John Warner

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Fine. The Senator from Ohio is in support of the amendment of the Senator from Michigan?

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask that I be recognized following the Senator from Ohio for 5 minutes.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, it had originally been established that I would speak now, but I am going to yield the time I have to the distinguished Senator from South Carolina for 5 minutes.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I think I can almost speak for our side with certainty. I have a few comments, followed by perhaps a minute and a half by the Republican leader, and then that way we can yield back time. I will proceed to give my comments. I say to my good friend from Michigan that I picked one word out of his very impressive opening comments. I agree with his opening comments about the tragic situation by which the leadership in Iraq, their legislative body, has failed to act. But one word you said impressed me, and that is ``military progress is being made.'' That is an exact quote you used. You felt if we didn't speak by adopting your amendment, there would be silence. I say to my good friend, the amendment by the distinguished Republican leader and the Senator from Connecticut, the McConnell-Lieberman amendment, will send a very strong message. Were we to adopt your amendment, it would be in conflict with that message. That is my concern. Therefore, I must say, I strongly support the McConnell-Lieberman amendment. I hope that will be voted on very shortly. I do believe, in all sincerity, your amendment would send a conflicting message. That message could be exceedingly troublesome. People don't understand the phraseology ``sense of the Senate.'' Al-Qaida would simply clip that off and then announce that we are going to leave in December, irrespective of the facts on the ground. Furthermore, we have not been in this fight alone. We put together a coalition of forces, a coalition of nations, primarily Great Britain and others, Poland. So far as I know, there has been no consultation with respect to your amendment to announce a goal by December of next year with those other fighting forces that, while they are smaller in number, are no less important as a symbol of the united effort of many nations to achieve, first, sovereignty in Iraq, which has been a wonderful goal that has been achieved, and now to enable that country to take its place rightfully in that region and be a strong voice for freedom and to fight al-Qaida. I say to my friend, I will have to oppose his amendment because it would send a totally conflicting message with the underlying amendment, which is a very significant appropriation of funds to continue, as you say, in your very words, the ``progress'' of the military so far. I yield the floor.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, the time is such, I understand from the Senator, that I may deliver a few remarks to the Senate; is that correct?

