the clerk will read a communication to the senate washington d c september twenty fifth two thousand and seven to the senate new provisions of rule one paragraph three of the standing rules of the senate i hereby point the honorable john tester control the first portions sent as expected resume consideration the defense authorization bill this morning today the senate will recess under previous order entered for our respective party conferences at twelve thirty reconvene at two fifteen some point during today's session it's expected it will receive a message from the house wheeling to the s chip program children's health center will consider that message and take the necessary steps to conclude action and send the president a remarkable scene is playing out in the country of burma for yet another day tens of thousands of peaceful protesters demonstrated throughout burma against the policies of that country's military junta the state patient development council these protests were carried out in defiance of government threats they were led again about barefoot monks dressed and sat rhodes who just a few days ago in a simple but powerful gesture dramatic series of events the gesture was the turning upside down of their arms bowls a symbol of the monk's refusal to accept charity from the regime an act that has the potential to awaken the world to the brutality of this nick iniquitous regime imagine the courage of their actions their nonviolent response is subject to imprisonment and torture from a regime that has done far more to citizens who have done far less earlier today president bush spoke at the united nations general assembly in fact he's probably speaking as i speak he indicated that additional u s sanctions would be applied to the military junta he also called for increased international pressure on this regime present should be applauded for his leadership in promoting democracy and reconciliation  struggle for freedom in burma isn't new nor are we in congress new to it i'm hopeful that other countries will follow the lead of president bush and the united states congress on this issue tonight sions or pivotal to this effort india and china both have a major stake in a prosperous and democratic burma emerging from this unrest they are to act in a constructive manner would be a poor reflection on any of the world's largest democracy fai to act in a meaningful manner but also be a poor reflection on china as that nation begins efforts to showcase itself for the two thousand and eight beijing olympics united nations secretary general himself needs to directly minorities in a peaceful reconciliation process pressure is mounting on the s p d both from within the country and from without yet there is a path forward for the regime and that is the path of genuine reconciliation messages to those inside burma to the peaceful protesters know that the friends of democracy are with you and we are all awed by your courage and your determination because the regime know that the eyes of the world are upon you and recall that the crackdown in one nine hundred ninety eight was followed by sanctions that your government still labors under no two that is the government of burma you are responsible for the safety and well being of the demonstrators and also a bong song suchi know that the path forward is through genuine reconciliation not repression in closing i'd like to note that the s p c is much like any other despotic regime that holds on to power through terror through force and frankly through corruption as well the s p d say will not give away easily to peaceful protest on resistance we must let those in burma his sick peaceful change know that they do not stand alone floor of the previous sort of the leadership time is reserved for the previous order they will now be a period for the transaction of morning business for sixty minutes with the senators permitted to speak therein for up to ten minutes each one with the time equally divided between the two leaders or their designees with the republicans growing the controlling the first half in the majority controlling the final house mr president senator from colorado mr president i rise today to recognize our nation's first responders i along with senators mccain and casey enter dues to resolution senate resolution two fifteen recognizing today september twenty fifth two thousand and seven as national first responders appreciation day the senate acted quickly and passed this resolution by unanimous consent with a total of thirty three sponsors the contributions that our nation's one point one million firefighters six hundred seventy thousand police officers and over eight hundred and ninety thousand emergency medical profession professionals making our communities are familiar to all of us we see the results of their efforts every night on our t v screens i read about them every day in the paper from recent tornados in south east and wildfires in the west in two thousand and seven and the christmas blizzard in colorado in two thousand and six to the tragic events virginia tech columbine high school platt canyon high school and the wrath of hurricane katrina our first responders regularly risked their lives to protect property uphold the law and save the lives of others nationwide many of our first responders take the call on a daily basis and are exposed to life threatening situations performing their jobs many first responders have made the ultimate sacrifice according to craig floyd chairman of the national law enforcement officers memorial fund a total of one thousand six hundred and forty nine law enforcement officers died in the line of duty during the past ten years there's an average of one death every fifty three hours or one hundred sixty five per year and one hundred forty five law enforcement officers will were killed in two thousand and six in addition according to the united states prior administrat hundred ninety six through two thousand and five over one thousand five hundred firefighters were killed in the line of duty and tens of thousands were injured this is also to note that four and five medics are injured on the job more than one in two fifty percent have been assaulted by a patient and one in two fifty percent have been exposed to an infectious disease and emergency medical service personnel in the united states have an estimated fatality rate of temp and twelve point seven per one hundred thousand workers more than twice the national average and most emergency medical service personnel deaths in the line of duty occur in abingdon ambulance accidents yet to recognize our first responders only for their sacrifices would be to ignore the every day contributions that they make and communities throughout america in addition to battling fires firefighters perform important fire prevention and public education duties by teaching our children how to be fire safe police officers don't simply arrest criminals they actively prevent crime and make our neighborhoods safer and more livable and if we our loved ones experience a medical emergency e are there at a moment's notice to provide lifesaving care last saturday i hosted a first responder appreciation day in northern colorado and was overwhelmed by the support shown to our first responders by the public farmers and ranchers small business owners and members of the human ear like thank their firefighters paramedics sheriff's dept deputies and police officers for being there at a moment's notice to lend a hand putting their own safety at risk as a practicing veterinarian and a former health officer and rural colorado i can attest to the numerous times i call the first responders to help me get through a situation in many ways our first responders embody the very best of the american spirit with charity and combat and compassion these brave men and women regularly put the well being of others before their own often times that great personal risk to their actions they have become heroes to men who their example they are role models to all of us to all our first responders thank you for your service i asked my colleagues to please join me today in recognizing september twenty fifth as national first responders appreciation day as we honor first responders for their contributions sacrifices and dedication to public service thank you mr  this present senator from arizona thank you mr president i'd like to speak to the two items that are before us as we're considering the defense authorization bill this morning the first has to do with an amendment that has been offered by senator lieberman and myself and others to declare the islamic revolutionary guard corps a terrorist organization which would if we do that permit us to engage in economic sanction activity it's the financing operations of the i r g c that's important because according to all of the evidence that we have it is the i r g c that has been primarily responsible for the infusion into iraq of the very dangerous equipment that has been causing great harm to our troops there is specially the new super penetrator devices that are blowing up not just humvees but also even abrams tanks and it is the i r g c that's responsible for training of iraqis to be fighting our troops in iraq and generally bringing the iranian government's anti american  activities from iran into iraq it is the it is because of the i r g c these activities as a terrorist organization that our troops are dying  portions of iraq today and therefore totally fitting for us to express our sense to the