not
had the opportunity to do so. I know the managers want to be able to
proceed directly, but I just wanted to outline that in mid-August
Senator Daschle and I did assemble a task force of 22 Members to look
at the recommendations proposed by the 9/11 Commission that deal with
reform of the Congress. We charged this task force to look at the range
of issues and possibilities and to present the Democratic and
Republican leaders with a proposal and their recommendations.

To reflect the leadership's commitment to the importance of this
issue of congressional reform, we asked our respective assistant
leaders, Senator McConnell and Senator Reid, who are managing the bill
now, to chair this task force. Over the past several weeks, Senators
McConnell and Reid have held a series of meetings, collectively and
individually. As Senator Daschle has said and as I have also said, we
have had the opportunity to meet as conferences and caucuses to address
these issues.
The managers of the bill have also consulted with the 9/11 Commission
and others to solicit their ideas and their reflections and
recommendations. The product of their efforts is captured in the Senate
resolution today and the amendment that has just been introduced.
Right now, as we talk, the amendment may or may not be a perfect
product--it is probably not a perfect product--but it is a very good
and very solid product. It does reflect the majority view of the task
force as they looked at a whole range of options and alternatives,
individual items to improve Senate oversight of intelligence, which is
the objective, and that is what will be achieved by this resolution.
There are a number of contentious issues that have not been fully
addressed, that we expect to be addressed tonight on the Senate floor.
When the Democratic leader said we are reaching out to people to
bring those potential amendments forward, that is exactly what we mean.
It was Senator McConnell's and Senator Reid's recommendation, rightly I
believe, to have the Members decide through debate and through the
offering of amendments on the floor how we might make that proposal
better. That is about as open and transparent a process as one can
have, but it does require Members to come forward and participate in
that floor debate.
I will close by saying that I personally thank Senators McConnell and
Reid for their efforts and to the other Members of the leadership task
force and to all the Members for their cooperation and their
participation in, once again, a nonpartisan manner.
I reiterate that it is the leadership's desire on both sides of the
aisle to complete this before we depart.
I close where I began, and that is, without Senate reform of the way
we conduct oversight of intelligence and homeland security, our efforts
to overhaul the executive branch, which we took a major step forward
just an hour ago in this body, will be incomplete, inadequate, and
really inconsistent with our obligations to the American people.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The assistant Democratic leader.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I, first, extend my appreciation to Senator
McConnell. Senator McConnell and I were given a task and we have done
the best we can. I have served in the Congress now for 22 years. This
is one of the hardest things I have ever had to do, if not the hardest.
It has been a very difficult 3 or 4 weeks that Senator McConnell and I
have spent working with Members.
I have known Mitch McConnell for many years, the senior Senator from
Kentucky, but as happens when one is thrown into a situation of stress,
working closely together, one develops a different relationship, and
the bond Senator Mitch McConnell and I have formed over this last month
is one that will be with us forever.
I appreciate his willingness to allow me to drop in his office
unannounced and call on him all times of the night and day. He has a
fine staff and he has worked extremely well with my staff. Without
belaboring the point, I appreciate all he has done to get us to this
point. Without him, we could not be where we are now.

I have five children. My oldest child is a girl. I have one girl, my
daughter Lana. I can remember as if it were yesterday, my little girl
was going away to school, to college. I can still remember I cried that
day, I felt so sad that my little girl was going to go away. I still
feel some emotion when I think about it.
The reason I mention that is my daughter leaving to go to college is
only an example of how difficult change is. Why did I feel bad? Because
of change. I had been with my little girl for 18 years, and suddenly
she was going to leave. Change in our lives is always very difficult.
Change in the life of the Senate is difficult. What Senator McConnell
and I have brought before the Senate is a change. I repeat, I only give
the example of my daughter for illustrative purposes. But change here
for 98 Senators with whom we have been working is difficult. It is not
the same as sending a daughter to school, but it is still a change. Any
time you change, it is difficult. That is what this has been about.
We have been considering ways to reform the executive branch of
Government for 2 weeks. It is now done. Now it is time to turn the
focus on reform of the Senate. A lot of change is taking place here in
the waning days of this Congress, important changes brought about as a
result of more than 3,000 Americans being killed through a terrorist
act. That is why we are doing this.
A commission was appointed, led by long-time Congressman Lee Hamilton
and former Governor of New Jersey Thomas Kean. They had members who
worked very hard for a year. They had 80 full-time staff. They came to
us with recommendations as to how we had to change the executive branch
of Government. We have done the best we can in

