[Congressional Record Volume 161, Number 85 (Sunday, May 31, 2015)]
[Senate]
[Page S3324]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NATIONAL SECURITY LEGISLATION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, we are here facing yet another manufactured 
crisis with the vitally important PATRIOT Act provision set to expire 
in a matter of hours. In fact, we have less than 8 hours before the 
expiration of this critical national security program. That is what we 
are faced with.
  Tonight's deadline is certainly no surprise. As the junior Senator 
from Utah, a Republican, noted: ``We've known for four years that this 
deadline was approaching.''
  Like so many other occasions in which brinksmanship has pushed the 
Senate and our Nation to the precipice, the dilemma we now face was 
completely avoidable. The job of the leader is to have a plan. In this 
case, it is clear the majority leader simply didn't have a plan. The 
majority leader had 5 months to introduce a bill from committee that 
would reform and extend the expiring PATRIOT Act provisions, but 
instead he bypassed the committees altogether and brought this to the 
floor unilaterally, with no committee hearing--none.
  The majority leader recently said no more rule XIVs, but that pledge 
has not lasted very long, has it. The majority leader had, I repeat, 5 
months.
  In fact, my friend, the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee and 
a dean of the Senate, said this could have passed so easily in the last 
2 years. The majority leader had 5 months during the time he has been 
the majority leader to coordinate with the House, which passed FISA 
reform weeks ago, but instead he went it alone.
  In fact, it is as if the House and Senate Republican leaders appear 
to be on different pages. Everyone saw this coming. Weeks ago, it was 
clear the Senate didn't have adequate time to consider trade 
legislation, surveillance legislation, and, of course, the highway bill 
before the Memorial Day recess. I said that and others said that.
  Listen to what one Republican Congressman said. His name is Reid 
Ribble.

       He could have handled it better by being more prepared in 
     advance for it. They ran out the clock basically by working 
     on trade first; he probably should have ran the clock out on 
     [surveillance] instead. I don't know what his strategy is 
     here. I'm a little bit flummoxed.

  I say to my friend, Congressman Ribble, that he is not the only one 
who is flummoxed; so are we.
  The Senate majority leader set up a collision course with no plan on 
how to resolve it. It seems the only plan the majority leader had on 
FISA was to jam it through last Friday night; this, despite the fact 
that an overwhelming majority of House Members oppose an extension, the 
President opposes an extension, and a dozen Senate Republicans oppose 
an extension and so voted last Friday.
  Is it any wonder, then, that even the majority leader's own 
Republican Senators felt it necessary to take matters into their own 
hands?
  The majority leader was also caught off guard by a Member of his own 
Republican conference last week who refused to allow the Senate to 
extend the provisions for a program that the Second Circuit has 
determined is illegal.
  But, again, the junior Senator from Kentucky did not hide his 
thoughts. He was on the floor for 10 hours or so. I disagree with the 
junior Senator from Kentucky, but we are not in the mess today because 
of the junior Senator of Kentucky; we are in the mess we are today 
because of the majority leader.
  The majority leader should have seen this coming. Everyone else did, 
even those in his own party. Meanwhile, the Republican leader has 
repeatedly lectured this body as to how it should function, but his 
actions have helped the Senate to not function.
  We can do without more lectures and defiant statements. We can do 
with more strategy, planning, and open lines of communication because 
it is the majority leader's job to have a plan and to prioritize what 
must get done over what he would like to get done.
  In this case, my friend from Kentucky simply did not have a plan, and 
that is why we are here staring down the barrel of yet another 
unnecessary manufactured crisis that threatens our national security.
  We heard what the head of the CIA said today on a Sunday show. He 
said he is afraid something will happen when this act expires. That is 
not just my assessment of the situation. This is from the head of the 
CIA. Senate Republicans even feel the same way.
  The Republican junior Senator from Montana said yesterday:

       We could have done this a week ago. And this is the nature 
     of Washington, D.C., always managing by crisis.

  Fortunately, there is a clear way out: pass the USA FREEDOM Act, 
which the House overwhelmingly passed with 338 votes on a totally 
bipartisan basis. All we need are a few more Republican Senators to 
vote with Democrats and the bill will pass. Just three, maybe four, 
maybe five--but a few Senators is all we need to bring this unnecessary 
crisis to a screaming halt.
  I am confident we can pass this bill if the majority leader will 
bring it to the floor for a fair vote.
  Now, procedurally, it is going to be extremely difficult to not have 
this bill--this law expire. This is not a bill; this is a law that is 
expiring. Any other course than just passing this bill would require 
the House to act before midnight. They are not here, so it is not going 
to happen. There is not a quorum of House Members, and there are House 
Members who will object to a unanimous consent request anyway.
  Passing the USA FREEDOM Act is the only way I can foresee where the 
PATRIOT Act provisions do not expire. Now is the time for the majority 
leader to do what is right for the privacy and security of all 
Americans.
  I yield the floor.

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