[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 59 (Thursday, April 12, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4400-S4403]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             FIRST 100 DAYS

  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I rise to join our distinguished leader, 
my friend, Senator Reid, and to thank him and our whip, Senator Durbin, 
for their leadership and commitment to this body and to the American 
people.
  Last November, the American people asked us to do three things: No. 
1, change course in Iraq; No. 2, make middle-class families' lives a 
little better; and No. 3, oversee an administration that is out of 
touch and has had virtually no oversight for 6 years.
  Over the past 100 days, we have made significant progress. Change, 
accountability, and oversight have become more than words; they have 
become our mission. We are demanding the change in Iraq that the 
American people want. The President is ordering us to send him a blank 
check to continue to fund a failed policy, no questions asked. In fact, 
anyone who asks questions, their integrity is often impugned. That is 
because the President thinks the only way to support our troops is to 
rubberstamp what he wants.
  We in the Congress are keeping faith with the American people. We 
have passed a bill that funds our troops and at the same time changes 
our mission from policing a civil war to focusing on counterterrorism. 
We have worked on resolutions that offer alternatives to the 
President's head-in-the-sand policy in Iraq. We have held hearings to 
ask

[[Page S4401]]

the tough questions that have gone unasked over the past 4 years of the 
war. We have also made our country safer and more secure by 
implementing the 9/11 Commission recommendations.
  We have funded homeland security grant programs, improved 
communications for first responders, increased information-sharing 
among our intelligence and law enforcement agencies, and strengthened 
the visa waiver program while boosting civil liberties protections.
  In the first 100 days, we also passed an increase in the minimum wage 
that will put real money into the pockets of hard-working individuals 
and families. A minimum wage increase was long overdue. While the costs 
of everyday life continue to rise, wages for the middle class and those 
aspiring to be middle class have not kept pace.
  We passed a bill to open the hope of stem cell research for millions 
of families who suffer from debilitating diseases and, in the first 100 
days, Congress has resumed one of its fundamental responsibilities--
oversight of the White House and the administration. From the Justice 
Department to the Defense Department, Democrats are asking tough 
questions that have needed to be asked.
  On U.S. attorneys, our investigation--not in a partisan manner but 
bipartisan, both parties seeking the truth--continues, and we will work 
until we receive every document we need and until we have talked to all 
the key figures involved, whether they be in the Justice Department or 
the White House.
  Already, we passed legislation that will make sure the Senate has a 
say in the confirmation of U.S. attorneys because we must put the 
finest people in these positions, not simply cronies. We cannot allow 
the deprofessionalization of the U.S. attorneys.
  Our oversight also meant that when major failures were disclosed, 
such as the disgraceful treatment of our veterans at Walter Reed and at 
VA centers around the country, we did not let them get swept under the 
rug. We held hearings to get to the bottom of things and it is clear we 
need accountability from those who were in charge and we need to make 
changes in our veterans system so our veterans do not fall through the 
cracks again. There is no higher priority than giving our soldiers the 
medical care they need, and that is why we put over $4 billion in the 
supplemental appropriations bill for veterans health care. When it 
comes to our vets, money is no object. It never should be.
  It only has been 100 days, but there are marked changes in the way 
this Congress is being run. We are not rubberstamping the President's 
failed agenda, unlike the previous Congress. We have accomplished a 
great deal and we know there is a lot more to do.
  As we move forward, we hope our colleagues across the aisle will join 
us and the vast majority of the American people who are with us in 
forging a new direction for the country, especially when it comes to 
Iraq. Let us use the next 100 days to show we support the troops by 
providing them with the funding they need and the change in mission the 
situation requires.
  I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the 
quorum call be rescinded.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, today we mark the 100th day of the new 
Congress. We have much more to do on behalf of the American people, but 
we have already accomplished an awful lot.
  We have heard the American people's call for accountability and 
competence in their Government, and we started making those goals a 
reality. We have returned the focus to the rights and interests of the 
American people.
