I would ask the Senator from Georgia further why it is so important to have the intelligence community operatives and lawyers involved in drafting the measure. We had several good ideas offered in the committee that turned out not to be…

would the Senator from Georgia say that this bill not only enables the intelligence community to move forward, but it provides additional protections for Americans, for their privacy and constitutional rights? I would ask him if he thinks…

I might ask, isn't there a danger that if there is an amendment not subject to the 60-vote point of order, it is possible, with various Senators absent, that we could adopt, perhaps, on a 47-to-46 vote, an amendment that would make it…

I ask my colleague why it has taken so long to get us to this point when the Protect America Act expires on February 1?

I would ask my colleague--he just talked about the new protections for U.S. persons overseas: prohibition of reverse targeting, court review of acquisition, minimization, and certification procedures. Now, some have said we just ought to…

I would ask him, after debate on both sides and suggestions from both sides, did we not also include an express prohibition of reverse targeting, as well as providing court review, as he has stated, of minimization, acquisition, and…

I would just ask my good friend if he doesn't agree the Intelligence Committee bills have to pass with 60 votes? I believe the Protect America Act passed with 60 votes. The leader said in December it made sense to have all votes at 60-vote…

I would ask, isn't this the first time any of the FISA bills--even the predecessor FISA bill or the Protect America Act--have included privacy protections for Americans overseas?

if that was a question--and I assume it was a question--let me say that requiring 60 votes is something which has occurred frequently in previous years, when this side had the majority and the other side was in the minority. We found that…

There are some who would demand that a court order be obtained any time a call involved a U.S. citizen. But anybody who understands FISA or intelligence collection knows that is operationally impossible. For 30 years, the intelligence…

Mr. President, we began consideration of this bill on December 17, the FISA Amendments Act of 2007. As my friend the chairman said, it was passed by the Senate Intelligence Committee with overwhelming bipartisan support. It has garnered…

I am happy to respond as soon as we go back to the normal means of proceeding on FISA matters, establishing a 60-vote threshold, which is the standard I had to meet to bring the Protect America Act to the floor. I would certainly expect…

I wish to address the FISA bill. I also commend our majority and minority leaders on their statements about the lives that have been lost by our brave troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. I believe there are a couple of comments that are…

On the substance of the amendment, earlier today in discussing the Judiciary Committee substitute, I pointed out that the FISA Court, or the FISC as it is called, has said: We are not going to get into this area. We don't want to get into…

this measure has been considered in the Intelligence Committee. I believed it was not necessary to require additional paperwork, but also I think it is important to note that some of the charges made about the powers given to the…

last night, as I was preparing to leave my office, I learned, with surprise, that Senator Leahy had made significant modifications to the pending Judiciary Committee substitute. Our study during the night of these modifications revealed…

as the sponsor of the first-degree amendment has noted, this was debated and it was adopted on I believe a 10-to-5 or 9-to-6 vote in the committee, but we found out there were substantial problems with this amendment to which the…

I know there are a number of Members coming down, and I do not want to hold them up, but I do want to point out that my good friend, the senior Senator from Pennsylvania, was concerned that the President's terrorist surveillance program…

Again, we rise with a renewed consideration of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Amendments Act, or the FISA Amendments Act, of 2008. I thank the chairman for his very powerful and thoughtful statement on behalf of the original bill…

born in Grenada, raised in Pascagoula, and educated at the University of Mississippi--there is no denying where Trent Lott is from. He is a true son of Mississippi. Trent is one of my few colleagues who knows how to say ``Missouri'' right…

Mr. President, first let me begin by thanking our majority leader, Senator Reid, and our minority leader, Senator McConnell, for bringing this very important bill to the Senate floor. It is critical that we discuss it, debate it, vote on…

I appreciated hearing from our colleague, who is an original cosponsor of the first FISA bill, and to learn about the negotiations which went on then. But I was a little puzzled to hear how this bill-- this bill, which includes…

I wanted to address three aspects of it. First, for the intelligence community, we must act, and we must act now, to assure that the community has the ability and the tools they need to fight terrorists. Over the last 30 years, the world…

here we go again. We have had an effort to take another vote on whether we should pull out of Iraq. Apparently, it is based on public opinion polls. Some think it would be popular, and certainly the moveon.org and Code Pink wing of the…

I thought I would talk about agriculture and the farm bill today. I have a number of amendments I would like to offer. For example, I have one that we hope will spur the planting of cellulosic feedstock on CRP land, which I think is…