[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 101 (Friday, July 22, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1580]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




    USA PATRIOT AND TERRORISM PREVENTION REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. SANDER M. LEVIN

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 21, 2005

       The House in Committee of the Whole House on the State of 
     the Union had under consideration the bill (H.R. 3199) to 
     extend and modify authorities needed to combat terrorism, and 
     for other purposes:

  Mr. LEVIN. Mr. Chairman, I supported the State Department 
Authorization (FY 06-07) bill as reported by the International 
Relations Committee, and supported many of the amendments offered here 
on the floor of the House. However, this bill now also includes three 
major amendments which came up on the floor of the House, which are 
misguided and which I opposed.
  The Rohrabacher amendment correctly acknowledges the importance of 
intelligence gathering, while it ignores allegations of serious abuses 
at Guantanamo Bay. These instances of abuse, combined with others have 
damaged our credibility around the world and hindered the effectiveness 
of our efforts in Iraq and the war on terror.
  As to the Ros-Lehtinen amendment on Iraq, I have never supported 
setting a deadline for withdrawing American troops from Iraq. We do 
need an effective plan in place to transfer responsibility for Iraq's 
security to the Iraqi people as soon as possible. This requires 
specific and meaningful benchmarks to gauge progress and determine when 
our troops can return home. The Ros-Lehtinen amendment, which was never 
discussed in Committee, makes no reference at all to any benchmarks and 
contains language that gives support to a vague, open-ended commitment 
to keep our troops in Iraq indefinitely.
  Finally, I support U.N. reform. The Hyde legislation regarding the 
U.N. when brought up separately in the House was opposed by 195 Members 
and was the subject of serious objections from the Bush Administration. 
It was also quite clear that it could not pass the Senate, so it is 
being bootstrapped to this bill. The Hyde Amendment lacks the 
flexibility needed for the Administration to effectively seek the 
necessary reforms at the U.N. For example, if a single one of 14 
specific goals set forth in the amendment are not met by 2007, 50 
percent of our dues would be withheld. Such a rigid approach would 
weaken the Bush Administration's hand to implement the changes which 
are necessary at the U.N.
  Because the final State Department Authorization bill contains those 
three amendments, which I opposed, I am voting against final passage. I 
hope the Senate and Administration will seek the necessary improvements 
in this legislation.

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