I think that if Mr. Tenet felt the intelligence was bad or misleading, he should have resigned over it.

As we drew closer to the day of the vote, it stuck me as odd that we had never asked for a national intelligence estimate, an NIE.

Totally unusual. The agencies understand that if we're about to take a major military action or even consider one, you bring all your intelligence agencies together and say, what do you know, and what do you know for sure before we put our…

I come to the Senate floor weary--weary after 2 weeks of working on this historic legislation, both in the Senate Judiciary Committee and in the back rooms of the Senate Chamber and on the Senate floor; weary after a long, sleepless night…

the last item I would like to speak to is one that is now in the news for the last several hours. It has been noted that in the court papers filed by Lewis Scooter Libby before the Federal court that he has made some amazing disclosures…

let me salute those on the floor who have been so instrumental in bringing us to this point. I look over and see Senator Martinez, who has worked very hard to find a bipartisan compromise which I now support. I thank him for that…

If I might ask the majority leader, if I understand it, it is a cloture vote on the motion to commit which would make the Martinez substitute the bill before us. If that cloture vote prevails, there is ample opportunity then to amend that…

If we fail to invoke cloture tomorrow, is the majority leader saying we then cannot amend the Martinez substitute that is before us?

today is the day before the departure of Capitol Hill Chief of Police Terry Gainer, a man who has served us so well. I have known Terry Gainer for almost 20 years. He served as superintendent of the Illinois State Police and left that…

I asked my staff how many amendments have been filed to this bill. The number is 228 amendments; 228 amendments have been filed to this bill. If you follow the proceedings of the Senate, you know there is no way on Earth we can consider…

if I might further ask a question, if the Senator from Arizona wants to make it clear that overstays on visas do not disqualify you from the pathway to legalization unless a final order has been entered saying you must be deported, I wish…

today I introduced this resolution, S. Res. 433, honoring the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals on the 140th Anniversary of their founding. The dedicated employees and volunteers of the ASPCA have provided shelter…

let us understand where we are at this moment. In the colloquy with Senator Kyl, I raised an element of his amendment which we, I think, generally agreed needs to be clarified. I hope we can work toward clarification. The Senator from…

If there is no objection on the other side, I renew that unanimous consent that we move immediately to consideration of Mikulski-Warner, 3217; Collins, 3211; Dorgan, 3223; Isakson, 3203, with 2 minutes of debate evenly divided before each…

I say to the Senator from Georgia, I think it would be an interesting debate. We may reach that debate as to what is reasonably secure. There are some, as I understand it, 300 million people who cross our border with Mexico every year in…

I will just say that we believe the underlying bill, the Specter substitute bill, has very strong language to make it clear we do not want anyone in the United States associated with terrorism. We certainly do not want anyone in the United…

The bill explicitly says if you want to move toward legalization, you have to submit yourself to a criminal background check; no criminal record. Frankly, I can't imagine there would be a terrorist who would say, I will wait patiently for…

please let us not wave the bloody shirt of Mohamed Atta. He would be disqualified from this program under existing law. Terrorists are not going to be given a legal pathway to citizenship in America. No one wants that to happen, none of…

over the last hour or two on the floor of the Senate there has been a procedural move by some Senators on the other side of the aisle which reduces the likelihood of a compromise on the immigration bill. I sincerely hope it doesn't end…

Will the Senator help me understand his amendment? As I understand it, he has spent a great deal of time explaining crimes that would be included which would disqualify a person from the possibility of legalization, but he has not spent…

here is what I understand the law to be and what your amendment says. The law, as I understand it, is if you are in the United States on a student visa from a foreign country, you are required to be a full-time student and to stay. If you…

No. I can tell you--reclaiming my time, I would say to the Senator from Idaho, most of the work that has been going on has been off the floor in the Republican caucus because the Republican majority has to decide whether we are going to…

I am seeking recognition, standing on the floor. The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Coburn). The Chair heard the Senator from Kansas first.

and so the Senator from Idaho says we ought to have considered three, five, eight amendments by now. Well, he suggests we are sleepwalking. Perhaps he was sleepwalking when we considered three amendments, the first by Senator Frist, the…

I have been advised that amendments are not being accepted at the moment, so I will withhold it until the appropriate time. I ask unanimous consent to speak to the amendment so that my colleagues will be apprised of its contents. The…