administration that it should designate the ira g c as a terrorist organization thus permitting us to invoke these economic sanctions against it and the r c interestingly enough engages in a great deal of financial activity around the world which makes these particular sanctions especially appropriate and potentially a very effective i am pleased that it appears that there will be an agreement  on some slight modifications of language of the amendment which will permit us to presumably have a near unanimous vote when this is considered perhaps later this morning but certainly today and i'm looking forward to  with senator levin and senator lieberman so that we can discuss our joint understanding's precisely what this resolution means and be able to act upon it so that we can send a very clear message to the iranian government that its involvement against united states troops in iraq will not be countenanced that is especially poignant the day after the appearance by the iranian president at a major united states university and his appearance today at the united nations in which it's pretty clear that he will say just about anything to advance what he believes is the cause animating iran's activities in the world today whether it's truthful or not and it seems to me that until there is firm pushback against this man and against the regime which he runs and the terrorist arm of that regime the i r g c they're going to continue to do what they do and that's  why it's especially poignant today as i said that the senate act on this sense of the senate resolution to designate the ira g c as a terrorist organization the other matter that i want to briefly talk about mr president is another amendment that's pending before us offered by the senator from delaware now this is an amendment that contains several preamble statements about the situation in iraq and  upon the iraqi government to convene a council which would result in the creation of federal regions within iraq this is something that the iraqi constitution and a special law that was passed permit but does not mandate and it seems to me that it would be a very big mistake on the part of the united states government to be seen as demanding that the iraqi government take this step which some would  see as a breaking apart of the nation of iraq a partitioning of the country of iraq into different pieces the people of iraq have the authority to do that under this special law and under their constitution they fully have intended to have some kind of conference to consider whether or not to do it but i think it would be a big mistake for us to be seen as dictating to the iraqi people how they want their government ultimately  o to be governed to two to exist and operate and the creation of federal regions may be an appropriate way for them to do this it may not but that decision should be left to them i think there's been an assumption that at least one federal region in the kurdish north would be recognized but there are questions about whether other federal regions would be and i recognize that there are some in the united states and even in this body who believe that it would be best for iraq if it were divided into federal regions maybe they're right maybe they're not right but it's clearly up to the iraqi people to make this decision and so were we to express ourselves on this i think would also be important for us to confirm our understanding and belief and commitment to the sovereignty of the people of iraq to make this decision and to make it clear that nothing in this particular resolution in any way is intended to  undercut the sovereignty of the iraqi people to make this decision for themselves otherwise i fear that the resolution could be read as united states dictating to the iraqis what their country is going to look like in the future and especially because this relates to the partitioning of the country it seems to me that this would be a very arrogant step on our part and something that obviously we don't want to be seen as doing i also would make the point that some of the recitations at the beginning of this  resolution are misleading if not outright wrong it deals talked about the sectarian violence in the country and there is sectarian violence but it totally ignores the activities of al and since al qaeda has spawned much of the sectarian by well it's it seems to me that this is an incredibly important omission especially because there are some in this body that talk about a change in mission eventually having our mission in iraq evolve to simply a counterterrorism mission recognizing that al qaeda is a significant force in the country and that we need to deal with al qaeda we have al qaeda on the run in the country but al qaeda isn't gone by any means and in addition to that al sectarian violence without any reference to the terrorism that's occurring because of al qaida would would i think be a glaring omission and would raise significant questions especially if there are those who suggest that  we should eliminate a message of counterinsurgency this is also totally contradictory because if you if you contend that the primary violence in the country right now or you refer to all of the violence violence but there is no counterinsurgency mission for the united states then basically what you're saying is we simply leave that country into the tender to the tender mercies of all of those groups and gauged in the sectarian violence and that we know is antithetic al to any kind of peaceful resolution of the disagreements that exist in that country and eventually reconciliation of the people of the country so it seems to me that a resolution of this type can do more harm than good in creating confusion about what the united states is understanding of the situation in the country is number one number two failing to recognize the prominent role that al qaida is playing and the importance of our mission in dealing with al qaeda and third suggesting that it is the united states is position to dictate to the iraqi people that they need to partition their country when in fact that is a decision that needs to be left to them which they they could make if they wanted to under their constitution but certainly aren't required to do and nothing that we do here that we would require them to do so we have to recognize the sovereignty of that country this present final point i want to make here is simply this we've been on the defense authorization bill now for two weeks and fourteen days we were on it for many days a couple of months ago until the bill was pulled and there's been a lot of criticism especially my colleague the chairman of the or the ranking member on the armed services committee has made the point that the time is long past that we should have passed  defense authorization bill which contains so many important elements for our troops the pay raise for the troops the wounded warrior legislation and other important elements that are critical for our armed services and for us to continue to simply use this bill as a vehicle to deal with endless resolutions dealing with iraq and i gather there are a couple more that are on the way is a misuse of the legislative process and of this important piece of legislation so that my colleagues would conclude one of these days that we have to pass the defense authorization bill for the good of the troops and and stop this endless debate about trying to change our policy or missions in iraq we've had that debate over and over and over again we're going to have it again in the future but let's not let it dominate everything we do in this body i hope that we can get on to the final passage on the defense authorization ternational terrorism particularly the quds force which is sort of the siddur ery regarding our troop presence in iraq the question i guess we need to ask ourselves is why would the iranian government  and other organizations be sponsoring militia groups who are trying to kill americans in iraq there's a purpose for everything i know where they're from my point of view were there to try to stabilize a country post saddam hussein era that representative government a democratic process now what would it not my belief is that the reason that the iranian regime is so hell bent on making sure the iraqi experiment in tolerance fails in representative government from a theocracy point of view from the iranian government's point of view the biggest nightmare for them would be a representative government in iraq on their border so they're not going to give that to the iraqi people that they're certainly not don't give it to us without a fight and we need to realize that we're in a proxy war with iran over the outcome of iraq and for those who did determine that this is a civil war in iraq that the outcome is about who runs iraq i think you misunderstand the role rand is playing around is trying to shape a rock in a way not to be a threat t iran they're trying to shape iraq in a way that would be detrimental to our long term national security interest they're trying to be able to say to the world that they stood up the american drove us out there trying to expand their influence by defeating us and in iraq and  trying to destabilize a representative form of government which would again be a nightmare so this resolution designating the iranian revolutionary guard as a terrorist organization is well founded based on the evidence is being gathered against this organization and there's more to come and i've had a chance to be over in iraq a couple