[[Page S10548]]

that regard. We have changed, as far as the Senate sees it, the
executive branch of Government. It has been painful. It has been
painful for a lot of Senators. But we did it because we had to do it.
I will elaborate on that a little bit later, but the Commission said
doing one without the other is doing nothing. If we walked away from
this body now, as some have suggested, and said we have done our job,
we have done the executive improvement, we may not have done
everything, but we have done all we have time to do--we cannot leave
here without having done this.
What we do tonight and tomorrow is nothing the President has to sign.
The bill that passed here earlier this evening by a vote of 96 to 2 is
something the President has to sign. He does not have to sign this.
This is something the Senate is doing on its own. We are doing it
because the Commission said you cannot have one without the other.
As I said, some have said, Why do this? Some have said, Maybe the
House isn't going to do anything; why does the Senate have to tackle
this issue?
We can't maintain the status quo after 9/11. We have to look at every
facet of our Government. We did this: The homeland security functions,
our intelligence functions, and our congressional oversight.
I extend my appreciation to Senators Roberts and Rockefeller. They
have, during the most difficult times in the history of the
Intelligence Committee, been asked to guide this country through these
perilous times, and they did it without having much to do it with. The
Intelligence Committee, as indicated by the 9/11 Commission, is weak
and toothless. So I appreciate very much the work of these two very
wise men. Being able to work together--it wasn't easy. They had a
difficult time. The members of the Intelligence Committee also worked
well.

But, as the 9/11 Commission indicated, we need to give the
Intelligence Committee more authority and power. That is what we are in
the process of doing. We, in effect, said, Can we do better? Can we do
better for Rockefeller and Roberts and others, not only today but in
the years to come? We have found, under the leadership of the 9/11
Commission, that oversight of the intelligence community is not strong
enough--not enough power, not enough resources, not enough muscle.
As my friend Senator McConnell has indicated, the homeland security
oversight is now splintered among 88 committees and subcommittees--not
8 in the Senate, not 8 in the House--Governor Ridge and I came together
in 1982, each as a Member of Congress. I don't know the exact number of
times he has come here, but I think it was 164 times so far this year.
Think about it. We can do better.
We do not need these weak and fractionalized subcommittees and
committees, all wanting a piece of the Secretary of Homeland Security.
We are not going to make a tweak here and a tweak there. As the 9/11
Commission found:

Tinkering with the existing committee structure is not
sufficient. The United States needs a strong, stable and
capable committee structure to give America's national
intelligence agencies oversight, support and leadership.

We can't make all these changes in the executive branch which we did
in this bill we just passed and not put our own house in order. The 9/
11 Commission made that point very clear:

The other reforms suggested, such as the National
Counterterrorism Center and a National Intelligence Director,
will not work if Congressional oversight does not change too.

It has not been easy. We have taken 10 standing committees and taken
jurisdiction from each of the 10 and given them to this new committee
that will be formed from the Governmental Affairs Committee. It will
now be the Homeland Security/Governmental Affairs.
People have had to give things up. Some have given them up
graciously. Some have given them up kicking and screaming. There will
be amendments offered here to reverse some of the changes we have
recommended in the amendment that is now before the Senate. Senator
McConnell and I recognize that should be a fair, open process. We are
not infallible. Maybe we made some mistakes, but we certainly tried not
to.
The Commission made the point clear that it will not work if
congressional oversight does not change also. So here we are, with a
resolution encompassing some of the most important recommendations of
the 9/11 Commission--no doubt the most difficult. Obviously we would
not be here without the fine work of the 9/11 Commission that I boasted
about more than once, and without the urging of many brave families
whose lives were shaken by the tragedy of 9/11.
I served in the House of Representatives with Lee Hamilton. I served
under his leadership on the Foreign Affairs Committee in the House of
Representatives. He is a fine man. He was a mentor to me. He and
Governor Kean have made their mark upon the country with their
excellent report. We are also here on the verge of landmark reform
because of the strong partisan interest of our colleagues in reforming
this institution. There may be different opinions about some of the
details, but I believe the consensus is very strong about bringing
much-needed reform to the intelligence and homeland security functions.
As I started my statement using an example of my dear daughter Lana,
I said change is hard. I understand that. I am a member of committees.
The committees on which I serve have given up things to make this work.
I also want to extend my grudging appreciation to the two leaders,
Senators Daschle and Frist. The next time they have one of these nice
things to pass out, they will think of someone else. This has been very
hard for Senator McConnell and me, but they have stood with us. They
are fine leaders. And if we get this done--and I am hopeful and
confident we will--it all goes directly to their leadership. Both of
these men are so busy that they look to their assistants. I am the
assistant Democratic leader, the whip. Senator McConnell is the
assistant Republican leader, the whip. We have done our best
representing our caucuses. We run separate and apart from our two
leaders. I run elected on my own, as does Senator McConnell. But we
believe this was the time when without any question the two leaders
were doing absolutely the right thing. That is why we have spent so
much of our time, energy, and effort in carrying out what they have
directed us to do.

