Jeff Sessions

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. We have no objection.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. I would object to any further consideration, en bloc.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I understand there are three bills at the desk and due for a second reading. I ask unanimous consent that the clerk read the titles of the bills for a second time, en bloc.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of H.J. Res. 107, the continuing resolution which is at the desk; provided that the joint resolution be read the third time and passed, and the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, if there is no further business to come before the Senate, I ask unanimous consent the Senate stand in adjournment under the previous order.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. I ask unanimous consent the Craig amendment, which is at the desk, be agreed to, the bill as amended be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statement relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SESSIONS. I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 693, S. 2639, the Congressional Award Act Reauthorization bill.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the committee-reported substitute be agreed to, the bill, as amended, be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, en bloc, and any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the consideration of Calendar No. 438, S. 1601.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be dispensed with.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that all first- degree amendments from the limited list to the pending legislation be filed at the desk no later than 4 p.m., Thursday, September 30; provided further that it be in order for the sponsor of any amendment to modify the filed amendment with consent of their respective leader.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, insofar as that is the agreement, and I understand it is, the Senator is correct.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate proceed to the immediate consideration of S. Res. 443, which was submitted earlier today.

Mr. SESSIONS. I ask unanimous consent that the resolution be agreed to, the preamble be agreed to, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to this matter be printed in the Record.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I understand there is a bill at the desk, and I ask for its first reading.

Mr. SESSIONS. I now ask for its second reading and, in order to place the bill on the calendar under the provisions of rule XIV, object to further proceedings on this matter.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Senate now proceed to the immediate consideration of Calendar No. 652, H.R. 4115.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the bill be read the third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and that any statements relating to the bill be printed in the Record.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. I ask unanimous consent the bill be read a third time and passed, the motion to reconsider be laid upon the table, and any statements be printed in the Record.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. For the information of all Senators, tomorrow the Senate will resume consideration of the intelligence reform bill. We had good debate on the bill today, disposing of several amendments. In addition, we were able to lock in a final list of amendments and a filing deadline for tomorrow, as well, so that Members will be able to view actual legislative text for each amendment. For the remainder of the day tomorrow we will continue working through amendments to the bill. The chairman and ranking member will be here to receive amendments. Again, we will complete action on the bill prior to adjourning. Senators who wish to offer amendments are encouraged to work with the managers to get their amendments pending. Senators should expect rollcall votes throughout the day. I observe that when the Senate passed fiscal year 2005 Defense appropriations conference report, we adopted discretionary spending levels for all fiscal year 2005 appropriations of $821.9 billion. Unfortunately, the continuing resolution, H.J. Res. 107, authorized an annualized spending level of more than $840 billion because section 103 of the resolution allows billions in 2004 supplemental appropriations to continue into a new fiscal year. It is my understanding the House of Representatives will shortly pass a bill to correct this problem and eliminate funding in the CR for any one-time 2004 spending items. It also is my understanding that the majority leader and Chairman Stevens will seek to have the Senate consider that correction whenever it becomes available. I believe it is essential we comply with the spending limits we previously adopted, and I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that we do.