of times now looking some cases involving iranian involvement with the killing and kidnapping kidnapping of american soldiers so there's more evidence to come about iran's involvement in trying to kill americans and they stabilize this representative government and in iraq now the second resolution is what role should we play and in dictating the outcome of this representative experiment  in government in iraq the biden resolution i have great respect for senator biden i just think is ill advised for us in the senate to be passing a resolution basically dictating our trying to give our sense of what should happen in iraq because that destroys whole underpinning of what we're trying to do the three groups can live separate and apart from each other without regional consequences i think is unfounded the shias who wish a theocracy for iraq could never that's never going to happen the region is not going to allow that to happen so at the end of the day i believe that the effort to reconcile iraq and in central baghdad will be successful not since the senate resolution by a desired sense of the people of iraq and one thing i've learned from my last visit was that local reconciliation in iraq is political writing because people are very much tired of the killing their war weary and there's a suicide bomber way going on right now against reconciliation efforts in the al a province where twenty one people were killed were meeting to reconcile that province so al qaeda is alive and well in iraq they're greatly diminished but they show up for reconciliation is being discussed the reason they show up for reconciliation is being discussed is their big nightmare to have iraq come together in a woman have a say about her children and sunni's shias and kurds live in peace in reject their extremist view of the qur'an so the players in iraq iran and al qaeda are very much pushing back hard the question for this country is will we stand up to him and push back equally hard and stand by the moderate forces in iraq imperfect as they may be so i hope one resolution passes designating an iranian the iranian revolutionary guard as a terrorist organization i hope the other resolution trying to give our sense of what to do in iraq from a cut from the senate's point of fails and will allow the iraqi people to work out their problems with our help but insist that they get on with it so with that i will yield the floor center from new hampshire i asked to proceed as if in morning business for five minutes the center  alumni of columbia college to ask a question which i suspect is on the mind of a lot of alumni of columbia college and probably just a lot of average americans wandering around the country which is why why did they create a forum where the president over in a way that basically almost made it look like a sympathetic figure because of the actions of the president of the college open dialogue on our campuses is important we all recognize that in fact it's the essence of have a good education in columbia has a strong history ironically of having an extraordinary curriculum called a core curriculum which requires you to study all sorts of subjects whether you want to study them or not so that you gain knowledge in a variety of different areas and are exposed to a variety of different areas and i have always felt their core curriculum was one of the great strengths of the college it was certainly one of the things that i most enjoy while i was there and so open discussion and having people on the campus who are have an opinion which is antithetical to the values of our society a is i suppose  reasonable is that you have to put it in the context of what other discussion is allowed on our allegedly elite university campuses or even some campuses which are maybe not ivy league and that is that if you are a have a view which is conservative and you happen to be want to express that opinion you're quite often limited as to your ability to speak on those campuses that i for example would suspect would be very hard to get a date for donald rumsfeld to speak at columbia i suspect it would be probably even more difficult to get a date for the president i stayed to speak to them and i'm absolutely sure that the vice pres in the united states would never be invited to speak at columbia and so one has to ask the question why did they decide to give a form to an individual who is running a government of a country the purposes of which are to develop a nuclear weapon which nuclear weapon will be used weapons will be used to threaten world stability and clearly threaten their neighbors in the middle holocaust was a theoretical event maybe never happen and absurd statement even yesterday was so far as describe his whole society of having nobody a homosexual per he is leading a terrorist nation or a terrorist government the nation itself is not terrorist i suspect a terrorist government which is in the process of arming people in iraq who are killing american soldiers and yet colombia invites him and gives him a forum in which to spread his is values to the extent you can call them values or his views it's seems ironic an inconsistent and highly inappropriate in the context of what columbia would not allow in the area of open discussion which would be to have for example the vice president i state speak i suspect and then university was so agree just in the way that he handled the situation in my opinion that he actually almost made the president of iran look somewhat sympathetic which is almost impossible to do but the attitude of arrogance and the officiousness and the posturing of positions and questions by the president of columbia in a way that basically gave dijon the opted to nitty to basically respond as if he were being coherent because the questions and the attacks were so university by the president university and you know as an alumni i was embarrassed but it quite simply embarrassed by the fact that they would choose to give this individual such a forum this individual who will probably for my children my two oldest children and maybe even our generation be the most significant threat to world peace that we have soon as he develops his nuclear weapon which is on the course to doing and then to compound that by setting it before him up in a way where the president of the university basically went way beyond what would be considered to be a coherent and thoughtful and and balanced addressing this individual would've been much more effective at the president a university simply allowed the president of iran to make a statement and by his own statement have indicted him self because that's exactly what he would have done and he did but unfortunately rather than the president of iran becoming the issue which he should be president university made himself part of the story and the issue it was not a good day for colombia or for alumni of columbia in my humble opinion and it speaks volumes in my opinion about the level to which the universities in our country especially those who proclaim themselves to lead have sunk in the area of setting up open and free dialogue because as i said as has been seen in various universities across this country conservative thought would not have been given the type of form that this militaristically individual whose purpose is to essentially destabilize the world through the use by acquiring nuclear weapons as the as his for he was given the form others would not be given such a for and so mr president will regret that i rise today to ask why why why dick lumpia pursue this course and why did the president university pursue the course he pursued in responding to the attendance of the president of iran on its campus now you before senator from michigan first mr president behalf of the leader i ask unanimous consent at the time for morning business to be extended to eleven forty five a m today under the same conditions and limitations as previous previously order of the children's healthcare program this is really a historic bipartisan effort that has been put together and it's something that we've done together for all of our families and children across america we urgently need to pass this bill in its final form and send it on to the president of the united states and the house of representatives is doing that today and it will then come to us and there is no question that it is one of the most important things that we will do this year not only guaranteeing that children to some six million children that currently receive  this children's healthcare program will be able to continue to get health care but we will be expanding upwards of another four million children who will be able to have the health care that they need and deserve to particularly thank our leaders on the finance committee senator baucus and grassley and rockefeller unhappy for working together and such a wonderful way that has given us the opportunity in the senate to come together with the original vote on the bill being sixty eight members of the senate sixty eight members of the senate and in addition to that now we are so thrilled to have senator johnson back with us so that that his vote will be added as well to this very very important program i also want to thank our leader senator harry reid for making this a top priority and for personally engaging and the negotiations that took place to be able to get to the point where we have something that we can move forward on in the house in the senate in a bipartisan way this really builds on the bipartisan