give to our senators sufficient grace to overcome all that would up skewer your glorious brightness infuse them with humility and wisdom that they will possess clarity of mind purity of heart and singleness of devotion to your purposes break down the walls that divide and confuse them and lead them to common ground as a caring community we reach out to senator and mrs corn and ask that you give used today or monday there will be no oral called roll call vote today or monday but i would tell everyone mr president that there's a lot of time left on that feisal legislation of eight hours or so carney how you add it up some say six but a lot of time and people are going to have to do it either today or monday or the it's the time will be gone when clean voting on this on tuesday could be along tuesday oh we're going to do that and finish this work period where some other things we have to accomplish next week we have a number of things we're going to try to accomplish and then we're out a week and then we're back for three weeks and then or out for a couple weeks and then mr president we're here for eight weeks so there's a lot to do both here and at home and i hope we have a productive  under the previous order the leadership time is reserved under the previous order the senate will resume consideration of s twenty two forty eight which the clerk will report calendar number five twelve s twenty two forty eight a bill to amend the foreign intelligence surveillance third week of debate on a very important foreign intelligence surveillance act also known as pfizer and we have had a great deal of good debate we've had a few votes but thanks to  participating i know there are some who have comments extended comments that they wish to make today and monday will be the opportunity to do that chairman rockefeller and i have spent two and a half weeks so far on the floor we understand the importance of moving quickly to get this measure adopted gain approval from the house on a measure that we can send to the president for his signature and i truly hope we can we can make that i express my thanks to chairman rockefeller is assisting melvin all members of the committee lewis tucker and my staff and others for bringing us to this position it's important to realize the magnitude of the danger that we face continue to face from radical islamist terrorists probably no place was this better outlined in testimony in open hearing by the leaders of the intelligence community director mcconnell the head of the intelligence community outlined the major areas of and undersecretary of state around the fourth or the i and our couple of the things that came out may have been missed by members who were not fortunate enough to hear the bayle ability collections which indicated that there had been a halt in two thousand and three to the weaponization program for nuclear weapons in iran that iran poses remains great pointed out that there is no question that iran continues to try to enrich uranium for which can be used for nuclear  missile program the whole in two thousand and three came not surprisingly after the ited states went in and deposed the very dangerous dictator saddam hussein  was that capture of saddam hussein that led market off the leader of libya to decide that he didn't want to be pulled out of a spider hole by american forces and he gave up his nuclear weaponization program personally i think it's no accident that the same activity in iraq convince iran that for the time being it was better to shut down their weapons asian program the top france french defense minister indicated he was not sure that they had not restarted their weaponization program in any event we need to can continue to be concerned about iran and its potential threat not just to its ally to our allies in the middle east particularly israel  which their elected leader of men on the job has vowed to annihilate but also to the united states but speaking more specifically to the threats to the united states general hayden outlined for us in the open hearing and then more specifically in classified information the number of threats that have been avoided the plots that have been deterred by our resolute action take afghanistan out from under the control of of the taliban afghanistan was a great tract and much planning was going on by al qaida there and there are some on the news who continue to say that iraq had nothing to do with the war on terror and for those of us who looked at the information that is an unbelievably naive point of view david kay who went into  iraq to conduct a survey of our inadequate intelligence information said that iraq was a far more dangerous place even than we knew terrorists were running while there  for beheading is innocent victims who did not agree with him by cutting their heads off on television a rock is been designated time and time again by the baghdad is the head of their caliphate and they have stated that that is their objective and were we to leave iraq precipitous li not only would it lead to chaos genocide possible  east sectarian wars but also it would ensure that al qaeda would have the opportunity to reestablish their headquarters recruitment training command and control that would significantly increase the threats to the united states that's why it's essential that we continue our military support in the war against terror and also provide the intelligence tools to the intelligence community needed to keep our country safe i thought i thought it might be helpful to repeat just a few comments that were made at that hearing the director mcconnell along with  i director mueller outlined terrorist threats florida here at home most recently in new jersey and illinois and abroad in spain denmark france germany and the united kingdom also said that al qaeda remains the preeminent terror threat against the united states