  As I have commended the members of the Judiciary Committee--and I 
commend the distinguished Presiding Officer as well as the other 
members for their help and active participation in the work of our 
committee--I come to the Senate today to thank the majority leader and 
those Senators who have been working so hard to restore balance to our 
Government, protect the liberties and rights of all Americans, and also 
to revive America's leadership in the world.
  First and foremost, we are making progress restoring the Senate and 
Congress to their proper constitutional role. From the FBI's illegal 
and improper use of national security letters to the politically 
motivated dismissal of so many of the Nation's U.S. attorneys, there 
are concerns about the competence--but especially the independence--of 
the Department of Justice. This pattern of abuse of authority and 
mismanagement causes me, and I might say many Republicans as well as 
Democrats, to wonder whether the FBI and Department of Justice have 
been faithful stewards of the great trust the Congress and the American 
people have placed in them.
  We need to keep our Nation safe, but we also have to respect the 
rights and the liberties of all Americans. In the previous Congress, 
the administration sought expanded powers in the PATRIOT Act to appoint 
U.S. attorneys without Senate confirmation and to more freely use 
national security letters. You know, the administration got those 
powers, and almost immediately they bungled them. They bungled them 
badly.
  In the Judiciary Committee, early oversight efforts included our 
January 18 hearing with Attorney General Gonzales. There we examined 
the change in course of this administration, which had engaged in 
warrantless wiretapping of Americans, contrary to the law, for years. 
Under the watchful eye of the new Congress, the President's program for 
warrantless wiretaps on Americans has been revised, and now the 
Government has to seek approval for those wiretaps from the Foreign 
Intelligence Surveillance Court--something we have always expected. If 
our Government is going to inspect our papers, our computers, our 
voices, they should get a court order first.

  We must engage in all surveillance necessary to prevent acts of 
terrorism, but we can and should do so in ways that protect the basic 
rights of all Americans, including the right to privacy. The issue has 
never been whether to monitor suspected terrorists but doing it legally 
and with proper checks and balances to prevent abuses. The 
Administration's recent reversal of course was a good first step.
  Last month we held oversight hearings with FBI Director Mueller, and 
we called him to task for the longstanding FBI abuses of national 
security letters. The inspector general's report we insisted be 
provided included troubling findings of widespread illegal and improper 
use of national security letters to obtain Americans' phone and 
financial and credit and other records.
  Nobody would stand for it if you had somebody--agents--walk into your 
home in the middle of the night grabbing these records. It is the same 
thing when they grab them electronically.
  Inspector General Glenn Fine testified there could be thousands of 
additional violations among the tens of thousands of national security 
letters the FBI is now using, willy-nilly, each year.
  The inspector general also found widespread use by the FBI of so-
called ``exigent letters.'' These letters, which are not authorized by 
any statute, were issued at least 739 times to obtain Americans' phone 
records when there was often no emergency and never a follow-up 
subpoena, as the FBI had promised. Despite these extensive abuses, the 
top leadership at the FBI sat idly by for years, doing nothing to stop 
this practice.
  We questioned the FBI Director about these matters and reports that 
the FBI has repeatedly submitted inaccurate information to the Foreign 
Intelligence Surveillance Court in its efforts to obtain secret 
warrants in terrorism and espionage cases. It severely undermines the 
Government's credibility in the eyes of the Chief Judge of that court.
  If the people charged with law enforcement in this country don't 
follow the law themselves, it all breaks down. Every one of us, every 
one of the 100 Senators, every one of us are required to follow the 
law. None of us--no American--is above the law, but it becomes even 
worse if those who are supposed to enforce the law do not follow

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the law. These abuses are unacceptable. Director Mueller now knows that 
and knows these abuses and violations can no longer be continued or 
repeated.