spirit that created the whole program in one nine hundred ninety seven i was in the u s house of representatives representing mid michigan at the time and felt as we put that together than that it was an incredibly important statement of our values and our priorities we're talking about working families moms and dads who go to work every day maybe one two three jobs who are trying to hold things together and desperately want to make sure that their children the health care they need and that's what this legislation is all about that's what this program is all about among many good things that have been placed into this bipartisan legislation i'm very proud to say that it makes important improvements in dental care in mental health care for children it looks at quality issues and health information technology i'm very pleased that language that i authored concerning creating a get medical records for children of pediatric electronic medical record is in this legislation so that we can bring children's information together around immunizations and other kinds of health care needs in one place so that we can more effectively have them treated and have doctors and hospitals knowing what in fact the children's medical record is i'm also very pleased another piece of this that i had worked on  school based health centers and the importance of recognizing them as part of the continuum of care for children this bill really does represent a very successful public sector and private sector partnership that helps our families and make sure that more children children of working families are able to get health care in this country in my state of michigan a private insurer runs what we call the my child program last year nearly one third of the children in michigan relied on either healthy kids through medicaid for low income children or my child which represents working families for health care coverage about three quarters of the children have at least one working parent and i must say that often times that mom mom trying to again work one job or two jobs or three jobs desperately concerned about her children and needing to put food on the table needing to buy them school clothes needing to get them what they need to be able to survive and function every day and also knowing that they desperately need to go to the dentist to be able to get a dental check up or be able to get a basic kinds of health care and i know too many people who tell me that they go to bed at night saying please god don't let the kids get sick this program in michigan my child and this program that we are now coming together and i buy cars and bases to expand says to those parents somebody is hearing you and that we as a country as a congress care about the children of this country and making sure they have their health care needs met it's so important to stress and that this is not a program for while for the families for the rich kids we've heard so much misinformation about what this program is all about in michigan a family of four can now make over forty thousand dollars to qualify for my child this is again a family of four if there are two working parents a working just barely above poverty level this allows them to be able to get the health insurance they need for their children the second based center for civil justice shared a story with me i'd like to share mr president about a young mother named christy her husband was laid off and the family income drop less than two thousand dollars a month for a family of five though less than twenty four thousand dollars a year for a family of five nearly half of that goes into rand and utilities like most families and the children's health care program in michigan my child has helped their three children who are four years old three years old and eight months and thankfully they've been able to in michigan we've had a dental benefit which is something that we're going to provide through this bill but without that chris's children would not have what they need and recently one of her children needed to have their tonsils removed i remember those days with my children and they would not have been able to be done and could have turned into a much more serious situation for that child if it was not for the children's health care program it makes a difference in children's lives every day another mom pam is a full time preschool teacher and mother her monthly premiums of three hundred eighty four dollars per month or over forty five hundred dollars per year would have taken up a fifth of her of her pay if she was trying to pay through a private individual plan but through my child choose a will to get the specialized care she needed for her youngest daughter who suffers from a rare seizure disorder she would not have been able to care for her daughter if it were not for the children's health care program like pam most working families families simply can't afford traditional health insurance and make ends meet be able to pay the rent the utilities the mortgage payment be able to purchase food and school clothes and then on top of that find an individual policy that is affordable in the private market cording to the commonwealth on nearly three quarters of people living below two hundred percent of poverty find it very difficult or impossible to find affordable coverage in the individual market premiums for individual market coverage for families with income hundred percent of poverty and a hundred ninety nine percent of poverty which is what we are talking about and this is what we have in michigan on average one quarter of the families total income one quarter twenty five percent would be premiums for health care in the private market faced with these costs many families just don't have the coverage because they can't afford to do it and at the same time put food on the table the situation is even worse for families who have chronic could get conditions like asthma or juvenile diabetes if they were able to purchase coverage in the individual market costs would be much much higher the children's health program but it's important to note is also not just for kids in cities it's not just an urban program this is a program that helps all children regardless of where they live and in fact according to the carse institute they found that there were more children rural areas that were benefiting from the children's healthcare program than in urban areas thirty two percent of world her children versus twenty six percent of urban children so this really is something that touches every single part of the country every single part of our states and families all throughout america who are working hard every day and count us to help them be able to get their children the health care they need we're taking a huge step forward for our nation's uninsured children the vast majority of whom seventy eight percent seventy eight percent live in working families seventy eight percent living in a home where mom and or dad are working but they are not making enough to be able to afford that premiums in the private individual market because of the importance of the children's health care program is so critical for so many families i urge my colleagues not to listen to inaccurate statements or negative attacks but to join together as we have done in a wonderful bipartisan effort in the united states senate to send a very strong message to this president that we come together on behalf of the children and the working families of america to put our values and priorities in the right place that's what we're talking about here this is about choices this is about values this is about priorities this bill is totally in line with what president bush promised at the two thousand and four republican convention he said at that time in a new term we will lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor children who are eligible but not signed up for government health insurance programs we will not allow a lack of attention or information to stand between these children and the health care they need well mr president this bipartisan compromise this bipartisan victory that has been put together in the united states congress in an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor children into a successful public private partnership this bill before this is a real chance to make a real difference in the lives of millions of children millions of children without and the children's health care program will not have that chance we need to do the right thing every day we wait children are are growing they don't wait for us to grow up they keep on growing whether we're debating whether we're and committee meetings what we gardeners of what we're doing these children of america just keep on growing and they keep on having means as dental or broad health care needs are mental health needs it's time to do the right thing we have it in our grasp a tremendous amount of hard work has gone into this let's remember the bipartisan spirit that created this great program in one thousand nine hundred seven that's remember the children's health insurance program is truly a great american success story that we can all take credit for we can all join together in taking credit for it let's pass this bill and most importantly let's together urge the president and eyes states to do the right thing i mean half of the children of america freshman our nation's first of all i thank senator stabenow my friend from michigan for comments about children's health she is right on about