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I know we are in a political season, and I suppose that will impact our business in the Senate as we address the many issues that are before us. But the Senator from Iowa just made some comments about where we are in the war on terror that I think need to be discussed. First, I remember when former President Bush called Maggie Thatcher to ask for her support for his action during the first gulf war. Saddam Hussein had invaded Kuwait and he asked for her support. Maggie Thatcher said: Of course, Mr. President. Just do not go wobbly on me. That phrase was discussed quite a lot at the White House. Everyone understood that once a commitment is made to do something like confront a tyrant like Saddam Hussein after he invaded the sovereign nation of Kuwait, that you could not go wobbly once action was undertaken. Secondly, we spent weeks and months in this body discussing the problem of Saddam Hussein. I know my distinguished friend from Iowa was a military pilot and can appreciate the fact that our aircraft were being fired on over a thousand times as they enforced the no-fly zones over Iraq related to the U.N. resolutions that arose after Hussein's attack on Kuwait. We were spending billions of dollars maintaining our aircraft in the region because we were concerned about Saddam Hussein. He was in violation of 16 U.N. resolutions, and we urged him to come clean several times. We gave him one last chance to join the civilized nations of the world. He was given those warnings in clear and unequivocal ways. This Senate discussed it and voted on it. We voted with a three-fourths majority to support the President and to authorize the President to make one final demand on Iraq and Saddam Hussein to renounce their weapons of mass destruction, to renounce their activities in violation of the U.N., and to demonstrate that he had complied with the demands of the civilized world. Saddam Hussein rejected that opportunity, and we knew at the time if he did not comply, that hostilities would begin. We are all grownups in this body and we knew what it meant when we voted. At the time, the distinguished junior Senator from Massachusetts and now the Democratic nominee for President voted for the resolution that authorized the President to commence hostilities. Now some want to go wobbly. They say that things are not going perfectly. Since we have an election cycle on, they believe they can just say anything they want even if it undermines our soldiers in the field or if it encourages the enemy. And I would add that these detractors will say that if anybody accuses them of harming the effort to defeat terrorism or complains about the impact to the morale of our troops in the field, why, they will just say it is free speech. They believe they can say whatever they want to. Of course there is free speech. Any Senator in this body can come forth and say whatever they want to. I do not intend to impugn the motives of any who express their views about the hostilities in Iraq at this point. But I would just say this: Some things can hurt. When we have a Senator in an official hearing or on the floor of the Senate make statements before the world such as that the misbehavior that occurred and the illegalities that occurred in Abu Ghirab prison indicated that Saddam Hussein's prison had been ``opened under new management,'' I suggest to you that Senator is subject to being criticized for it. That is because he was wrong, No. 1, and No. 2, it encouraged and gave fodder for those who want to complain that the United States is on a mission to harm the Iraqi people and not to establish a sovereign, free, prosperous government, which is what we want to do. That is our goal. So it is legitimate that we express concerns about some of the statements made by colleagues. That is an honest debate. If people, in effect, think we have Saddam Hussein's prisons under new management, they have a right to say so. But I submit we have had hearing after hearing, and the evidence clearly shows it is not true. It is not correct. We ought not be saying such falsehoods on the floor of the Senate. They say things are so bad in Iraq and we are worse off at home. However, Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi recently said: ``It's very important for the people of the world really to know what we are winning. We are making progress in Iraq. We are defeating terrorists. Najaf, Samarra, Mosul, Basra are all live examples that a lot of progress has been made. And this is all because of the determination of the Iraqi people.'' They say that the elections can't be held in Iraq. We have heard that argument. This is what Prime Minister Allawi said: ``We are definitely going to stick to the timetable of elections in January of next year. We are doing our best to ensure that we meet the time of the elections. We are adamant that democracy is going to prevail, it is going to win Iraq. We are going to stick to this time, and I call upon the United Nations to help us in providing whatever it takes to make the elections a success in Iraq. January next, is going to be a major blow to terrorists and insurgents. Once we go through the democratic process, once we achieve progress towards democracy, the terrorists will be defeated.'' So said Prime Minister Allawi. Here is what the Iraqi people say. An International Republican Institute poll in Iraq showed this: 87 percent of Iraqis polled nationwide indicated they plan to vote in the January elections. Eighty-seven percent planned to vote! Most observers understand that it is not good if people won't participate in an election. You would rather have them vote. Whichever side of an issue you prefer, you still want to vote. But a massive boycott of an election would be something that would be serious and cause us concern if people weren't interested in an election. But 87 percent said they intend to vote. Seventy-seven percent said that ``regular, fair elections'' were the most important political right for the Iraqi people. Seventy-seven percent said that. Here is what the critics say: The U.S. went to war without a ``broad and deep coalition,'' and this has ``divided our oldest alliance, NATO.'' But here are the facts. There are more Iraqi and non-U.S. soldiers on the ground stabilizing Iraq than there are U.S. forces. Besides the United States, there are 32 countries contributing approximately 25,000 soldiers to the coalition operating in Iraq; 15 of the 26 NATO countries have troops on the ground in Iraq. The Iraqi Government has approximately 154,500 soldiers and police forces on hand to provide security and stability throughout the country. On 22 September, our NATO allies agreed to further implement the decision by the heads of state and government to increase the assistance to the Government of Iraq with the training of its security forces. General Patreus, commander of the 101st Airborne, is over there now. Actually, he was formerly the commander of the 101st. He led them in northern Iraq and Mosul, and he has now gone back to train Iraqi forces. He is a remarkable general with incredible capacity for work, and energy. I am confident that he will be successful. I know there is much to be accomplished. We have a lot of high goals in Iraq. It is not an easy matter. It is going to be a tough battle, but we are making progress. We will prevail, and we must not go wobbly. I yield the floor. Amendment No. 3766

Mr. SESSIONS

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Select Committee on Intelligence be authorized to meet during the session of the Senate on September 20, 2004 at 9:30 a.m. to hold a hearing on the nomination of Porter J. Goss to be Director of Central Intelligence. Special Committee on Aging

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Special Committee on Aging be authorized to meet Monday, September 20, 2004 from 2 p.m.-5 p.m. in Dirksen 628 for the purpose of conducting a hearing.

Mr. SESSIONS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the Committee on Finance be authorized to meet in open Executive Session during the session on September 20, 2004, at 5:30 p.m., to consider favorably reporting S. 333, the John Breaux Elder Justice Act of 2004, and the nomination of Joey Russell George, to be Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, U.S. Department of Treasury. select Subcommittee on Intelligence