[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 3]
[Senate]
[Pages 3518-3519]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                             FISA EXTENSION

  Mr. REID. Mr. President, let me say a few words about a number of 
issues today. I think we have had a productive week. I did wish to say 
a few words about the FISA bill--the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance 
Act.
  Both the House and the Senate have passed bills to strengthen the 
1978 FISA law. The House passed its bill in November, and we passed our 
bill several weeks ago. Since Senate passage, the chairmen of the 
Senate and House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees have been 
working to resolve their differences between the two pieces of 
legislation.
  Democratic staffers have been meeting to work out a strong and 
broadly supported final bill, but with the exception of Senator 
Specter, Republicans have instructed their staffs not to participate in 
these negotiations.
  Today, the Republican leader asserted on the Senate floor once again 
that the Senate bill should be jammed through the House. As my friend, 
the Republican leader, knows, that is not how Congress works and never 
has worked that way. The law-making process dictates the House pass a 
bill, the Senate then passes a bill, or vice versa, and then Members in 
both Chambers work through their differences in a conference to see if 
they can work out a compromise.
  On numerous occasions, the Republican leader himself has insisted 
upon

[[Page 3519]]

following that time-honored method of legislating. On issues such as 
the Children's Health Insurance, raising the minimum wage, and Iraq war 
funding, Senator McConnell has refused to jam a House bill through the 
Senate. But now, he insists we must jam a Senate bill through the 
House. Demanding the House of Representatives pass the Senate's FISA 
bill--as is--and refusing to sit down and talk to negotiate differences 
accomplishes nothing but needlessly delaying final passage of that 
bill.
  I know my Republican colleagues are as serious about protecting the 
safety and security of all American people as are Democrats. If the 
Republican leader is interested, and I am sure he is, in getting this 
done, I invite him to sit down anytime with House leadership and 
committee chairmen--and I will be happy to be there--to work out a 
final bill.
  Will it be a painful discussion? No, it would not be. Would it take a 
long time? No, it would not. It would not be a political exercise. It 
would be an exercise in responsible lawmaking. That is how we have done 
it for 233 years.
  We should be negotiating on a bipartisan basis. A new FISA law that 
passes with broad bipartisan support in both Houses will provide 
greater certainty to the intelligence community to make our Nation 
stronger. That can only happen if Republicans take a seat at the table, 
and it can only happen if President Bush lays aside the overheated 
rhetoric and embraces bipartisan negotiations.
  In order to facilitate these discussions, we have suggested a 
temporary extension of the Protect America Act--that is what I just 
did--that would ensure there are no gaps in our intelligence gathering 
while we work for a long-term solution. That is common sense. Even 
Admiral McConnell, Director of National Intelligence, has testified an 
extension would be valuable. But President Bush has threatened to veto 
an extension, and our Republican colleagues continue to follow his lead 
in lockstep.
  The President can't have it both ways. He has said many times: Why 
don't they extend the legislation? We tried to. He would not let us. So 
it simply is illogical as to what he is talking about.
  Never in our Nation's history has national security succumbed to this 
kind of political posturing. It is time for my Republican colleagues to 
withdraw their opposition.

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