that look at the choice we were we going to spend two and a half billion dollars a week in iraq two and a half billion dollars a week yet we're unwilling per year to spend seven billion dollars to insure four million additional children some seventy five thousand in my state fifty or sixty thousand in a senator stabenow state of michigan next door's two and a half billion dollars a week in the war in iraq yet the president says no or says he's going to say no says he's going to be told this bill seven billion dollars a year on children's health for four million children it's just outrageous i was to present our nation haphazard trade policy has done plenty of damage to a high was economy to our workers to our manufacturers to our small businesses recent news reports of tainted foods and toxic toys reveal another hazard of ill conceived and an in forced trade rules they subject american families american children to products that can harm them that in some cases have even killed them from pet food to toothpaste from tires to toys new stories almost every day highlight the consequences of our nation's failed trade policy countries like china lack basic protections that we have come to take for granted in our country given the well known dangers of lead particularly of young children our government banned it from products like gasoline and paint back i believe in the one nine hundred seventy s yet our trade policies turning back the clock on the hard fought safety standards that keep our families and our children safe what happened should come as no surprise when we trade the way did we do when we buy two hundred eighty eight billion dollars of products from the people's republic of china last year two hundred eighty eight billion dollars this year will probably exceed three hundred billion in we're trading with a country that doesn't have even close to the same safety standards for its own workers the same environmental standards for its own air the same safe drinking water standards for its own water why would we spec expect them to sell safe products to our country compound by the fact that companies like mattel every year they say to their chinese subcontractors we want cheaper we want you to cut costs lead paint use it it's cheaper cut corners sir we can save money so it's no surprise that because because of because american corporations of push the chinese to cut costs at the same time it's china doesn't have labor standards of any consequence doesn't have clean air and sea prinking water standards for their own people of course they're going to sell products back to our country contaminated toothpaste and pet food a dangerous toys lead based pai our trade policies should prevent these problems not invite them despite the real in the present danger from chinese imports but we must not focus soley though and consumer threats from china the real threat is overall mr president our failed trade policy that allows recall after recall the real threat is our failure to change course in craft a new very different trade policy the real threat is this administration's insistence on more of the same more trade pacts it's an us jobs overseas more trade pacts that allow companies and countries to ignore the rules of fair trade more trade pacts that will mean more tainted products in our home more dangerous toys for our children more recalls for our businesses the administration and its free trade supporters in congress are gearing up for another trade fight they want to force our nation a nation in november in montana and in ohio and across the country demand a change to force in our nation more job killing trade agreements with unreliable standards free trade agreements with peru and panama in colombia and south korea currently being debated in congress are all based on the same failed trade model this week the peru trade agreement at the forefront of the trade debate between fundamentally flawed trade models what more of the same in the fight for fair trade we want more trade we want plenty of trade we just want it we want fair trade we want different rules the peru free trade agreement like the north american free trade agreement while it has some improvements over that the proof free trade agreements puts limits on the safety standards we can require for imports f d a inspect receive rejected seafood imports from peru and panama major seafood suppliers to the united states and yet the current trade agreements as proposed the bush administration peru agreement in panama agreement limit food safety standards and border inspection so whatever's happened already where we have frankly we have bought too many products that have been contaminated too much contaminated seafood imports whatever problems we have this trade agreement will make it worse because this trade agreement will limit our own food safety standards and our own border inspections adding insult to injury the agreements would force the u s to rely on foreign inspectors to ensure our safety we've seen how well that's worked with china it's time for a new direction our trade policy it's time for a pro trade policy that ensures the safety of food on our kitchen tables in toys in our children's bedrooms it's time for a trade policy that creates new businesses and good job good paying jobs at home instead of a trade policy that encourages companies to outsource in move overseas it's time for a trade policy that puts an end to the global exploitation of cheap labor voters in november shouted from the ballot boxes demanding a new trade policy there resound in coffer a new trade policy put members on top of congress on notice that their trade votes in washington matter to voters back home with peru with panama with  colombia with south korea voters in my home state of ohio and across the nation are watching these trade but trade debates everyone agrees on one thing mr present we want more trade with countries around the world but first we must protect we must protect the safety in the health of our families and our children first thanks mr president united states enjoying liberties here that are not enjoyed in his home country by his fellow citizens of iran i want to make a point of that i also want to talk a little bit about what he has  said and then what he has done is i think there's a substantial difference here and at the end of this i want to point out that i do believe we should pass the labor men kyl kyl lieberman amendment regarding iran designation terrorist in iraq which i think would be very important present ogmund took advantage of the freedoms we enjoy in the united states to spread lies i believe his appearance was disgraceful i think the thing the that he is saying are outright lies of what he is putting forward what he is saying versus what he has done he looked his audience in the eye and he lied he knew he was telling lies and as the audience knew he was telling lies i was talking about the real truth inside iran and i want to speak now about what's taking place in that country i've chaired the middle east subcommittee in the past i've worked on the issues regarding iran i've tried and work to secure and we have secured funding for civil society development inside iran i work with a number of iranian diaspora and dissidents that have been forced out of that country we have seen it taking place on the news present not mandated judges enjoying liberties now in this country that are not of a little in his own country to his own people it seems to me he would be wiser to spend time in his own country developing these same sort of civil liberties for individuals and renouncing terrorism in his own country rather than trying to go to the world trade center site  the iranian government represses women and minorities the iranian government does not tolerate religions other than its own extreme version of shia islam for example an example consider the bahais of iran since nine hundred seventy nine islamic republic of iran has blocked the bahais access to higher education refused them entry into universities and expelled them when they are discovered to be the highs recently a seventy year old man was seven was sentenced to seventy lashes and a year in prison for profit for quote propagating and spreading the high ism and the defamation of the pure and mom's seventy year old man seventy lashes a year in prison we must stand with the teachers who are getting purged from academic institutions in iran for speaking their minds and with the iranian american scholars who are being arrested on trumped up charges and with a newspaper editors who refused to censor according to government demands isn't it amazing the present uk mundane a judge would see that taking place in his own country and yet would come here to enjoy our civil liberties and free press freedom of assembly to speak his mind here in this country when he can't do it he can't do it in their own country we should be reaching out to the students the labor activists and the brave leaders of iran fledgling civil  and offering our support for their views and for an open society in iran it's not only a moral imperative but i believe it's also in the strategic interest of the united states and of people of civil societies and of the west throughout the world this context is important as we consider the amendment offered by sen lieberman and carl yesterday oxman dana just claimed iran is a free country where women are respected and life is good for the iranian people we know that this is not true yesterday we also heard from auckland