[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
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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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