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I rise today because of the timely and critical importance of the issue before us. It is absolutely vital that we reform FISA, and we must do so quickly because the Protect America Act passed in August to close a dangerous intelligence gap is set to expire shortly. We must keep this gap closed, and we must do it in a way that protects civil liberties, protects telecommunications companies from unnecessary and costly lawsuits, and ensures that our hard-working and dedicated intelligence professionals have the tools they need to protect the Nation. I have been privileged these 29 years I have been in the Senate to represent the Commonwealth of Virginia in which largely the intelligence community and the professionals therein have their base of operations. I have had the privilege of knowing these people. Stop to think: They have children in the schools in which our children are in, they attend the churches, they live in the communities. It has been my privilege to get to know many of them throughout the course of my career in the Senate and some 5 years plus previous that I had in the Department of Defense where I worked with these professionals. They are among America's finest individuals. They are dedicated. They take risks, great risks, so often when they are abroad. Indeed, we have lost them at home right at the gateway to the entrance of the Central Intelligence Agency. I was somewhat discouraged recently to hear broad accusations against the intelligence community, a lack of confidence that certain individuals in the Congress profess publicly to have. I assure them, based on my rather lengthy career and the good fortune to have worked with these professionals for so many years, I rank them among America's finest and most dedicated. It has been my privilege to take this floor many times in the past quarter century to speak on their behalf and to advocate causes which I think were in the best interests of the United States and which could, in many ways, affect their careers. So I do so again today because reforming FISA has not been an easy process. I thank Chairman Rockefeller and Vice Chairman Bond for the work they have done to garner bipartisan support for the Senate Intelligence Committee bill, the FISA Amendments Act. The committee members and staff have worked together for many months to produce this responsible bipartisan legislation that strikes the right balance between civil liberties and foreign surveillance. All of the parties involved had to make compromises, but the 13-to-2--I repeat, 13-to-2--vote in the committee on which I am privileged to serve in favor of this bill shows that the bill will protect America's private civil liberties without unnecessarily hindering the ability of our intelligence professionals to intercept terrorist communications. In addition to bipartisan congressional support, the FISA Amendments Act has, after consultation, the support of Admiral McConnell, the Director of National Intelligence. I have known this fine public servant for many years. When I was privileged to serve as Secretary of the Navy, he was on the staff of the Navy at that time. As a junior officer, he would often brief me in my capacity as Secretary early in the morning. I have enjoyed our friendship through the years and had the privilege to introduce him to the Senate for purposes of confirmation on several occasions. History has ranked and will continue to rank Admiral McConnell among the foremost of those who stepped forward in my time for public service. As I say, I have deep admiration and respect for Admiral McConnell's continued public service to the Nation and for the work of thousands of dedicated intelligence community professionals that he leads. His efforts to work with the Congress to formulate this bipartisan and complicated set of solutions to this serious national security issue are to be commended. The committee was uniquely positioned to weigh and assess the many highly classified aspects of our foreign intelligence surveillance operations and to discuss and debate those sensitive issues before we drafted this legislation. The result is a bill that has the support of those valued public servants trusted to follow the law and a bill that will protect national security and will protect America's privacy. The bill allows the intelligence community, through a joint certification by the Attorney General of the United States and the Director of National Intelligence, to target the communications of foreign overseas targets without the necessity of the FISA Court approval. This provides the speed and the agility the intelligence community needs--I emphasize ``the speed and the agility''--and keeps the foreign intelligence targets outside the purview of the FISA Court, which was the original intention of Congress when it drafted the FISA bill in 1978. The FISA amendments also ensure the protection of America's civil liberties by providing that acquisition may only be conducted in accordance with targeting and minimization procedures adopted by the Attorney General of the United States and reviewed by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court. Targeting must be consistent with the fourth amendment, and reverse targeting is specifically prohibited. There is also enhanced oversight by Congress, the Attorney General, the Director of National Intelligence, and inspectors general. One of the most important provisions in this bill is the retroactive carrier liability protection for those telecommunications carriers alleged to have assisted the Government with the terrorist surveillance program, known as TSP. While I believe that TSP was legal, essential, and contributed to preventing further terrorist attacks against our homeland, others may disagree. There is no doubt, however, that the carriers that have participated in the program relied upon our Government's assurances that their actions were legal and in the best interests of the security of the United States of America. These companies deserve and must be protected from costly and damaging lawsuits. The boards of directors have a fundamental obligation, as they do in all public corporations, to shareholders of these publicly owned institutions. Those who ask why the companies need such protection if they did not do anything illegal do not grasp the point that the Government's invocation of state secrets precludes companies from providing a court of law with any factual evidence confirming or denying their involvement in the program. That is to prevent sources and method. Sources and methods are the very heart of America's intelligence operations, as they are the world over. Some companies facing lawsuits, even if they never participated in the program, can likewise not defend themselves. Some Senators have suggested Government substitution or indemnification of these companies, as the ones who did work in the program, as an alternate to the retroactive liability language in the bill. These are not suitable alternatives, in my judgment, for the companies or the intelligence community. It is a recognized fact that lawsuits are most often extremely costly to a company in terms of damage to the business reputation and stock valuation could fluctuate. Even if a company ultimately prevails, they will suffer not only money damages possibly, costs possibly, in all probability even though there may be Government reimbursement, but damage which is incalculable in amount to their reputation and standing in their community. Again, if the Government pays the legal bill, that will not erase other injurious consequences that come about as a result of court proceedings. I myself engaged in the practice of law before I entered public service many years ago, and not much has changed. Further, the Government being substituted as the defendant in a trial opens evidentiary problems regarding, again, sources and methods, which is the vital ingredient of all our intelligence collecting processes. Individuals who believe the Government violated their civil liberties can pursue legal action against the Government--the United States Government--and the FISA Amendments Act does nothing to limit the legal recourse. The bottom line, companies that participate in this program do so to help America protect its freedom and the safety, individually and collectively, of our citizens. Without this retroactive liability provision, I believe companies will no longer, and understandably, voluntarily participate in this program. The consequence of the loss of those companies stepping up--solely in the security interests of the United States, solely in the interests of protecting our citizens--to offer their services will result in irreparable damage to our collection of vital intelligence. It is as simple as that. It is for these reasons I urge my colleagues to support the Intelligence-Committee-passed FISA Amendments Act and grant the men and women of the intelligence community the tools they need to protect the country and, indeed, the respect and admiration they deserve. Madam President, I yield the floor.

