[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 158 (2012), Part 13]
[Senate]
[Pages 18242-18244]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       FISA AMENDMENTS ACT REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2012--Continued

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the Senate will 
resume consideration of H.R. 5949.


                           Amendment No. 3437

  Under the previous order, there will now be 2 minutes of debate 
equally divided prior to a vote in relation to amendment No. 3437 
offered by the Senator from Vermont.
  The Senator from Vermont.
  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, this is a matter I care a great deal about. 
I am concerned that we are rushing to rubberstamp a House bill that is 
going to extend the surveillance authorities of the FISA Amendments Act 
for another 5 years. My amendment would allow the authorities to 
continue, but it would give a lot better and more timely oversight.
  We passed this--and it was not on a last-minute thing--out of the 
Senate Judiciary Committee in July. We acted quickly so that we would 
not be acting in this last-minute manner.
  This has no operational impact on the intelligence community, but it 
does ensure the strongest of oversight. I hope Senators will support 
it.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I rise to oppose this amendment and to 
indicate that the administration opposes the amendment as well.
  We have just 4 days to reauthorize this critical intelligence tool 
before it expires. That is the reason for having the House bill before 
us today. The House bill is a clean bill. It extends the program to 
2017, when it would sunset and would need another reauthorization. I 
believe we must pass the House bill now. I believe 2017 is the 
appropriate date.
  I am very worried that if we do anything else, if we pass any one of 
these amendments, we will jeopardize the continuation of what is a 
vital intelligence tool. So regretfully, I oppose the Leahy amendment.
  I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the Leahy 
amendment.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second. There is a sufficient 
second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The assistant legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer), 
the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Brown), the Senator from New York (Mrs. 
Gillibrand), the Senator from Iowa (Mr. Harkin), the Senator from New 
Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg), and the Senator from Vermont (Mr. Sanders) are 
necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from South Carolina (Mr. DeMint), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. 
Inhofe), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Kirk), and the Senator from 
Alaska (Ms. Murkowski).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 38, nays 52, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 232 Leg.]

                                YEAS--38

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Blumenthal
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Conrad
     Coons
     Durbin
     Franken
     Johnson (SD)
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Leahy
     Lee
     Levin
     Manchin
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Paul
     Reed
     Reid
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Webb
     Whitehouse
     Wyden

                                NAYS--52

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Brown (MA)
     Burr
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Hatch
     Heller
     Hoeven
     Hutchison
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (WI)
     Kerry
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Nelson (FL)
     Portman
     Pryor
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Rubio
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Thune
     Toomey
     Vitter
     Warner
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--10

     Boxer
     Brown (OH)
     DeMint
     Gillibrand
     Harkin
     Inhofe
     Kirk
     Lautenberg
     Murkowski
     Sanders
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order requiring 60 votes 
for the adoption of this amendment, the amendment is rejected.


                           Amendment No. 3435

  Under the previous order, there will be 2 minutes of debate equally 
divided prior to the vote in relation to amendment No. 3435, offered by 
the Senator from Oregon, Mr. Merkley.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, we are going to have two more votes tonight. 
They will both be 10 minutes in duration in addition to the debate time 
that has already been established. Then we are going to move in a very 
direct way to complete as much of the

[[Page 18243]]