I jokingly said I grudgingly send my appreciation. I really don't do
that. I am happy Senator Daschle had enough confidence in me to allow
me to go forward on this noble experiment.
I have spoken to members of the 9/11 Commission on quite a few
occasions in conference calls and personal meetings, and I appreciate
their time. The time is up for this Commission, but they are still
devoting large blocks of time to people like me who come to them for
direction, guidance, and understanding. They wanted first of all to
know what we were doing was nonpartisan. I think Senator McConnell and
I proved to them time and time again that it was.
Let us talk about the specifics.
The so-called task force recommended that the Senate inplement
virtually all of the congressional reform recommendations made by the
9/11 Commission. I will go over what we have done. There are three
basic areas we looked at. One is to reform the Intelligence Committee
process. The other is to create a different, new committee on homeland
security, which I have talked about, and the other is to make sure the
appropriations process was part of this.
What we have done to strengthen collection of intelligence is
eliminate term limits. We have to ensure that the majority has no more
than a one-member advantage. This came directly from the 9/11
Commission. We maintain apportioned slots for these committees. The
chairman and ranking member of Armed Services. I will offer an
amendment because I heard directly from the Intelligence Committee
itself that they also wanted in addition to the Armed Services
Committee members of the Foreign Relations Committee doing that. In
this instance, it will be Senator Lugar, chairman of the committee, and
Senator Biden, ranking member, who will serve as ex officio members. I
will offer an amendment at a subsequent time, and elevate the status,
as I heard Senator McConnell talk about, from B to A.

[[Page S10549]]

We have maintained the majority and minority leaders' ability to
appoint all committee members. Members not appointed will serve without
term limits.
This is so important. Frankly, this is not anything that the 9/11
Commission recommended, but it came from Senator Warner in meetings we
had with Senator McConnell and me. Senator Warner has been here a long
time. I have served with him from the day after I came here as a member
of the Environment and Public Works Committee. He has been so easy to
work with. If there were ever a stereotype of a southern gentleman, it
is John Warner. And John Warner in his typical gentlemanly fashion
suggested to us that for a committee which is important, the chairman
and ranking member should serve at the pleasure of the two leaders.