in a judge that iran does not want to attack israel that it is not meddling in iraq and afghanistan and it does not want to nuclear weapon we know this is not true they are meddling in iraq attacking our troops with weapons developed in iran they have held conferences stating a world without israel in a world without the united slater's would say that the i r g c is not a threat but we have no reason to believe them in fact we know that the i r g c is killing our soldiers in iraq it is working with hezbollah in lebanon and is and it is present in other countries around the world advancing the agenda of the supreme leader in iran the r g c is the very definition of a terrorist organization and iran as a nation is the lead sponsor of terrorism around the world the i r g c should be designated formally as a terrorist organization so that the full power of the american government can be applied to combat in its activities r g c is not a normal military arm of a sovereign government it is the operational division of the world's most dangerous state sponsor of terrorism we think of terrorism as a threat we must designate the i r g c as a terrorist organization i would hope that the president of iran would read announced terrorism and the support for terrorism today although i don't i know he won't i want to show my colleagues on another matter that we're going to be voting on shortly on the bi n brownback resolution a map and this is about iraq that i want to put up and forward and i just would like to note to my colleagues in the time that i have here when president bush saw that the military situation was devolving on the ground was moving toward civil war he called for a military surge he was saying it's just not working we're not getting control we need more troops i had difficulty with that i really questioned whether it would work but i think you have to say that this has worked that it has calmed much of the situation down we don't know for what period of time is certainly produced a lot of results in anbar province i was at fort leavenworth in kansas yesterday meeting with a number of key leaders in the military who have been in and out of iraq several times quite pleased with a number of the positive things moving forward in iraq and the military situation if we look at the g a o report what's taking place on the political situation in iraq where there's been a military surge when the military surge has produced results what i'm contending now is that we need a political surge because we've got a military situation that's more stable it's certainly not completely stable in iraq but it's produced an environment where we need a political surge and the current political set up is not producing that now when the military situation wasn't producing its results we made changes the political situation is not producing this result and i suggest we have to have changes in this and we didn't hesitate to move forward with a u s strategy on getting a keep in a civil war from going full blown in iraq i think we should work with a political surge now in iraq because this piece isn't working and whatever two people that testified two weeks ago general petraeus and ambassador crocker the focus was on general petraeus when i think the focus really should have been on a basher crocker as we can see that in the g a o assessment they have met three benchmarks benchmarks politically partially met four benchmarks and did not meet a level of the political benchmarks that we in the congress had said that the administration had gone along with and said yes those are realistic so out of eighteen total eleven not met at all or only partially met and three met that is not working politically i'm showing a map up here this is  iraq under the ottoman empire it is showing it broken into three categories is referred to as mesopotamia at that point in time it had a shia south a sunni middle and a kurdish north with baghdad as a federal study they had broken into three states my point in saying this carol recognize this was raised in farm country is raised on a farm you can work with nature or you can fight it and my experience has been you're a lot more successful when you work with the weather then you try to fight it there's a natural set up here in iraq there are divisions that people have lived with and in for a long period of time and we could try to force the whole thing together and hold it together with a strong military force or you can recognize these difficulties and you say we're going to work with this and we have in the north in the kurdish harshing of the country has the courage from the kurdish portion i was up there in january stable growing investments taking place people moving into the area the exact sort of thing that we want to see taking place across all of iraq wouldn't it be wise at this point in time to allow a sunni state to develop still one country but devolving power to throw anymore down to a state level of government and having the sunni's have the police force and having a military in their region and the shia doing the same in their region so that they trust this structure so that they're willing to work with this so that this is a political structure that can meet some benchmarks that we set another set and why would we be hesitant about putting a political surge in pushing this if we weren't hesitant about pushing a military surge and pushing that piece of it i don't see why we would do that and i want to show you as well a map of bosnia herzegovina and this was before the dayton accords and then after the dayton accords here is a very diverse map of what was taking you had people moving to various parts to feel more comfortable and more secure and then this sort of that and then you saw the bosnia herzegovina lines under the dayton peace agreement that the united states pushed it was a political agreement because the people on the ground could integrate of this themselves this is something that they could not deal with on their own because their own people say well we don't trust these guys or we don't trust those guys we can't deal with them and we had to come in with a very aggressive both military force that's still sitting here to enforce an agreement that is uncomfortable on the ground we came in with a political s ok this is something that should take place we forced the parties to come to an agreement and they've been at a relative peace there has been different breakout cers tension that are in the region there is in the region we still have troops in the areas many others do fifteen years later but this has has maintained a relative peace now i show you a map of did now my point in saying that is that at times in these sorts of situations i believe you have to have a u s push military or political surge and here between particularly the sunni and shia which have not been able to get along the sunni have run the country for a century but they're in the minority they think they still ought to run the country but that's not going to happen the shia are in a majority are not confident at all that the sunni aren't coming back to run the place again and they don't trust them to do that and so you see all this ethnic splitting going up this is baghdad this is the to grace river going to the middle and you can see this is purifying more sunni and this is purified more shia that's the  this way or she purifying if you will soon if you're fine on the other side of it and a lot of people moving out of this region i think this makes all the sense in the world and then stuff instead of trying to fight against this and trying to far force sunni and shia together in a one government that has a strong centralized government that you're only ever going to get a weak shia government out of because the kurds and the sunni's are not going to agree with a strong sh government they devolve the power and authority mostly out of the state and you let them run and you have a sunni is right in this region you have a shia run in this region within baghdad and that's the way that you can work with the natural set up of the situation  that's what we're calling for in the biden brownback resolution that has a number of co sponsors from both sides it is a political surge that recognizes the realities on the ground and says that this is something that can produce results in keeping with what we're doing militarily in trying to get the political environment that it can work in but this current political set up is not going to work it's not produced results it's not produced results to date it is unlikely to produce results in the future i think it has failed as a political structure and this is allowed and we've seen a portion of this already work in the northern region in the kurdish region where the kurds run their area and this is stabilized and moving forward that's why i would urge my colleagues to look at this i think this is a positive step on our part i think it is a positive step for the iraqis some of my colleagues believe it's us dictating to them what they ought to do  i would contend that in the dayton peace agreements we pushed awfully hard now they still had to make the decision as the iraqis will on this also believe that because of the ethnic sectarian divisions that have existed for some period of time that unless an outside force comes in and pushes aggressively these things are unlikely to happen because the leaders aren't going to be able to lead their people voluntarily it's going to be something they have to be some push we