Mr. WARNER

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I ask unanimous consent to have printed in the Record, in a slightly different form, a list of the staff-- professional staff and several personal staff--on my side who have helped in the preparation of the Senate bill and the preparation of the conference report. While there is some redundancy, I think the Record should reflect my specific appreciation to these many people who make it possible for the chairman and ranking member to prepare these bills and then the reports. So I have infinite respect and gratitude for each of them.

Mr. WARNER. Now, Madam President, on this side, we have the Senator from Oklahoma. I say to the Senator from Michigan, I understand, Mr. Chairman, the distinguished Republican leader, Mr. McConnell, wishes to say a few words in support of the bill at the end.

Mr. WARNER. Perhaps, Madam President, we should have the Chair inform us as to the remainder of the time for each side.

Mr. WARNER. I thank the Presiding Officer.

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I think it is important for the colloquy that the Senator and I are now having that the copy of the amendment that was once in the bill and deleted be put in the Record at this point. Does the Senator have it with him? If we could do that, that would be helpful.

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I wish to assure my colleague from Oklahoma that this is a matter I personally have discussed with Senator McCain many times. He would hope that the committee in the coming year would address, once again, the amendment and the ramifications therefrom. I think that is the intention, is it not, Mr. Chairman?

Mr. WARNER. I think the committee will once again revisit this subject with the Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I join my distinguished colleague in paying tribute to our distinguished leader, Senator Byrd. I remember the years when we served under him as majority leader. He always let the Armed Services Committee get whatever time it needed on the floor to handle our bills. And then, of course, through all these many years, I pleaded with him to reunite West Virginia and Virginia, bring them back as one mighty State again. I indicated I would yield my position to the Senator and retire into oblivion and let him become the distinguished Senator. He has not accepted my request.

Mr. WARNER. That is true. I also thank the Republican leader for the support he has given me and Senator McCain in leading the work of our committee, together with our members. I thank each and every one of those members, some of whom are on the floor now prepared to vote.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I ask now that the remainder of my time be given to the Senator from Oklahoma.

Mr. WARNER. On our side, the distinguished Republican leader is the sole remaining speaker. I understand he will be coming to the floor shortly.

Mr. WARNER. I ask for the yeas and nays.

Mr. WARNER. If the chairman would yield for a minute, I would invite my colleagues on this side of the aisle on the Armed Services Committee to indicate to me if they desire to speak. You have heard the Republican leader urge that we move along as quickly as possible. But I will try to accommodate all those who wish to speak within the 30 minutes allocated on this side.