debate time as possible on the amendments on the supplemental. It is 
extremely important that we get this debate completed tonight so we can 
start voting in the morning. We have already set up that we will have 
some votes in the morning. We are going to come in probably about 9:30 
and start voting. We have a lot to do.
  It would really be good if people who have amendments on the 
supplemental use their debate time tonight. We are going to have no 
more votes tonight, but tomorrow there will be a limited amount of 
debate time. Senator Mikulski will be here tonight, Senator Schumer 
will be here tonight, and Senator Menendez will be here tonight to help 
move this, in addition, of course, to the managers of the bill on the 
other side. We hope people will work hard to get debate out of the way 
tonight so we can vote tomorrow. We have a lot of votes tomorrow. I am 
led to believe there are a number of amendments the managers of this 
bill will pass either by voice or some other quick fashion.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Maryland.
  Ms. MIKULSKI. Mr. President, following up Leader Reid's comments, to 
my colleagues on both sides of the aisle, if you have these amendments, 
Senator Schumer and I would like to know. We will stay here to offer 
and debate them, as you were accorded under the unanimous consent 
agreement. If you come up and tell Senator Schumer and me now, we can 
get an order and sequence and tell you when we will call you up. 
Instead of everybody standing around, we would actually get a regular 
order and you would know when your amendments are coming up and what 
order you are coming up so that you could plan your evening. Please see 
Senator Schumer and me, and we will work with you to accomplish this.
  Mr. President, I yield the floor.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, is it time to speak to amendment No. 
3435?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Yes.
  Mr. MERKLEY. Mr. President, I rise in support of the Merkley-Lee 
amendment. I thank him for being lead cosponsor.
  I say to my colleagues, this is all about supporting the fourth 
amendment and opposing secret law. As we all know, in this Nation law 
consists of both the plain language and the court interpretations of 
what the plain language means. In the case of the FISA rulings, the 
public never finds out the second half and therefore doesn't really 
know when information will be collected, if you will, that is relevant 
to an investigation. No one ever knows what that means. The public 
should be able to know and should be able to weigh in.
  This amendment is constructed so it protects national security. It 
says this will only happen in cases when it is compatible with national 
security to release the FISA findings, and, second, you can do 
summaries instead, and if summaries are still causing a national 
security problem, a schedule is sufficient as to how the administration 
is reviewing these. It balances national security while it fights for 
the fourth amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, the vice chairman of the committee 
opposes this amendment, as does the administration. We have only 4 days 
to authorize this intelligence tool before it expires. Sending this 
legislation to the President without amendment is the only sure way to 
do it.
  The Director of National Intelligence is engaged in an ongoing 
process to declassify significant FISA Court opinions where it is 
possible to do so. I have agreed to work with Senator Merkley to get 
summaries of FISA Court decisions that can be made public.
  In sum, the intelligence community strives to be as transparent as 
possible with the public, but legislation that would force its hand and 
potentially risk the exposure of classified information is both 
unnecessary and unwise.
  I urge my colleagues to oppose this amendment.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. All time has expired. The question is on 
agreeing to the Merkley amendment.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second? There appears to 
be a sufficient second.
  The clerk will call the roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer), 
the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Brown), the Senator from Iowa (Mr. Harkin), 
the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg), and the Senator from 
Vermont (Mr. Sanders) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from South Carolina (Mr. DeMint), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. 
Inhofe), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Kirk), and the Senator from 
Alaska (Ms. Murkowski).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber 
desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 37, nays 54, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 233 Leg.]

                                YEAS--37

     Akaka
     Baucus
     Begich
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Blumenthal
     Cantwell
     Cardin
     Carper
     Conrad
     Coons
     Durbin
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Heller
     Klobuchar
     Leahy
     Lee
     Levin
     Manchin
     Menendez
     Merkley
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Paul
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Shaheen
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall (CO)
     Udall (NM)
     Webb
     Wyden

                                NAYS--54

     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Barrasso
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Brown (MA)
     Burr
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Hatch
     Hoeven
     Hutchison
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson (WI)
     Kerry
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Nelson (FL)
     Portman
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Rubio
     Sessions
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Thune
     Toomey
     Vitter
     Warner
     Whitehouse
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--9

     Boxer
     Brown (OH)
     DeMint
     Harkin
     Inhofe
     Kirk
     Lautenberg
     Murkowski
     Sanders
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order requiring 60 votes 
for the adoption of this amendment, the amendment is rejected.