are going to have to work with the nations in the region on this as well to make sure that particularly folks that we've worked with a lot of the saudis and the jordanians in particular and others within the region as well are ones that are supportive of this i think what we have to assure them is that it will remain one country  that they've all been adamant about is that iraq main one remain one country this would remain one country as bosnia herzegovina is remain one country although it's split into two states we can do this it is a positive step it is a bipartisan step on a topic that certainly could use a little bit of bipartisanship we haven't had much on iraq and that's the way we overall lose in a situation is when we split here if we will stand together here we will not lose over there and we need to start calling people together here around some sort of common idea and not say that well because it's a democrat idea i guess we can't do it or because it wasn't  proposed by certain individuals we are going to do it let's let's pull together on this thing and this is something that can and will work and it's something we need to because if we can get this to stabilize we can start pulling our troop levels back i do not believe we pull our troop levels completely out of iraq for some period of time just as we're still in the bosnia region for some period of time we can pull troop levels back certainly pulling back to the kurdish the sunni and into baghdad as an area to keep as a stabilizing force for some years to come but not be losing our troops on a daily basis to be able to get those troop levels down i mean this is something we can work bipartisan together and get us polian together and get us and stable political environment it is not a perfect solution it is there isn't a perfect solution that exists i think is a far better want and far more likely to produce political results on a benchmark basis of stability that we can work with and that we can then move forward in facing other more difficult situations and why there are equally difficult situations that we have in the region namely as i started off senator from illinois asking ems consent to suspend the corn call without objection sword and unanimous consent speaks of morning business the senator has that right mr president today marks an important anniversary in america's continuing efforts to create a truly just a more perfect union it was fifty years ago today fifty years that nine courageous high school students in little rock arkansas stood up to a jeering threatening crowd the ark and saw national guard and their own governor to claim their fundamental right for equal educational opportunity i can still recall as a child remembering that scene seeing it on black and white television a scene that's been replayed so many times watching those students as they walk through that gauntlet of hate into a high school high school for most of us was a joyous experience a happy experience for many of this these students their high school career began with fear these young people not chosen by any scientific method but almost by chance came to be known as the little rock nine thankfully it's hard for many americans to understand what courage it took for them to walk into little rock central high school in one thousand nine hundred fifty seven you know what it took for those kids to walk into that high school it took an order from president dwight david eisenhower the protection of the united states army the extraordinary legal talents a future supreme court justice thurgood marshall marshall and bailey guidance from caring adults such as daisy and elsie bates above all it took the daily faith and courage of those nine young kids and their families the crowd that surrounded little rock central that day may have disappeared after a few tense days but the  threats to those nine students continued for the entire school year in the end those nine young students became america's teachers they showed us and they showed america how we could live closer to our ideals though their names will always be linked first and foremost with our console the people of my state are proud for the little rock nine went on to college in illinois gloria ray carle mark earned a mathematics degree from the illinois institute of technology in chicago three of the little rock nine earned degrees at southern illinois university a great university in my state which prides itself on having open doors and cast away any racial prejudice very very early it became well known throughout the african american community as a place where higher education was available for those african american students who were striving to better themselves many jean brown tricky graduated from southern illinois university went on to a distinguished career in education social work and public service that included serving in the clinton administration as a deputy secretary of the u s department terrier dr terrence roberts earned a master's degree in a ph d in psychology from s r u today he's a professor and practicing psychologist in california film a motor years before she retired a lot changed in america over the last fifty years little rock central high school remains one of the best most challenging high schools in arkansas and today has an african american student body president other communities that were once deeply divided by race and not all of them in the south i might add have changed as well in my home state my land of lincoln a few weeks ago i visited a town i've come to know over many decades kero annoying those who are not familiar with the way we mispronounce town and city names in illinois might call it cairo we call it carol forty five years ago carol was a hotbed of ku klux klan activism in the land of lincoln in the one nine hundred sixty there was a white citizens council that was doing its best to keep kero a segregated town many years after brown versus board of education and the head of the white citizens council was the white state's attorney for alexander county like many southern towns kero closed its municipal swimming pool rather than allow black and white children to swim together today i'm proud to tell you mr president the mayor city treasurer and police chief of kero are all african american but the struggle for equal justice is not over last week thousands of people from communities across america traveled by plane car and bus to jena louisiana population less than three thousand to protest what appears to be separate and unequal justice the facts and what has come to be known as the jena six case sound disturbingly like so many cases from an era that many of us thought was long gone one year ago some african american students at gina's public high school asked the school administrators if they could sit under a shade tree outside the school and they were told they could for generations that tree outside their school had been known as the quote white tree close quote and by custom it shade was for white students only days after american african american students dared to sit under that tree the nooses were hung from its branches local authorities dismissed that an stake of all reference to the terrorism of lynching as just another youthful prank over the next two months tensions rose at the high school a series of fights between black and white students escalated each time black students were punished more severely than the white students who took part in the same fights finally last december six young men all african american were arrested and charged with attempted murder and other serious felonies that could send them to prison for a collective one hundred years the problem of unequal justice is not confined to the south and it's not limited to race it's easy to condemn yesterday's wrongdoing but the little rock nine had the courage to oppose injustice in their own time in our time few people still condone the overt racism of jim crow and whites only drinking fountains but many still excuse and justify discrimination and unequal justice based on such distinctions as national origin and sexual orientation i believe that one day in the not too distant future we will look back on these attitudes and wonder how we could have tolerated such discrimination and division it is good to reflect on in times past the heroes and heroines of those areas but also to reflect on what america was like how people reacted to that scene in little rock arkansas how they reacted to dot dr martin luther king it's easy now some forty years later to suggest that everybody knew that it was the right thing to do in little rock and everyone understood that dr martin luther king's message was consistent with our values as americans but we know better we know that america was divided some cheering those students and some cheering the crowd well we learn from experience i believe in redemption mr president personal and political i think as each of us make mistakes in our lives we're oftentimes given a chance to correct those mistakes i think when our nation has made a mistake whether it's slavery or racism we're given a chance to correct that mistake today as we celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the little rock nine let us reflect on how far we've come noble patillo beals a member of the little rock nine went on to a distinguished career as a journalist and author in a book about a role in history she wrote quote if my central high experience taught me one lesson it is that we are not separate the effort