The reason for this is what I refer to as the ``Wilbur Mills
problem.'' Wilbur Mills was a long-time Member of Congress and became
chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee. This was a man who
never had a problem in the world as far as anything dealing with ethics
and morality. Suddenly, for whatever reason, Wilbur Mills--this
distinguished Member of Congress who served 30 years--started doing a
lot of things very publicly that were an embarrassment to this
institution. He was there based on seniority and there was no way he
could be disposed of. We don't want that. It is something that probably
would never happen, but we need that protection. The people who are
representing and leading this Intelligence Committee have to be above
reproach ethically and morally. The two leaders should have the ability
to do that.
That is why Senator McConnell and I, along with Senator Warner--that
is where this came from. We believe that committees around here are too
large. One of the things we set out to do was not have more committees.
We wanted to do what we could to make the committees smaller. We did
this. We reduced the size of the committee from 17 to 15. That may not
sound like much, but it was a step forward. We have followed our
philosophy and reduced the size of the committee. This is something the
9/11 Commission recommended. The staff positions for each member--
maintain nonpartisan professional staff, give the Intelligence
Committee a stronger role in reviewing civilian intelligence nominees.
This is something else the 9/11 Commission recommended.
That is one of the things they recommended in intelligence. We have
done that. But we have gone a step further, and said not only that but
the Intelligence Committee should be able to form whatever subcommittee
they feel would help that committee perform the functions they have for
the country.
Maintain committee subpoena authority; require the committee to make
regular reports to the full Senate.
For the purpose of showing how much we did related to the
recommendations of the of 9/11 Commission, all we have to do is look
right here. We have done what they have recommended, and more.
If you look here, the committee conducts ongoing oversight, checked
off; create subcommittee dedicated to oversight, another check; ensure
committee has subpoena authority, check that off; ensure majority has
not more than one-member advantage, check that off; ensure apportioned
members slots for Armed Services, Appropriations, Foreign Relations and
Judiciary; one-year term limit; reduce the size of the Intelligence
Committee; ensure the Intelligence Committee has a nonpartisan
professional staff.
I think we have done that. It is good work. It was not easy, but
good.
We have talked about the operations committee, which recommended 14
specific measures to give the committee greater stature and power.
We believe the proposed measures such as elevating the committee from
B to A, ending term limits, and creating a subcommittee on oversight
will give the committee muscle and that will be oversight of the
intelligence agencies.
I have talked about the need for the Appropriations subcommittee to
focus on investigations. We have done that.
What I have not talked about is Senator Bob Graham. Bob Graham was
chairman of the Intelligence Committee, ranking member, served in a
very good way, former Governor of Florida, served in the Senate for 18
years. He is leaving now. He is retiring. When someone suggested to him
that you should put the function of the appropriations and
authorization all in one committee, he said it would concentrate power
in too small a number of people and it would be devastatingly wrong for
the intelligence community. So what we came up with, we feel, is
something better than that; that is, as one distinguished Senator said,
if we can have an Appropriations subcommittee for the District of
Columbia, for agriculture, and the legislative branch of Government, we
ought to have one for intelligence. It is simply too important, and we
agree. Senator McConnell and I agree.
Therefore, we have now merged the Military Construction Subcommittee,
which I chaired for a Congress or two, with Defense--again, we don't
want to create more subcommittees or more committees--leaving 12
subcommittees for Appropriations. We have created another one on
intelligence.
There has been a lot of complaints that the monetary function of the
Intelligence Committee was hidden in the Defense Subcommittee on
Appropriations. That won't be the case anymore. It will have chairmen
selected based on seniority. I am sure it will be one of the senior
members of the Senate. That is about all you have on the Appropriations
Committee, and I think it would do well. This is a significant
development.

We will increase the number of members and staff who oversee the
intelligence community spending and finally shed light on programs that
have been tucked away far too long.
Governor Kean was asked at a recent Select Committee on Intelligence
hearing about the creation of an appropriations subcommittee on
intelligence. Governor Kean said:

I think [an intelligence appropriations subcommittee] would
be very much in my mind, be within the spirit of our
recommendations.

I have spoken to Congressman Hamilton and indicated to him what we
were going to do. He feels the same as Governor Kean about this.
Now, an appropriations subcommittee on intelligence is exactly the
kind of conforming change that is required now that we have passed the
Collins-Lieberman bill, where centralization and coordination of the
intelligence community is achieved through the establishment of a
national intelligence director.
Some Members suggest a joint authorizing and appropriating committee,
but there are very strong feelings that creates too much power and too
much secrecy for a handful of members, so it actually results in fewer
checks and balances and much weaker oversight.
There was a broad consensus to consolidate the oversight of the
Department of Homeland Security. Without any question, we should not
have to have the director or his assistants appear before 88 committees
and subcommittees of the Congress. We ought to have a single homeland
security authorizing committee. This would match the Homeland Security
Appropriations Subcommittee we created last year.
With this we achieve the much-needed consolidation by replacing
homeland security oversight in the Governmental Affairs Committee and
renaming the committee Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
What we have now before the Senate is significant and sweeping
reform. This resolution with the amendment we placed therein, though it
might not be perfect, and Senator McConnell and I would never say it
was, is extremely powerful and makes the required structural changes at
the same time it sends a clear message to the American people that the
Senate understands the problems, and we are ready to make changes that
will help keep our country safe.
Let's end what the Commission calls a ``dysfunctional'' oversight
process. It is the right thing to do. This is the right time to do it.
We welcome anyone who wants to offer amendments. We do recognize,
however, as the two leaders mentioned earlier, that it is almost 7
o'clock tonight, and we are supposed to leave Friday. We need to finish
this legislation. People cannot wait us out. If

[[Page S10550]]

Members do not come tonight and tomorrow to offer amendments, we are
going to go to third reading. We are not going to wait around while
people do other things. This is not January or March or April or May or
September. It is just a few days until the leaders have said we are
going to go home. At the very best, it will be difficult to get out of
here late Friday or even Saturday.
The two leaders are absolutely right in saying we want everyone to
have an opportunity to review this resolution. The amendment was filed
last night, and everyone has had more than 24 hours to read it, to
study it, to prepare their amendments. It is not a 400-page amendment.
It is a few pages in length, very simple and direct, and is something
we are doing to change this body. It is a significant change, and we
recognize that, but a most important change.