  The Judiciary Committee is now in the midst of an investigation in 
which we are uncovering an abuse of power that threatens the 
independence of U.S. Attorneys' Offices around the country. It 
undermines the trust and confidence of all Americans in Federal law 
enforcement. We are examining the mass firing of U.S. attorneys. We are 
trying to get to the truth of what happened so these abuses do not 
happen again. I want the American people, all Americans, to have a 
Justice Department and U.S. Attorneys' Offices that enforce the law 
without regard to political influence and partisanship. I want the 
American people to have confidence in Federal law enforcement. I want 
our Federal law enforcement officers to have the independence they need 
to be effective and merit the trust of the American people.
  Sadly, what we have heard from the administration has been a series 
of shifting explanations and excuses and a lack of accountability or 
acknowledgment of the seriousness of this matter. The women and men 
replaced and whose reputations were then stained by those seeking to 
justify these firings as ``performance related'' were appointees of 
President Bush. Several had significant achievements in office and 
glowing performance reviews.
  As we learn more details about the ousters of these U.S. attorneys, 
the story grows more troubling. Had we believed and accepted the 
initial testimony of the Attorney General of the United States and the 
other Department officials, then we would not have gotten to the truth. 
The White House and the Attorney General dodged Congress's questions. 
They ducked real accountability for years. In the past, they counted on 
a rubberstamping Congress to avoid accountability. The American people 
have a new Congress, and this is a Congress that asks questions and 
wants the truth, and we will get the truth. The Attorney General has 
admitted ``mistakes were made,'' but somehow he doesn't say what those 
mistakes were.
  He will have another chance, yet another chance to tell the truth and 
the whole truth and nothing but the truth next Tuesday at our Judiciary 
Committee oversight hearing. The days when he could come by once a year 
and not answer questions are over.
  I made no secret during his confirmation hearing of my concern 
whether Mr. Gonzales could serve as an independent Attorney General of 
the United States on behalf of the American people and leave behind his 
role as counselor to President Bush.
  The Department of Justice should serve the American people by making 
sure the law is enforced without fear or favor. It is an oath I took 
when I was a prosecutor. That is the oath all prosecutors take, but it 
is an oath the Attorney General has to remember. The Department of 
Justice cannot be turned into a political arm of the White House.
  Accountability has been lacking in this administration because there 
has been a ``rubberstamp'' Congress. Loyalty to the President is 
rewarded over all else. That lack of accountability and the lack of the 
checks and balances that foster it must end, and I hope it has ended. 
We do not need another commendation for the ``heckuva job'' for those 
who failed in their essential duties to the American people. True 
accountability means being forthcoming, and it means there are 
consequences for improper actions.
  The White House continues to stand by the firings of the U.S. 
attorneys and despite assurances by the President that we would receive 
cooperation, documents and access to witnesses, the White House has yet 
to produce a single document or make any witnesses available.
  Now we are learning that people in the White House were having ``off-
book'' communications by using Republican political e-mail addresses, 
and they say these e-mails have not been preserved. I don't believe 
that. I don't believe that. You can't erase e-mails, not today. These 
e-mails have gone through too many servers. They can't say they have 
been lost. That is akin to saying the dog ate my homework. It doesn't 
work that way. Those e-mails are there, the White House just doesn't 
want to produce them. It is similar to the famous 18-minute gap in the 
Nixon White House tapes. They say these e-mails have been erased or 
misplaced.
  They are there. The White House knows they are there, and we will 
subpoena them, if necessary, and we will have them because now, when 
the administration suddenly is facing meaningful oversight, they say 
they cannot produce the information. They have the information. They 
have to bring it out and show it to the American people. The 
administration has worn out the benefit of the doubt. They have 
undermined whatever credibility they had left.
  The American people are right that they are entitled to full and 
honest testimony of the White House staff responsible for this debacle.