to separate ourselves whether by race creed color religion or status is as costly to the separat as to those who would be separated the test that remains is to see ourselves reflected in every other human being and to respect and honor our differences mr president the best way we can honor the courage of the little rock nine is to follow their example they have the vision and the courage to confront the injustices of our time i yield the floor and suggest  member number three zero one seven the call lieberman amendment which among other things most troubling would designate revolutionary guards as a foreign terrorist organization under section two nineteen of the immigration and nationality act i think we all have a great deal of concern about the activities of iran  we have as a nation strongly and will continue to speak strongly about those activities and we have taken no options off the table fully support all of those precepts at the same time i do not believe that any serious student of american foreign policy could support this amendment as it now exists we know there are problems bombers in iraq we also know that there is potential for volatility in the kurdish area of iraq with respect to the relations with turkey we are addressing these problems in fact  in vietnam we were being shot at with weapons that were made either in china or in eastern europe there was a reality of these kinds of wars and we are addressing those realities but they need to be addressed in a proper way  probably the best historical parallel comes from the situation with china during the vietnam war china was a rogue state had nuclear weapons put out a lot of rhetoric about the united states and had an american war on its border we created the conditions in which we engage china aggressively through diplomatic and economic and other means and we have  arguably succeeded along with the rest of the world community in bringing china into a proper place in that world community that is not really what this amendment is about the first concern that i have when we're talking about making the iranian revolutionary guards a terrorist organization who actually defines a terror terrorist organization the congress to my knowledge has never defined a terrorist organization the state department defines terrorist organizations at last count from the information that i have received there are forty two such organizations that have been identified by the state department in accordance with the laws that the congress passed and i would ask unanimous consent that of a nation state as a terrorist organization the senator from connecticut statement yesterday there are potentially as many as one hundred eighty thousand people in the iranian revolutionary guards who are part of a military force of an existing state by categorizing the organization as a terrorist organization this isn't our present policy of keeping the military option on the table it is for all practical purposes mandating the military option mandating it it could be read as a tantamount to a declaration of war what do we do with terrorist organizations if they are involved against us we attack them what is a terrorist organization traditionally we've defined a terrorist organization as a non governmental entity that operates along the creases of international law and does harm to internationally protected people by the way it's kind of interesting to note that last week in the iraqi government claimed that blackwater was a terrorist organization by the way that it has operated inside iraq i am not making that allegation i am giving an example of how people categorize these groups the revolutionary guards are part of the iranian government if they are attacking us they are not terrorist organization or an attacking army but are they well i'm not really sure about that if they were we would be hearing some pretty strong expressions of support last weekend we have admiral fallon who is general petraeus as operational commander responsible for all of the nations in that region not simply iraq saying the i expect there will be no war that's what we ought to be working for we should find ways through which we can bring countries to work together for the benefit of all this constant drumbeat of conflict is what strikes me as admiral fallon it's not helpful not useful i expect there'll be no war we have general petraeus whose comments are widely quoted in the whereas clauses when he was testifying in front of the foreign affairs committee in his official testimony he did mention that iran was using the kurds to turn shiite militias into a hezbollah like force to fight a proxy war etc but then when he was asked a question about it he said general petraeus said that we believe by a large those individuals have been pulled out of the country as have been the lebanese hezbollah trainers that were being used to augment that activity we have the statement of prime minister maliki in today's washington post he says iran's role in fomenting violence divergence from the administrations  his opinion is governor has begun a dialogue with iran and syria according to him as explained to them that their activities are unusual our relations with these countries have improved he said to the point they're not interfering in our internal affairs asked about the revolutionary guard forces which the u s military charges its arming etc maliki said there used to be support through borders with these militias but it has ceased to exist and i'm not saying all of this is actually one hundred percent right i'm not saying that the other side is right here's what i'm saying we haven't had one on this i'm on the foreign relations committee on the armed services committee we are about to vote on something that may fundamentally change the way that the united states views the iranian military and we have had one hearing this is not the way to make foreign policy it's not the way to declare war although cleverly worded sense of the congress could be interpreted that way those who regret their vote five years ago to authorize military action in iraq should think hard before supporting this approach because in my view it has the same potential to do harm where many are seeking to do good constant turmoil that these sorts of proposals on actions are bringing to the region is counterproductive they are regrettable substitute for a failure of diplomacy by this administration this kind of rhetoric will only encourage the iranian people to rally around bad leadership because of the fear of foreign invasion fear of the outside is the main glue that authoritarian regimes historically use when they face trouble on the inside fallon agrees with this view the baker hamilton report was adamant about the need for us to engage these nations the facts of our economy if you go back to the beginning of the iraq war fall  of twenty zero two five years ago or it was twenty four dollars a barrel eighty two dollars a barrel today the price of gold was below three hundred yesterday it was seven hundred forty dollars the value of our currency is an all time low against the euro and at parity for the first time in thirty years with the canadian dollar this proposal mr president is dick cheney's fondest pipe dream it's not a prescription for success at best it's a deliberate attempt to divert attention from a failed diplomatic policy at worst it could be read as a backdoor method gaining congressional validation for military action without one hearing and without serious debate is present i believe that this amendment morning business is closed and under the previous sort of the senate was in consideration of h r one five eight five which the clerk will report calla number one eighty nine h r fifteen eighty five an act authorize appropriation as for fiscal year two thousand and eight for standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on and then a number thirty thirty five regarding hate crimes signed by seventeen senators as follows i ask for the reading of the names of reading an easy way without objection mr president i ask consent to dispense with the reading of the cloture motion and we've done that and the senate return to morning business senator is permitted to speak then for up to ten minutes each and that the morning business be until twelve thirty today without objection mr president it's expected that because there's other business there we're turning here because the october first date hitting us that we will likely  in a period of morning business a continued period of morning business as leaders try to figure out how to resume with a defense programs bill the current amendment on the floor is one offered by senator biden of delaware calling for the physical partition of iraq you can see a number of the democratic leaders on the left of your screen senators levin reid and durban among others discussing the bill we do expect them of course to go on their best weekly party lunches to recess for lunches at twelve thirty today and then the schedule will be back at two fifteen eastern over in the house they have a number of number of suspension bills today they passed a bill on economic sanctions against iran and also later today they'll take up the children's health insurance bill which the president president has issued a veto threat that came out today and you can follow you can follow senate house coverage over on c span and on c span three we continue bringing you the hearing this morning on the foreign intelligence surveillance act and michael mccon