[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 75 (Tuesday, May 8, 2007)]
[Senate]
[Page S5681]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             VISITING STUDENTS SEE GOVERNMENT IN OPERATION

  Mr. SPECTER. Mr. President, we have in the galleries today students 
from the seventh grade of the Saligman Middle School in the 
Philadelphia suburbs. I am not permitted under Senate rules to 
acknowledge their presence, except verbally, but my granddaughter, 
Silvi Specter, is among a very impressive group of 59 students who left 
Philadelphia before dawn today to come to the Nation's Capital to see 
government in operation.
  I wish I had the opportunity to visit the Senate when I was in the 
seventh grade. It took me a little longer to get here. I have sensed 
from this very bright, intelligent group of students that we may 
produce a Senator or we may produce a President because the sky is the 
limit if the students apply themselves and work hard.
  I was explaining, when we took a picture on the steps today, that the 
Congress of the United States makes the laws for the country. This is 
basic civics, but it is good to repeat it. The House of 
Representatives, consisting of 435 Members, is a representative body, 
one for every approximately 700,000 people in the United States. Each 
of our 50 States has 2 Senators. We consider legislation, we vote--pass 
bills by both the House and Senate--and then we get together on a 
conference. We have an agreement and a conference report is then voted 
on separately. The measures then go to the President of the United 
States.

  We have a fascinating part of the legislative process right now with 
the issue of the funding of the Iraq war. The Constitution creates the 
Congress under article I and creates the office of the executive 
branch, the Presidency, under article II. We have a unique 
constitutional confrontation. I think it is not an overstatement to say 
it is of historic proportion--perhaps the most dramatic constitutional 
confrontation between the article I power of the Congress to 
appropriate, commonly known as the power of the purse, and the 
authority of the President under his power as Commander in Chief.
  The President is insisting on carrying out the program he has in mind 
with the addition of troops, a surge in Iraq, to try to restore order 
to that country. I believe had we known Saddam Hussein did not have 
weapons of mass destruction, we would not have gone into Iraq to start 
with, but once there, we do not want to leave it in a state of turmoil. 
So we are trying to work our way through the problems as best we can.
  The President laid down two markers for the Iraqis in his State of 
the Union speech: first, that they should secure Baghdad; and second, 
that they should end sectarian violence. Regrettably, they have done 
neither.
  Congress legislated, providing the funding the President asked for 
but setting dates for withdrawal. The President vetoed that, saying 
identifying a withdrawal date would be to tell the enemy how long they 
would have to stay there to outlast us. Now we are looking for some 
resolution. It is complicated. The House is talking about appropriating 
half of the $100 billion and having another vote in July. The Senate 
has yet to formulate a proposal.
  For certain, by September, when we face the full $500 billion 
appropriation bill, there is a very difficult time ahead unless we can 
see light at the end of the tunnel.
  On the front page of the New York Times today, one of our Members 
said that in September there will not be support unless we see some 
significant progress. The metaphor ``light at the end of the tunnel'' 
perhaps is accurate or perhaps we will not be at that place. Because 
there is grave concern about radical Islamic fundamentalists with the 
determination by radical Islamic fundamentalists to destroy our society 
and to kill us--as they did with the striking events of 9/11--there is 
a concern if we do not fight the insurgents in Iraq, we will be 
fighting them in the United States.
  These are weighty issues and there is a lot of controversy. Speaking 
for myself, I am still considering what the right course is. I voted 
against a withdrawal date at this time because there has been a 
commitment to a surge, 30,000 additional troops. They are not all there 
yet. Perhaps we will have better results by September. But those are 
the issues which await a determination.
  I reference this in terms of the big issue of the day and how it 
illustrates the functioning of American Government, Congress and the 
Presidency, and what we have as a constitutional confrontation.
  I know the time has come to move on to other business. I thank my 
colleagues and the Chair for permitting me to go beyond the 11 o'clock 
hour.
  I yield the floor.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Republican leader.
  Mr. McCONNELL. Mr. President, I gather morning business has expired?
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The Senator is correct.
  Mr. McCONNELL. I yield myself 5 minutes of my leader time.
  The ACTING PRESIDENT pro tempore. The leader is recognized.

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