both here at home and abroad despite our successes over the years the group has retained a regenerated key elements of its capability and clued in its top leadership to expand on that a little further i would explain that people who think that we are not doing enough to capture osama bin laden and i mean i was our hearing i can't tell you how it's how it's happening but it is happening happening in collaboration with our allies but we have regularly captured or killed the operational had al qaeda number the number three man s citizen with him apparently adam gadahn who had been cooperating actively with the out qaida leadership now it is it's a fact that  n was a was a top terrorist target but you know something without without having a fison court order we were able to go in and kill him inadvertently of course but we would not have been without a lot particularly as we have updated able to listen in on these conversations that's the one great shortcoming that we learn in iraq when we met with the head of our joint special operations command general stan mcchrystal he said the greatest threat to our troops on the battlefield was not being able to listen in on their electronic communications and see what directions they were giving to the terrorist groups fighting our troops in iraq that's why the out my outmoded old fison law that we changed with the protect america act had to be revised also in addition to the terrorist threat there is no question that rogue nations around the world continue to seek dangerous weapons that threaten american security admiral mcconnell also said quote the ongoing efforts of nation states in terrorists to develop an acquire dangerous weapons and the ability to deliver those wrap weapons constitute the second major threat to safety after conducting missile test and its first nuclear detonation in two thousand and six north korea returned to the negotiating table last year closed quotes we we see that north korea has signed a signed on to the six party agreement supposedly getting themselves out of the nuclear business but some of us have great grave doubts whether he will follow through we need good information on on not only the intentions of terrorist groups like al but potentially on nations with nuclear weapons who have developed missiles and the ability and the potential of delivering by by missiles the nuclear weapons against the united states targets i would close by on the discussion of the threats by quoting from general hayden the director of cia who said we face an enemy that is clearly ruthless but it's also one that's very adaptive one who shuns traditional hi l structures who learn from mistakes and therefore demands that we to be less no less resilient and creative and suffice it to say that all the members of the intelligence committee said that we must have the pfizer bill that senator rockefeller and i negotiated and passed out of the senate intelligence committee thirteen to two on a strong bipartisan vote that's what we're here to pass i hope this coming week and send to the president by the end of the week admiral mcconnell said the authorities granted by the amendments to pfizer the protect america act which temporarily closed some gaps in our ability to conduct foreign intelligence are critical to our intelligence efforts to protect the nation from current threats some of those important benefits in the bill that was signed last august include better understanding of international qaida networks more extensive knowledge of the individual networks including personalities and planning for suicide bombers and most importantly greater insight into terrorist planning that allowed us to disrupt attacks that intended target us interests he also put in a very strong pitch for the rockefeller bond bipartisan bill to extend the pfizer through the five axiom of the amendments of two thousand and eight he thanked us in the entire members of the committee for the leadership and hard work and i would emphasize said i would emphasize over many months in drafting in passing draft legislation that governs and enables this community your bill draft bill provides the needed updates to the foreign intelligence surveillance a close quote he also went on to warn against dismantling that bill he said quote over the past several weeks proposals to modify your bill have been discussed at the request of members attorney general and i have submitted a detailed letter that addresses each of those issues and it will be delivered to you this morning i would ask members to consider the impacts of such proposals on our ability to warn of threats to the homeland security and our interests abroad close close and i would say that we have received that letter we have quoted from that letter and will continue to quote from that matter on draft and on amendments which have been proposed that the intelligence community feels would hamstring their efforts and as and as a side note i would say that we were able working on a bipartisan basis to provide significant new protections for americans here at home and americans abroad who might be subject to might be engaged in terrorist activities or working and are working for foreign powers as agents officers there are employees  he straps from american citizens are sometimes as deadly as dangerous as threat from terrorists abroad we need to be able to listen in on them finally speaking about the civil liability protection for carriers which we included he said i would say and protecting the homeland is absolutely essential we have the support willing support of communications carriers this day and age our ability to gain intelligence on the plans the plots of those who wish to attack us is dependent pending upon us obtaining information relating to cell phones the internet e mail wire transfers all of these areas my concern is that if we do not have this immunity