[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 143 (Wednesday, September 10, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Pages S8227-S8228]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         DEFENSE AUTHORIZATION

  Mr. CORNYN. Mr. Presient, I know we are going to be moving to the 
Defense authorization bill. I want to speak briefly on an amendment 
which I intend to offer called the Military Voter Protection Act. I 
believe the right to vote is one of the most precious civil rights we 
have as American citizens. Yet the scandalous fact is that last 
election, in 2006, out of all of

[[Page S8228]]

the eligible military voters and civilians overseas, only 5.5 percent 
of those eligible to vote and who actually tried to cast a vote had 
their vote counted--5.5 percent.
  Now, if this were to happen in any city, in any town, any State here 
in our country, there would be a major public outcry. There would be 
newspaper headlines, and investigative reporters would be scrounging 
for information finding out who is denying the most basic civil right 
to American citizens that we have, which is the right to vote.
  But for some reason nothing is done, either by the Department of 
Defense or the Department of Justice or by the Congress to make sure 
that those men and women who are deployed in harm's way have the 
opportunity to register to vote, and to make sure that when they do 
vote, their ballot is actually delivered back and counted on a timely 
basis.
  This is something that I think all of us would support on a 
bipartisan basis, the Military Voting Protection Act. I intend to bring 
it up this morning with both the bill managers, Senator Levin and 
Senator Warner. I hope I will be permitted an opportunity----
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator has used 12 minutes.
  Mr. CORNYN. I thank the Chair. I hope I will be given an opportunity 
to call up this amendment and to have it voted on. I worry a little bit 
because of the fact that the majority leader has filled the amendment 
tree, and that there is some question whether amendments will be 
allowed on this bill.
  As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, as is the 
occupant of the chair, I am usually familiar with the fact we are on 
Defense authorization bills for a matter of a week or more, usually 2 
or 3 weeks, and it is usually a much amended bill because of the public 
interest in this particular piece of legislation.
  I am worried that the majority leader is trying to compress all 
activity into this 1 week and we will not have an opportunity to offer 
important amendments such as the Military Voting Protection Act, which 
I have described, which I will come back to the floor and describe more 
thoroughly.
  After a very bad year here in the Senate, we still have about 2\1/2\ 
weeks in order to pull the chestnuts out of the fire and actually 
accomplish some very important things by passing a Defense 
authorization bill, including protecting the voting rights of our 
military deployed overseas.
  We have a chance to stand up for fiscal responsibility by actually 
passing some appropriations bills and by considering high energy prices 
and how those are affecting average Texas families and families all 
across this country, and driving up the cost of food and other 
commodities as well.
  We actually have an opportunity, by eliminating the moratorium on 
offshore oil exploration and production, to produce more American 
energy so we do not have to send $700 billion a year overseas to other 
countries in order to buy something which we have an abundance of right 
here at home, as much as 3 million additional barrels a day right here 
in the United States, if Congress would simply become part of the 
solution rather than becoming part of the problem, which it has been by 
annually passing an appropriations bill rider banning drilling and 
exploration and production in the Outer Continental Shelf.
  Last year, there was an amendment to an appropriations bill that 
would actually ban rulemaking and exploration and production of oil 
shale out in Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming, which has enormous capacity 
to produce a lot more American energy at home.
  And then, of course, there is ANWR, where 2,000 acres, right in the 
middle of a desolate part of a 19-million acre refuge in Alaska, harbor 
untold amounts of oil, American oil, that would obviously, if produced, 
make it possible for us to buy less from countries that in some cases 
wish us harm and not well.
  This is a national security problem. It is an economic problem not 
only for our country but for every hard-working family. I hope Congress 
will do what it has not done in the preceding months and actually act 
in a bipartisan way to solve some of these problems which I mentioned 
in a way that hopefully would make our constituents proud of us rather 
than disdainful, which is demonstrated, of course, by the historic low 
approval rating which Congress now--I was going to say enjoys, but 
certainly we do not enjoy that--now suffers.

                               Exhibit 1


                                                  U.S. Senate,

                                Washington, DC, September 9, 2008.
     Hon. Michael B. Mukasey,
     Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice, Washington, DC.
       Dear General Mukasey: The recent government takeover of the 
     Federal National Mortgage Association (``Fannie Mae'') and 
     the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (``Freddie Mac'') 
     raises serious concerns whether a well-documented culture of 
     corporate executive corruption at these organizations 
     contributed to the mortgage giants' collapse. I request that 
     the Department of Justice begin a new, full-scale 
     investigation into accounting fraud and other corrupt 
     practices perpetuated by top executives--and coordinate 
     efforts with the Department of Treasury and other regulatory 
     entities to determine to what extent any illegal activities 
     led to the institutions' failure. The public deserves a full 
     understanding of the events surrounding the failure of Fannie 
     Mae and Freddie Mac and, furthermore, corporate executives 
     must be held accountable to the American people.
       In May 2006, a report by Fannie Mae's oversight authority, 
     the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO), 
     noted that ``[b]y deliberately and intentionally manipulating 
     accounting to hit earnings targets, senior management 
     maximized the bonuses and other executive compensation they 
     received, at the expense of shareholders.'' The investigation 
     into illegal accounting practices resulted in fines levied on 
     Fannie Mae and three of its top corporate officers--but no 
     criminal charges. While the three corporate officers who 
     overstated Fannie Mae's earnings by approximately $10.6 
     billion may possess some form of prosecutorial immunity, it 
     is imperative that there is accountability for each and every 
     fraud perpetrated upon shareholders and the public. Moreover, 
     the efficacy of prior investigations by OFHEO and Justice are 
     further called into question in light of evidence of 
     disturbing allegations of active interference on the part of 
     Fannie Mae lobbyists. According to the OFHEO report, Fannie 
     Mae ``sought to interfere'' with the OFHEO investigation by 
     petitioning Congress to conduct a separate investigation of 
     OFHEO. Furthermore, they allegedly lobbied Congress to cut 
     OFHEO's funds for failure to fire the top official 
     responsible for investigating Fannie Mae.
       As the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is debated, it 
     is essential for Congress to shine more light on the culture 
     of corruption that plagued these institutions. But federal 
     prosecutors and regulators also must vigorously investigate 
     these institutions with the utmost urgency. Shareholders--
     indeed, all taxpayers--are entitled to a critical examination 
     of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in light of the huge costs they 
     are forced to bear as a result of the mortgage companies' 
     demise.
       Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.
           Sincerely,
                                                      John Cornyn,
                                                     U.S. Senator.

  Mr. CORNYN. I yield the floor and yield back any remaining time we 
have, and I suggest the absence of a quorum.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
  The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
  Mr. LEAHY. 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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