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I rise today to thank my colleagues, both in the House and Senate, for their tremendous bipartisan work on the fiscal year 2008 national defense authorization bill. The Congress has passed the national defense authorization bill every year since 1959, and I have had the great privilege to have had a hand in this annual piece of legislation each of my 29 years in the Senate. This bill accomplishes the following: supports our troops deployed in harm's way; bolsters the readiness of our Armed Forces; reforms the acquisition practices of the Department of Defense; addresses the problems in military medical care uncovered at Walter Reed and elsewhere; provides needed equipment to protect our deployed forces; and strengthens the quality of life of our soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, and their families. To care for those who serve in uniform, their families, and retired veterans, this legislation authorizes $696.4 billion which includes the base budget for fiscal year 2008--$507 billion--and the President's emergency supplemental requests for Iraq, Afghanistan, and the global war on terrorism--$189 billion--made in February, July, and October. It authorizes a 3.5 percent across-the-board pay raise for all uniformed service personnel. It continues the authorization to pay over 25 separate bonuses and special pay critical to successful recruiting and retention. It authorizes fiscal year 2008 end strengths for the Army and Marine Corps of 525,400 and 189,000 respectively, which is an increase of 13,000 for the Army and 9,000 for the Marine Corps. It includes the Wounded Warrior Act, which will improve health care and benefits for recovering veterans, recovering servicemembers and their families, and begin the process of reform of the Department of Defense, DOD, and Department of Veterans Affairs, VA, disability evaluation systems. It requires DOD and Veterans Affairs to jointly develop a comprehensive policy on improvements to care, management, and transition of recovering servicemembers in an outpatient status. It authorizes payment of combat-related special compensation to servicemembers medically retired for a combat-related disability. Payment is equal to the amount of retired pay forfeited because of the prohibition on concurrent receipt of military retired pay and VA disability compensation. It reduces below age 60 the age at which a member of a Reserve component may draw retirement pay by 3 months for every aggregate 90 days' service on active duty under certain mobilization authorities. It guarantees combat veterans mental health evaluations within 30 days of their request. It includes several provisions to continue to provide best quality health care to servicemembers and their families and provisions that would enhance the ability of the services to attract health care personnel. It guarantees combat veterans mental health evaluations within 30 days of their request. To ensure that servicemembers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan are properly equipped, this legislation adds over $17 billion for mine resistant ambush protected--MRAP--vehicles that improve protection for our troops exposed to the improvised explosive device, IED, threat in Iraq and Afghanistan. It funds over $4 billion for the Joint Improvised Explosive Device Defeat Office, JIEDDO. It authorizes funds to procure ammunition, modernize ammunition plants, and protect and enhance military training ranges. To meet current and future threats to our country's national security, this bill requires the DOD to develop a competitive engine program for the Joint Strike Fighter and authorized $480 million for this purpose. It authorizes more than $13 billion for Navy shipbuilding. It provides mulltiyear procurement authority for fiscal years 2009 through 2013 Virginia-class submarines, and adding $588 million in advance procurement funding to support buying an additional submarine in 2010. It adds $51 million to the budget request to provide increased space situational awareness capabilities to address concerns raised as a result of the recent Chinese kinetic antisatellite weapons test. It authorizes $220.4 billion to meet the operation and maintenance requirements of the services to support combat operations and improve the readiness of deploying and nondeploying forces. To ensure for the effective oversight of Department of Defense contracts, contractors, and acquisition workforce, this legislation requires private security contractors operating on the battlefield in Iraq and Afghanistan to comply with DOD regulations and rules on the use of force, as well as orders and directives from combatant commanders regarding force protection, security, health, safety, and interaction with local nationals. It establishes a Commission on Wartime Contracting in Iraq and Afghanistan to study and investigate Federal agency contracting for reconstruction, logistics support, and security functions in those countries, and make recommendations as to how contracting processes could be improved in the future. It strengthens oversight of reconstruction activities in Afghanistan by establishing a Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, modeled after the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction. It includes the Acquisition Improvement and Accountability Act of 2007, which would improve the management and oversight of DOD acquisition programs. It strengthens statutory protections for contractor employees who blow the whistle on waste, fraud, and abuse on DOD contracts by providing, for the first time, a private right of action in Federal court for contractor employees who are subject to reprisal for their efforts to protect the taxpayers' interests. To recognize the responsibilities and enhance the role of the National Guard, this legislation includes the National Guard Empowerment Act which authorizes promotion of the Chief of the National Guard Bureau to the rank of four-star general and recognizes the responsibilities and enhanced role of the National Guard. Finally, to ensure the effective security and remediation of Department of Energy sites, this act supports enhanced security at Department of Energy, DOE, nuclear sites and the development of new technology to promote environmental cleanup of DOE sites. Madam President, this important bill will maintain our readiness and support the military's transformation to meet the 21st century's threats. I urge my colleagues to support this crucial legislation. Madam President, I direct persons to the committee report, the National Defense Authorization Act for fiscal year 2008. On page 334 there appears a provision, section 1079, entitled: ``Communications with the Committees On Armed Services of the Senate and the House of Representatives.'' I will read a part of it to familiarize people: The Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, the director of a national intelligence center, or the head of any element of the intelligence community shall, not later than 45 days after receiving a written request from the Chair or ranking minority member of the Committee on Armed Services of the Senate or the Committee on Armed Services of the House of Representatives-- The Senate and the House provide certain information. I worked with this provision at the time it was framed in our committee, and I want to say for the record that it was never intended, nor do I personally find any wording in this amendment, which would include the daily brief provided to the President of the United States. That is the exclusive property under executive privilege of the President. Madam President, I wish to add on that list on the Wounded Warrior Senator Webb, who took a very active role in that. Our respective leaders have asked us to keep this debate limited as best we can. I know of only one speaker on my side who is seeking 5 minutes. I think our distinguished chairman covered the matter very carefully as he always does. It has been a privilege for me to participate in the preparation of this conference report and to work on the other committee matters throughout the year. As the chairman said, Senator McCain is on a mission, a mission I happen to support strongly. I am happy to work with Senator Levin instead of Senator McCain. His chief of staff, seated next to me, Mike Kostiw, and I were in constant contact with him, and in every way Senator McCain had hands on in the affairs of the committee this year as ranking member in the preparation of this report. Senator McCain and I have known each other ever since I was Secretary of the Navy. He was then in the prison camps. Shortly thereafter, when he joyously returned home to a nation that welcomed him with open heart, we have been friends ever since. It was quite logical for him to ask me to work in his stead. This is the 29th year Senator Levin and I have occupied these two chairs. Particularly the last 17 years, either I have been chairman or he has been chairman or ranking member of the committee. Our partnership is rather extraordinary. I anticipate he will maintain and continue that strong effort to make this committee what it is, nonpartisan in its function, in large measure, with Senator McCain after my departure a year hence. Again, I salute my good friend for his leadership as chairman this year. He is always open to me and other members of the Republican side of the committee to entertain their views very fairly and objectively, thoroughly. And together with our superb professional staff, we have managed to put together a very commendable bill for the Senate and now this conference report for the whole of the Congress. Having said that, I join in his recognition of Ike Skelton and Duncan Hunter, the two partners we have worked with for many years on the House side. This was his first year as chairman for Congressman Skelton. We worked in the final stages of the preparation of this bill, the four of us, on many key issues to resolve differences between the House and Senate. Ike Skelton is an extraordinary leader. He has been on that committee many years and has been about as long as we have in the Congress. We are fortunate to have his services, as we do the services of Senator Levin. I yield the floor. The chairman may wish to recognize a speaker on his side. Then I will recognize a speaker on our side.