we will not have that willing support the communications carriers close quotes that excuse me that quote was from robert mueller director of the federal bureau of investigation at the hearing general hayden went on to say these are very fragile relationships we lost industrial cooperation at cia with partners on the mere revelation of the swift program that intercepted large cash transfers to terrorists the united states disclosures of the swift program in public discourse not because they were doing anything related to the program whatsoever but just the fear that vulnerability they would have to their smooth functioning of their business had caused people who are otherwise patriotic and patriotic and committed to back away from their totally lawful cooperation with our agency close quote from general hayden and i would say one other thing when there is talk about substituting the united states as a as a party in litigation brought against carriers alleged to a producer paid i think we ought to take into account some very compelling comments made yesterday by the distinguished majority deputy leader senator durbin of illinois and he pointed out that the release of a supposedly confidential letter from the department of justice to the treasury about the operation of one of the major exchanges in chicago had caused a six billion drop six billion dollars drop in the market value of that exchange that means people holding stock may many of them through pension funds or in individual accounts lost a large share of money as i pointed out having the substitution of terror of the government for carriers it may remove them from the possibility of financial liability in a lawsuit does not prevent the significant damage to their business relationships here and abroad they hit on any carriers sued under a substitution agreement even though it's supposed to be reviewed in classified session by the cia everybody around here knows that if carriers are are brought before pfizer the pfizer court somebody will be talking about it will become the they will suffer great harm to their business interests and potentially expose their employees and facilities here and abroad to violent attacks by terrorists or other radicals who wish to do them harm as a result as a result those carriers are going to have cooperated in the past or who considered operating in the past are going to be advised by their general counsels that they cannot so willingly because they would be subjecting employees and their shareholders to great loss this is i think unacceptable this is why i believe we have a good five amendment act bill before us and we need to pass it and the president we look forward to the debates today and tomorrow as today and monday and voting on the amendments and i hope passing the bill on tuesday so that the house will have an opportunity to act it is critical to the defense not only of our interests abroad but for the protection of american city citizens here at home that with with the protections that we have added in the bill that came out of the senate intelligence committee we also have the ability of the intelligence community to collect vitally needed the intelligence information we have learned  tremendously balliol information that has been collected from high value detainees less than one hundred of them that the cia has captured less than one hundred of them who have been less than a third of that hundred who have been subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques three of them as he outlined as general hayden outlined where water boarded and they provided in a cooperative spirit the most important information but beyond that electronic surveillance is the best weapon we have to defend ourselves to defend major population centers tourist attractions sporting events and outdoor events from a terrorist attack i hope all members will keep that in mind as when the american william boyish made a visit to that country legend has it that the chicago publisher found himself lost on a foggy london street a boy scout came to his aid and led him to his destination when boyce offered the a tip he refused saying that as a scout it was his duty to do a good turn and mr boyce was so impressed with the character of the this young scout who remains unknown today that he was inspired to learn all he could about the british organization and create something like it here in america congress granted the charter in one thousand and sixteen today nearly three million boys and over one million adult leaders dissipate and boy scouting it's one of our country's most vital issue to teach character leadership and civic responsibility to our children b s a membership since one thousand and ten totals more than a hundred and eleven million with programs including tiger cubs cub scout and way below varsity scouting and venturing boys from as young as seven to as old as twenty have the opportunity to participate in boy scouting with parents al often serving as adult leaders boycotting is actually a family activity boys who are successful in scouting and grow up to be successful in life and my colleagues in the tribe are going to test for that we have thirty  former boy scouts in the senate of the hundred tenth congress and one hundred forty seven in the house of representatives and the senate has ten members who earn scouting's highest distinction they rank of eagle scout mr president every boy scout learns it is first meeting the scout law which states that scout is trustworthy loyal helpful friendly courteous kind obedient cheerful thrifty brave plain and reverent our country is stronger because millions of boys have learned those words they are the values of scouting they are the values of america mr president i rushed to speak about a soldier who gave his life in the performance of his duty on october the seventeenth two thousand and six