                           Amendment No. 3436

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, there will be 2 
minutes of debate equally divided prior to the vote in relation to 
amendment No. 3436 offered by the Senator from Kentucky, Mr. Paul.
  Mr. PAUL. Mr. President, I rise today to support the Fourth Amendment 
Protection Act. The fourth amendment guarantees that people should be 
secure in their persons, houses, and papers against unreasonable 
searches and seizures. Somewhere along the way we became lazy and 
haphazard in our vigilance. We allowed Congress and the courts to 
diminish our fourth amendment protections, particularly when papers 
were held by third parties.
  I think most Americans would be shocked to know that the fourth 
amendment does not protect their records if they are banking, Internet, 
or Visa records. A warrant is required to read their snail mail and to 
tap their phone, but no warrant is required to look at their e-mail, 
text, or Internet searches; they can be read without a warrant. Why is 
a phone call more deserving of privacy protection than an e-mail?
  This amendment would restore the fourth amendment protections to 
third-party records, and I recommend a ``yes'' vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from California.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, I oppose this amendment, as does the 
vice chairman and the administration. This amendment is not germane to 
FISA. It has not been reviewed by the Judiciary Committee, which would 
have jurisdiction over this matter. It seeks to reverse 30 years of 
Supreme Court precedence of interpreting the fourth amendment. 
According to the

[[Page 18244]]

administration talking points received this afternoon: The amendment 
would severely limit the effectiveness of law enforcement authorities 
at all levels of government and will effectively repeal the FISA 
Amendments Act.
  I urge a ``no'' vote.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The question is on agreeing to the amendment.
  Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask for the yeas and nays.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there a sufficient second?
  There appears to be a sufficient second. The clerk will call the 
roll.
  The legislative clerk called the roll.
  Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from California (Mrs. Boxer), 
the Senator from Ohio (Mr. Brown), the Senator from Iowa (Mr. Harkin), 
the Senator from New Jersey (Mr. Lautenberg), and the Senator from 
Vermont (Mr. Sanders) are necessarily absent.
  Mr. KYL. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator 
from South Carolina (Mr. DeMint), the Senator from Oklahoma (Mr. 
Inhofe), the Senator from Illinois (Mr. Kirk), and the Senator from 
Alaska (Ms. Murkowski).
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Merkley). Are there any other Senators in 
the Chamber desiring to vote?
  The result was announced--yeas 12, nays 79, as follows:

                      [Rollcall Vote No. 234 Leg.]

                                YEAS--12

     Baucus
     Begich
     Cantwell
     Heller
     Lee
     Merkley
     Paul
     Stabenow
     Tester
     Udall (NM)
     Webb
     Wyden

                                NAYS--79

     Akaka
     Alexander
     Ayotte
     Barrasso
     Bennet
     Bingaman
     Blumenthal
     Blunt
     Boozman
     Brown (MA)
     Burr
     Cardin
     Carper
     Casey
     Chambliss
     Coats
     Coburn
     Cochran
     Collins
     Conrad
     Coons
     Corker
     Cornyn
     Crapo
     Durbin
     Enzi
     Feinstein
     Franken
     Gillibrand
     Graham
     Grassley
     Hagan
     Hatch
     Hoeven
     Hutchison
     Isakson
     Johanns
     Johnson (SD)
     Johnson (WI)
     Kerry
     Klobuchar
     Kohl
     Kyl
     Landrieu
     Leahy
     Levin
     Lieberman
     Lugar
     Manchin
     McCain
     McCaskill
     McConnell
     Menendez
     Mikulski
     Moran
     Murray
     Nelson (NE)
     Nelson (FL)
     Portman
     Pryor
     Reed
     Reid
     Risch
     Roberts
     Rockefeller
     Rubio
     Schatz
     Schumer
     Sessions
     Shaheen
     Shelby
     Snowe
     Thune
     Toomey
     Udall (CO)
     Vitter
     Warner
     Whitehouse
     Wicker

                             NOT VOTING--9

     Boxer
     Brown (OH)
     DeMint
     Harkin
     Inhofe
     Kirk
     Lautenberg
     Murkowski
     Sanders
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order requiring 60 votes 
for the adoption of this amendment, the amendment is rejected.
  The Senator from Maryland.

                          ____________________