  We have asked for administration officials and now former officials 
to cooperate with the Judiciary Committee in its inquiry, and I hope 
that they will. Through the committee's oversight work so far, we know 
some of the answers to some of the questions we have been asking, and 
the answers are troubling. We have learned that most of the U.S. 
attorneys that were asked to resign were doing their jobs well and were 
fired for not bending to the political will of some in Washington. 
Apparently, their reward for their efforts at rooting out serious 
public corruption is a kick out the door.
  Along with these oversight matters, the Judiciary Committee has taken 
up questions relating to the war in Iraq and congressional authority to 
condition funding, the plight of Iraqi refugees, the recommendation of 
the Iraq Study Group on policing and the administration of justice in 
Iraq, and contracting fraud and abuse in Iraq.
  We have examined enforcing our antitrust laws, restoring open 
government by reinvigorating the Freedom of Information Act, ending 
antitrust immunity for insurers, increasing drug competition, 
strengthening protections against identity theft, and providing for 
fair and comprehensive immigration reform.
  We have also moved legislative initiatives. Indeed, I think the first 
legislation passed by the Senate this year was our bill to restore the 
cost-of-living adjustment for Federal judges. We have passed a bill to 
amend the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act to honor the 
contribution of Cesar Chavez and other outstanding Americans. We passed 
by a bipartisan vote of 94 to 2 a bill to repeal that part of the 
PATRIOT Act reauthorization that had contributed to the U.S. attorney 
firings and thereby moved decisively to repeal the Attorney General's 
unlimited authority to appoint so-called interim U.S. attorneys without 
Senate consideration. At long last, we have given final passage to the 
bill against animal fighting that has languished for so many years. And 
we have passed the Genocide Accountability Act, the first legislative 
result of the new subcommittee I worked with Senator Durbin to create 
within the Judiciary Committee on Human Rights and the Law.
  I hope that the Senate will soon be considering a number of our other 
legislative initiatives. We have reported a court security bill, S. 
378; a bill to increase drug competition by giving the FTC authority to 
stop drug companies from paying other companies not to compete, S. 316; 
a bill to establish a school loan program for those willing to serve as 
prosecutors and public defenders, S. 442; and legislation to 
reauthorize the successful Byrne grant program for law enforcement, S. 
231. A number of additional items are not far behind, including a bill 
to reauthorize the COPS program, S. 368; and a bill that Senator 
Sessions and Senator Landrieu cosponsored attacking fraud in disaster 
and emergency relief funding. I hope to see action on our bill against 
war profiteering, S. 119, as well.
  It is a new Congress. It is a new Congress that is off to a strong 
start in restoring accountability, revitalizing the checks and balances 
of our system, and earning back the public's trust in Government which 
was eroded during the rubberstamp Congress. Much remains to be done, 
but we have made meaningful progress in just 100 days.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, if my colleague would yield to me.
  Mr. LEAHY. Of course, I will yield.

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  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Obama). The Senator from New York is 
recognized.
  Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, I just want to thank our chair and leader 
on the Judiciary Committee for the amazing job he has done on the U.S. 
attorney's issue and on so many others. One of the things that has been 
lacking for 6 years in this administration is oversight. There has been 
virtually none.
  As to what the chairman of the Judiciary Committee alluded to, in the 
U.S. attorney's area, it has been appalling what has happened, and 
again with no oversight. It has been on issue after issue after issue. 
So many of the things that we have begun to uncover, whether it is with 
the NSA wiretaps, whether it is with the security letters, whether it 
is with some of the other things going on, have been done under his 
watch.
  I thank my colleague for his remarks and for the great job he has 
done.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont is recognized.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I thank the distinguished Senator from New 
York. Of course, he is a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and 
one of the most active members we have. He has spent countless hours on 
this issue. We talk every single day. We have worked together. I have 
been so proud of what he has done on that committee. He made my job a 
lot easier.
  Mr. President, I suggest the absence of a quorum, and I would ask 
that the time not be charged to either side.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. THUNE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for 
the quorum call be rescinded.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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