staff sergeant garth d sizemore of mount sterling kentucky was on patrol in baghdad when he was targeted by terrorists niver attack tragically took his life he was thirty one years old staff sergeant sizemore had permission to take some rest and relaxation at the base that day but he bravely volunteered to go on patrol after a first tour of duty and strive for it in the shriver written area of illusia this was his second tour of duty in that desert country for his bravery in uniform staff sergeant sizemore received numerous medals and awards including the noncommissioned officer professional development ribbon the bronze star medal and the purple heart fellow soldier once asked staff sergeant sizemore how he thought about serving his second tour in iraq staff sergeant sizemore replied a man rather be at home with my wife and giving my cat a hard sixteen year old garth went to a cousin's farm to practice practice pistol shooting on the way their guard told his dad that he had dreamed the night before that while shooting is gone a bullet got stuck in the end of that very day while target shooting the same thing happened to garcia pistol never forgot to dream and attribute it to his native american heritage on his mother's side an avid gun collector enlist in the u s army as a career starting out with a mechanized infantry in fort hood texas garc guard quickly advanced i loved working with staff sergeant sizemore because he took his job very seriously and made sure everyone else took their job seriously as well says staff sergeant roger richardson when young soldiers arrive to the staff sergeant sizemore would always remind us by saying these young privates don't know nothing about what we teach them staff sergeant sizemore took the responsibility of training the men under his command very seriously but that didn't mean his naturally engaging personality didn't shine through staff sergeant sizemore possessed a perfect balance of a workplace attitude which was exactly what the young soldiers of his squad needed in training and in combat that's what captain michael baka his commanding officer had to say in addition he said he cared deeply for each and every member of his platoon soldiers peers and leaders alike his grandmother elaine his grandmother dora caldwell and many other beloved family members and friends at the second brigade combat team first infantry division was known as the dagger that cannot be repaid of lexington kentucky perished from injuries sustained when an improvised explosive device that by terrorists went off under his humvee and the iraqi town does he he was twenty six years old sergeant and he was serving as the gunner in that humvee it was his second tour of duty in iraq he had served in the u s army fourth three years for bravery in time of service sergeant any received numerous medals and awards including the noncommissioned officer professional development ribbon the bronze star medal and the perp hart i'm very proud of the man he became says mary beth and he robbed a mother he was proud of being a good soldier he was a good father was a good son is a good brother rob's father william worked for the federal express so then the family moved around quite a bit when rob was young rob attended school in centennial colorado among other places target shooting as a boy and continued to enjoy it into adulthood he played baseball gods soccer rode motorcycles and was good with computers rob love to listen to music and before he was deployed his family gave him an i pod  with him as a gift most of all rob loved playing with his young son will who is now six years received his ged and then he listed in the army in two thousand and three he entered boot camp at age twenty three a few years older than most of the other recruits who were eighteen or nineteen and his fellow soldiers gave him the affectionate nickname pops the nickname didn't just refer to rob's advanced years rob took on the responsibility of looking after his fellow soldiers both his mother and dad describe rob as a caring person who saw his leadership skills blossom in the army he told my wife and i that he was concerned about the young guys as his father william he wanted to be all macho on the outside but a marshmallow on the inside mother mary beth said it was just a kind person marshmallow or not rob had the bravery befitting a soldier when he called his mother from deployment marybeth could hear pangs paying sounds over the phone oh that's your sniper shooting us shooting at us rob told his mother when she inquired about the noise do you want me to call back at a better time marybeth that her son replied they can't hit anything anyway after rob's death and william and mary beth received a letter from first lieutenant james zero so forth rob platoon leader in iraq telling them just how much their son strengthened our unit he was a rock in the storm we face daily over here first lieutenant harris wrote it was apparent that many of the young soldiers found calm looking up to their sergeant after he lifted their spirits and encourage them to drive on more often than not i would walk away after talking with rob ribs hurting from laughter so much county kentucky just south of blacks in june and wanted to make their home there rob hope to become adjustment county police officer rob family held his funeral service in lexington the minister for the service was the same man who had baptized him and he told the story of the six foot three rob that had to double over in the tank to be baptized and never got wet mr president rob's loved ones have my deepest sympathies on the tragic loss we're thinking today of his son will his mother mary beth his father william his sister casey is maternal holds his grand maternal grandfather nicholas rames his fiance amanda applegate and many other family members and friends robbers prey to seize by his paternal