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I thank my good friend. I wish to add our respective wives who have spent long hours waiting for us as we have traveled so many times in these almost 30 years to places all over the world together and left them at home, and many nights late here. They have been a good team to support both of us.

Mr. WARNER. I thank the Senator and I join the chairman. I was going to grant from our time allocation 5 minutes to the Senator from Massachusetts.

Mr. WARNER. Madam President, I thank our distinguished colleague from Massachusetts. He has been a strong, hard-working member of our committee these many years, and I was happy to accommodate him with time. On my side, the distinguished Senator from Georgia has indicated he would not seek to speak. There is one remaining Senator, I understand, the other Senator from Oklahoma, Senator Inhofe. When he appears, I will recognize him for the purpose of making a few remarks.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, I spoke to our friend from West Virginia. He said he will not speak now. He also wants to expedite this bill. On our side, it could be that Senator Inhofe may appear for a minute or two.

Mr. WARNER. Mr. President, first, I thank my distinguished colleague from Nevada for his thoughtful remarks. While we may have differences on the course, direction, and policies, I don't know of any Senator who comes to the floor and can speak with greater sense of compassion on behalf of the men and women who wear the uniform and their families and those who have borne the brunt of this conflict, not only in Iraq but in Afghanistan and other places. I also ask unanimous consent that my colleague from Virginia, Mr. Webb, be granted 2 minutes. He worked with Senator Murray on the Wounded Warrior Act. I knew him very well when he returned from Vietnam. He served on my staff as a young Marine captain. Had it not been for what he suffered in that war, he might still be in the Marine Corps today. I yield the floor.