Members offering extraneous matters on this--and that is always
possible--should understand they are doing it in the face of what the
9/11 Commission said: we have to do this. I hope Members would not come
and offer amendments relating to extraneous matters.
If there is something wrong with the amendment Senator McConnell and
I sent to the desk, let us know. We have worked with a lot of folks.
But we cannot go back to the way things were before. We cannot have a
committee called the Department of Homeland Security and not have
anything that deals with homeland security. We have to have a committee
on homeland security that has the ability to oversee what is going on
and have more homeland security for our country.
The time is here. It seems logical that there will not be any votes
tonight, but that is up to the leaders to announce. I repeat: This
cannot go on forever. There has to come a time when people offer
amendments. I hope that would happen before too long. We are here for
business, Senator McConnell and I.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Little Rock Central High

Mr. PRYOR. Mr. President, I thank my colleagues for something they
have done not just for me or even for the city of Little Rock or the
State of Arkansas but for the country. They are trying to help on a
project we are working on, Little Rock Central High School.
In 1957, the two biggest stories in the world that year were Sputnik
and Little Rock Central High School because Little Rock was the first
major southern school district to try to integrate their schools to try
to follow the law as laid out in Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka,
KS, and to try with all deliberate speed to integrate their schools.
They took that charge seriously and, as we all know, the situation
there got chaotic and very difficult. There has been a lot written
about it. It is one of the major milestones in the history of the
struggle for civil rights in this country.
In September of 2007, Little Rock Central will celebrate the 50th
anniversary of the desegregation crisis at Little Rock Central High. We
all know the story of the Little Rock Nine--Ernest Green, Elizabeth
Eckford, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Carlotta Walls LaNier, Minnijean Brown
Trickey, Terrence Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, Thelma Mothershed Wair,
and Melba Pattillo Beals.
We all know the story of these brave children who went into the
lion's den, so to speak, to strike a blow against the old system of
``separate but equal'' that was not working, and was fair. That was not
right.
They showed tremendous courage not just for themselves and their
personal safety, but they led by example. It is very important we as a
Nation honor them and honor Little Rock for making the effort, and
honor the school for all the progress they made since 1957.
Little Rock Central High School now is considered one of the best
high schools in America. It has been an amazing success story. It shows
how things can work when the community pulls together and tries to put
difficulties of the past behind them.
I could talk on and on about how proud I am of the Little Rock Nine
and the way Little Rock has handled the situation, but today I thank
Members of this Senate for their support of S. 420. It is critical to
acknowledge what happened at Little Rock 47 years ago.
I thank two Members of this body specifically who really helped get
this on track: first, Conrad Burns, who is the Interior Subcommittee
chairman; and then the ranking member on that subcommittee, Byron
Dorgan. They have both been fantastic. Their staffs have helped. They
have made arrangements for us to get $733,000 in this Interior
appropriations bill in order to do the design phase of the new visitor
center at Little Rock Central High School.

Our goal is to try to have the visitor center completed and totally
constructed and up and running by the September 2007 anniversary. But
we could not have done this without Senator Burns and Senator Dorgan
because they have shown a great deal of leadership. Also, I must say,
Bruce Evans, Ric Molen, and Peter Kiefhaber, on their staffs, have been
great to work with.
Another group that Senator Lincoln and I both want to thank is the
Congressional Black Caucus over on the House side. They have been
fantastic. In fact, they have entered a sister resolution to this, and
all 38 members of the Black Caucus signed on to the resolution. They
have been great. Chairman Elijah Cummings has shown some great
leadership on this issue, and it has brought hope to the civil rights
community for this hopefully very positive celebration they will have
in 2007.
The last person I want to thank, who is always there working behind
the scenes trying to get things done for his congressional district, is
Congressman Vic Snyder. Vic Snyder has shown great leadership in this
matter, as he does consistently in everything he does. He has worked
behind the scenes and he has worked with all sides. He is doing
everything he can to make sure this becomes a reality, again not just
for his district or the State but really for the Nation.
So, Mr. President, again, I thank everyone for their help and their
support in what we are trying to do at Little Rock Central High School.
I happen to have gone there. I am very proud of that school. It is a
great landmark in the struggle for civil rights. The people in Arkansas
decided to make Little Rock Central not stand for a negative but stand
for a positive, stand for progress. It is something that certainly the
community but also the State has rallied around. We are very proud of
what they have done at Little Rock.
Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Chafee). The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