grandparents mr and mrs a senior mr president sergeant and his devotion to his duty and his fellow soldiers cannot be denied first lieutenant harris expressed their this best in his letter to rob's parents this is what he had to say even though rob did not pass away with his genetic family by his side plays now that his brothers were all by his side telling him they loved him and they would carry on  no words can make up for the loss that robs family fellow soldiers and their friends have suffered but i hope the knowledge that rob loved those who were closest to him is a band of brothers and that they love him in return provide while we wait for senators to come to the floor an update senators are working on the foreign intelligence surveillance act debating amendments with no votes scheduled in till the early part of next week on tuesday yesterday the senate passed the economic stimulus package the final bill was passed in the house the senate version was an amended version of the house bill it includes rebate checks for tax payers of six hundred dollars for individuals and twelve hundred dollars for married couples plus three hundred dollars for each child under seventeen the senate added a provision to provide three hundred dollars checks to seniors on social security or veterans disability president bush has said he will sign the measure saying quote it will be effective in stimulating the economy and that brings us to our capital news dot org poll of the day what do you think will the economic stimulus package work you can visit capitol news dot org cast your vote and get the latest political news of the day that's at capital news dot org we are also covering on the c span networks today the conservative political action conference our live coverage of that resumes at one thirty p m eastern one of the speakers later in the day will be form that live today at twelve fifteen p m all of that on c span right now on our companion network c span three the house foreign affairs subcommittee on international organizations human rights  senior senator from florida is recognized mr president i ask consent that the quorum call be lifted not objection so ordered mr president i ask consent to speak as if in morning business not objection so ordered mr president i have two subjects that i want to discuss for the senate the first is with the dramatic of events shifting as we select the nominees for president from our two great parties we potentially have a significant train wreck that may start occurring in the democratic party as a result of a divisive issue  seating the michigan and the florida delegations to the national convention because the florida legislature a legislature that is controlled by the republican party hast a bill that moved the florida primary earlier than the date allowed by the democratic national committee in fact it moved it instead of the deadline on february the fifth one week earlier to january twenty ninth the democratic national committee then stripped all of florida's delegates to the national convention now mind you the bill that was passed was an election reform bill and while it was being deliberated all in the state legislature of florida in fact the democratic leader of the state senate offered an amendment to take out january twenty ninth and instead put it back to february the fifth which would have complied with the democratic national committee's request and rules that amendment by the democratic leader of the state senate was defeated the bill then went on to pass because it was an election reform bill having to do with the functioning of election machines in florida something that we are quite sensitive about in our state as a result of our electoral history and as a result the democratic national committee took great umbrage  at this and instead of their rules providing that they would take away half of florida's delegates to the national convention they took away all of florida's delegates and in fact the first four privilege states that were allowed to have primaries or caucuses prior to february the fails namely iowa new hampshire nevada and south carolina extracted a pledge from all the democratic candidates for president that said that they would not campaign in the state of florida they honored that pledge the election was held pursuant to state law a law passed by the legislature and signed into law by a governor who our governor happens to be a republican and because of that  florida is being penalized by the national committee of not having any delegates in the meantime the state of michigan under a democratic legislature signed into law by a democratic governor moved their primary  to january the fifteenth had their primary january the fifteenth likewise the democratic national committee took away their delegates to the national convention but the difference was that only a couple of the presidential candidates names were on the ballot because of the michigan law that allows the candidates to withdraw their names from the ballot when in fact the florida law does not allow that the florida election on january twenty ninth had all of the candidates  now here is the coming train wreck if one of our two leading candidates does not get a majority by the time that all the primaries in the caucuses are over which is the last one is south dakota primary on june the third if that does not decide who is the winner of the presidential sweepstakes being the democrat atic nominee then we go into a period during june july and all the way to the end of august at the national democratic convention a period of enormous uncertainty and turmoil first of all the turmoil of whether or not the super delegates who are generally the members of the d n c the congressional delegations both house and senate and the governors who are all on pledged who they would vote for so they would be getting in