    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: George W. Bush (2007, Book II)]
    [December 3, 2007]
    [Pages 1510-1512]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on Congressional Action on the Legislative Agenda
    December 3, 2007

        Good morning. Congress returns from its 2-week Thanksgiving break
    today. They have just 2 weeks to go before they leave town again. That's
    much--that's not really a lot of time to squeeze in nearly a year's
    worth of unfinished business.
        In fairness, Congress was not entirely out over the past 2 weeks. In
    a political maneuver designed to block my ability to make recess
    appointments, congressional leaders arranged for a Senator to come in
    every 3 days or so, bang a gavel, wait for about 30 seconds, bang a
    gavel again, and then leave. Now, under the Senate rules, this counts as
    a full day. If 30 seconds is a full day, no wonder Congress has got a
    lot of work to do.
        Congress needs to start by passing a bill to fund our troops in
    combat. Beginning in February, I submitted detailed funding requests to
    Congress to fund these operations in the war on terror. Yet some in
    Congress are withholding this funding because they want to substitute
    their judgment for that of our military commanders. Instead of listening
    to the judgment of General Petraeus, they
    are threatening to withhold money he needs unless they can mandate an
    arbitrary date of withdrawal.
        This month, more of our troops will return home as a result of the
    success we're seeing in Iraq. People are coming home. For Congress to
    insist on setting an arbitrary date for withdrawal would put the gains
    General Petraeus and our troops have

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    made in danger, and that would threaten the security of our country.
    It's unconscionable to deny funds to our troops in harm's way because
    some in Congress want to force a self-defeating policy, especially when
    we're seeing the benefits of success.
        Secretary Gates and other senior
    Pentagon officials say the delay in our funding will means this for our
    military: Unless Congress acts, the Defense Department will soon be
    required to begin giving layoff notices to about 100,000 civilian
    employees. Unless Congress acts, the military task force developing ways
    to better detect and protect our troops from roadside bombs will run out
    of money by early next year. Unless Congress acts, the Army will run out
    of operations and maintenance money in February. Unless Congress acts,
    the Marine Corps will run out of similar funds in March.
        Earlier this year, congressional leaders were trying to impose
    conditions on funds because they said our strategy in Iraq was not
    working. We changed our strategy, and now even many of those who
    initially opposed the surge acknowledge that it is achieving results. It
    is time for Members of Congress to meet their responsibility to our men
    and women in uniform, and they should stay in session until they pass
    these emergency funds for our troops.
        Second, Congress needs to make sure our intelligence professionals
    can continue to monitor terrorist communications. In August, Congress
    passed legislation to help modernize the Foreign Intelligence
    Surveillance Act. That bill closed critical intelligence gaps, allowing
    us to collect important foreign intelligence information about terrorist
    plots. The problem is, the new law expires on February 1st, while the
    threat from the terrorists does not expire.
        The Director of National Intelligence, Mike McConnell, has warned that unless the FISA reforms in the act
    are made permanent, our national security professionals will lose
    critical tools they need to protect our country. Instead of listening to
    the judgment of Director McConnell, some in Congress now want to
    restrict the intelligence tools that help keep the American people safe.
    They are blocking efforts to provide meaningful liability protection to
    those companies now facing multibillion dollar lawsuits only because
    they are believed to have assisted in our efforts to defend our Nation
    following the September the 11th attacks. Congress must stop this
    obstruction and make certain our national security professionals do not
    lose a critical tool for keeping our country safe.
        Third, Congress needs to act immediately to prevent the Alternative
    Minimum Tax from hitting more Americans this year. The AMT was enacted
    in 1969 to ensure that a few hundred wealthy individuals paid their fair
    share of taxes. But when Congress passed the AMT, it was not indexed for
    inflation. As a result, the AMT's higher tax burden is being imposed on
    more and more middle class families.
        Last month, Treasury Secretary Paulson wrote a letter to Members of Congress warning them about
    this: that if they put off an AMT fix, it could delay the delivery of
    about $75 billion worth of tax refund checks. Yet instead of listening
    to Secretary Paulson's warning, Congress continues to delay action. The
    longer Congress delays action, the longer Americans will wait--likely
    wait to get their tax refund checks next year.
        If Congress fails to act, as many as 25 million Americans would be
    subject to AMT. On average, these taxpayers--many of them middle class
    families--would have to send an extra $2,000 to the IRS next April. At a
    time when many Americans are struggling with home mortgages and health
    care costs, the last thing they need is for Congress to stick them with
    an additional tax increase.
        Finally, Congress has important work to do on the Federal budget.
    One of the Congress's most basic duties is to fund the day-to-day
    operations of the Federal Government. Yet only 1 of the 12 spending

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    bills has made it into law. Congressional leaders are now talking about
    piling the remaining bills into one monster piece of legislation, which
    they will load up with billions of dollars in earmarks and wasteful
    spending. Now is not the time to burden our economy with wasteful
    Washington spending that will lead to higher taxes. Congressional
    leaders need to do their job and pass the remaining spending bills in a
    fiscally responsible way. And if they send me an irresponsible spending
    bill, I will veto it.
        The end of 2007 is approaching fast, and the new Congress has little
    to show for it. I call on Members to use the time left to support our
    troops and to protect our citizens, prevent harmful tax increases, and
    responsibly fund our Government.
        Thank you.

    Note: The President spoke at 9:57 a.m. in the Rose Garden at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Gen. David H. Petraeus, USA,
    commanding general, Multi-National Force--Iraq.