Cloture Motion

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I send a cloture motion to the pending
amendment to the desk.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
The legislative clerk read as follows:

Cloture Motion

We the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the
provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
do hereby move to bring to a close debate the pending
amendment on S. Res. 445, a resolution to eliminate certain
restrictions on service of a Senator on the Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence.
Bill Frist, Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid, John Cornyn,
Craig Thomas, Jim Inhofe, Mike Crapo, Conrad Burns,
Norm Coleman, Tom Daschle, Lamar Alexander, Jim Talent,
Wayne Allard, Gordon Smith, Larry Craig, Robert F.
Bennett, Pete Domenici, Susan Collins.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, we have hotlined in both cloakrooms all
offices asking for an indication of how many amendments might be
offered to the underlying resolution. Regretfully, it is roughly 50.
I am authorized to say on behalf of the majority leader, it is our
intention to wrap up business this week. We have

[[Page S10551]]

no intention of trying to shut out any Senators who want to offer
amendments. We had hoped some might come over tonight and offer them.
We will certainly have all day tomorrow to deal with any and all
amendments that Senators feel strongly about and on which they would
like to have votes. But we really must move the process along, and that
is the reason the majority leader wished to file a cloture motion
tonight.
Mr. REID. Will the Senator yield?
Mr. McCONNELL. Yes, I yield to my friend and colleague from Nevada.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, around here, we do not often see cloture
motions signed by all four leaders. This cloture motion does have four
leaders. We are serious about completing this bill at the earliest
possible date. It would be a travesty if, having just completed a very
significant piece of legislation led by Senators Collins and Lieberman,
we not do our share of the legislative reform that needs to be done.
The cloture motion was filed with reluctance. No one wanted to do it.
But with the 8th of October staring us in the face literally, we have
no choice but to do this. I hope people tomorrow will recognize there
will be an effort made to offer these amendments. At 1 o'clock
tomorrow, all first-degree amendments must be filed. That is the rule.
I hope people will come and discuss with us what problems they see
with this amendment. We will be happy to work with them, but I think
people should be ready to offer their amendments.
We have taken what we thought needed to be done from the 10
committees to give this committee, the homeland security committee,
some strength. We hope people recognize that.
I understand how people are concerned about maintaining the
jurisdiction of what they have, but this is a time when people have to
give up a little bit for the good of the country and for the good of
the Senate.
I totally support the cloture petition that was filed by the
distinguished Senator from Kentucky on behalf of the two leaders
because that is basically what happened.

Cloture Motion

Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I send a second cloture motion to the
resolution to the desk as well.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The cloture motion having been presented under
rule XXII, the Chair directs the clerk to read the motion.
The legislative clerk read as follows:

Cloture Motion

We the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the
provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate,
do hereby move to bring to a close debate on S. Res. 445, a
resolution to eliminate certain restrictions on service of a
Senator on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

Bill Frist, Mitch McConnell, Harry Reid, John Cornyn, Craig Thomas,
Jim Inhofe, Mike Crapo, Conrad Burns, Norm Coleman, Tom Daschle, Lamar
Alexander, James Talent, Wayne Allard, Gordon Smith, Larry Craig,
Robert F. Bennett, Pete Domenici, Susan Collins.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, as my good friend from Nevada has
indicated, we hope to process all of the amendments that Members of the
Senate feel strongly about. We will be open for business on this
resolution all day tomorrow, and there should be ample time to deal
with all of the amendments that our colleagues feel strongly about and
wish to offer.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Nevada.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I think everyone within the sound of our
voices should understand the majority leader and minority leader were
on the Senate floor and they both said we are going to stay here until
we finish this, the Homeland Security conference report and the FSC tax
bill. Those matters are going to be finished. If we can finish on
Friday, we will be out of here. If we are finished on Saturday, we will
be out of here. But the two leaders have said we are going to work to
finish this legislation.
We are dealing with Senators who know all the rules just as we do,
but I will indicate that this is a little different time. We are trying
to bring Congress to a close, at least this part of it. Everyone should
understand the determination of the two leaders to move this matter
forward and the other things that are going to come before the Senate.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, the assistant Democratic leader has
clearly outlined what the goal of the two leaders, both Republican and
Democrat, are for the balance of this session before we adjourn for the
election. We are hoping to complete all of those items no later than
Friday.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order
for the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

____________________