their back rooms deciding and the turmoil of what to do with florida and michigan's delegations now why is this important well it's certainly important to this senator the senior senator from florida because in fact not only did florida voters turn out on january the twenty ninth in the primary they turned out in record numbers about one point eight million florida republicans turned out and the republican national committee was penalizing florida republicans but not by taking away all of the all of the delegates to the national convention by only taking away half and over one point seven million florida democrats turn now to vote and they express their will and so the turmoil is what to do about the seating of the michigan and the florida delegation and just recently the chairman of the democratic national committee and an esteemed very distinguished former governor of vermont governor dean our chairman of the party as reported in the new york post a couple of days ago was proffering maybe having a c a new caucus in michigan and florida as a way of selecting the delegates to the national convention from those two states mr president you can't under an election with a caucus and especially you can't undo an election where one point seven million florida democrats have gone to vote in a secret ballot and replace it with a caucus that maybe fifty thousand people would show up it's a basic underpinning of our democracy and it is a basic underpinning of constitutional right to vote and to have that vote counted so what do we do certainly amenable for anyone who has an axe a suggestion to get us out of the potential train wreck because the potential train wreck could well be that if the florida and michigan delegations are not seated at the national convention in august those are two key states that only two months there after would be voting on who is going to be the next president i stay and so with this speech i am making a plea to all of our colleagues in the senate and beyond to try to find an accommodation of which the right to vote and to have that vote counted can be respected especially in the state of florida where all of the candidates names were on the ballot now mr president that's the first thing i want to talk about the second thing i want to talk about is i want to put on my hat as the chairman of the space subcommittee of the senate commerce committee i want to talk about it's important in this international space station of which the space shuttle launch yesterday successfully and it was a magnificent launch they are now closing in on orbit on to the international space station they they are taking up the european module that will be an important component of this international space station and this international space station is two football fields long haul this thing is huge about three hundred twenty five miles up all being the earth at seventeen thousand five hundred miles per hour the international space station was created as a multi billion dollar facility to do research international and one of the major experiments that nasa has yet to find space on the space shuttle to fly and be attached to the space station is the alpha magnetic spectrometer this is an international consortium of some twenty countries and fifty universities around the world it is being built as we speak it is almost completed it is being built in geneva switzerland it is looked upon as a scientific experiment that possibly several nobel prizes will come as a result but mr president we've got to get it up there and the nasa administrator dr michael griffin is saying no we don't have space on the space shuttle this alpha magnetic spectrometer was designed to fly in the cargo bay of the space shuttle it takes up about twenty five percent of the cargo bay of one space shuttle flight and the administrator in detailed testimony in front of our committee with this senator questioning him said that he doesn't have space he said that he had a couple of contingency flights after all the other flights are allocated in remember the administrator nasa says that his plan is to shut down in september of two thousand and ten the space shuttle and oh by the way we don't have a rocket ready that can start flying there after the latest estimate is there would be a five year gap until twenty fifteen in order to fly an american rocket with humans call aries with a capsule called orion and what do we do in the meantime nasa is planning that we are going to pay for russian soyuz vehicles well what is the geopolitics going to be in the year twenty eleven twenty twelve thirteen fourteen fifteen before we will have a human capable rocket of getting to the international space station we're going to pay for russian vehicles in other words we're going to lay off nasa employees and contractors in order to buy russian vehicles in a geo political setting that we don't even know what our relationship with russia is going to be in the year twenty eleven and therefore if it isn't particularly good what's the cost of that or what's the ability of them to say we're not going to sell you a ride on a russian soyuz vehicle now that's the danger so nasa is going to can play the construction of the space station it has to contingency flights and i said well why are they contingent i asked that of dr griffin the administrator of nasa and he said well they have additional equipment for the space station and they have extra spare parts that we want to put up and i said well then you mean they're not contained and he says yell i guess you're right they're not contingent but he says we don't have space to fly alpha magnetic magnetic spectrometer what what does this experiment do that all of these universities and all of these nations are so interested about getting it up there so it can go to work because what it does files the origin of cosmic rays and that means it can help us understand the origin of the universe this is not just an american experiment this is an international experiment of countries around the world this is a part of us wanting to understand our beginnings this is a part of our nature as a people to want to explore the heavens and understand the universe this is an essential part of our space program but the nasa administrator says he doesn't have space to fly on the space shuttle and he's going to shut down the space shuttle in october or september of two thousand and ten he said you'll have to put it over onto an expendable rocket and that will be for another five years and instead of it being twenty five percent of the cargo bay of a space shuttle or an additional cost of about one hundred million dollars he's put it over here on an expendable rocket five years later it's going to cost between five hundred and eight hundred million dollars now that's not a good tradeoff so how do we get it on to the space shuttle before they shut down on the space shuttle there are three flights that this could be done s t s one twenty nine which is set to go in august of two thousand and nine it has to express logistics carrier and in fact you could reconfigure that flight or another flight in july of two thousand and ten you could reconfigure those two flights by taking some of the payloads on those express logistics carrier and creating space of twenty five percent of the cargo bay and put on this critical experiment the alpha magnetic spectrometer or in the flight that is to go all in february two thousand and ten s t s one thirty one could take that flight and you could reconfigure that integrated cargo carrier vertical light deployable and create space for the alpha magnetic spectrometer and that would allow the space shuttle to launch eight thousand eight hundred pounds of these orbital replacement units plus the i c c d l the to the international space station on the same flight as this critical experiment the alpha magnetic spectrometer now why am i saying this because these are the specialist  centers of nasa all around the country that are saying that this can be done but the administrator tells our committee that they can't be done but they can and so i am making a plea and it's not just this senator seated right by me is senator kay bailey hutchinson of texas during that hearing late last year making the plea as well in a bipartisan way making a plea to nasa to reconfigure those last several flights to find room for the a m s because if you don't dr griffon if you don't nasa you're going to kill this experiment that has  support in the international scientific community all of which is the very reason for having an international space station up there in the first place is to do scientific i hope that all of the management of nasa will do a read imputing my tremendous congratulations to them and dr griffin knows how i've been a supporter of him as he has turned around nasa as he's taken very difficult times after the destruction of the last space shuttle columbia and he as he is brought back nasa with the professionalism that is is the the whole mark of nasa and the launch yesterday was another example of that professionalism and that space shuttle is closing in as i speak on the international space station to rendezvous and to dock to deliver that european module and to continue to acquit that international space station to do what it was designed to do and that is scientific research let's complete that task before the space shuttle is shut down by finding space on the manifest to fly they amass the alpha magnetic are very valuable to this country he chairs the strategic subcommittee in armed services in addition to his nasa work on the commerce committee and i value his leadership and expertise and to share some thoughts that go along a little bit with one of the point he was making about the united states is reliant on russia as a legitimate partner in a number of activities that are occurring around the world today we desire as a nation we have been so hopeful that we would enter into a new period of cooperation with russia after the follow soviet union that i would be a legitimate partner with us in proving both our nations and the world and we have the capability of  creating a lot of peaceful partnerships that could help create progress prosperity and peace and in the world and but the reality is i gotta say a lot of things are happening to just  cause great concern and we as a nation are going to have to face up to the fact that they're not reliable they may not be reliable as a partner in space they certainly are not a reliable in helping  i think containing the politicization of nuclear weapons so we've got some big issues facing us and i thank the senator from florida for at least a raising that point about space let me note yesterday's new york times this is a headline matthew wald article u s backed russian institutes hell build iran reactor that's hard to believe and this is what the article leaves with the energy department is subsidizing two russian nuclear institutes that are building important parts of a reactor in iran that is construction the united states spent years trying to stop according to haskell meeting article goes on the institute both in the nice new novel region gave american officials copies of sales presentations that listed the bashir reactor which russia has agreed to fuel as one of their projects one entity is providing control systems including control room acquit soviet union the program was intended to prevent newly impoverished scientists and their institutions in russia from selling expertise to states are terrorist groups that law nuclear weapons are good gold for sure the article goes on quote the united states supplements the salaries of scientists and pays overhead at those institutions according to the house oversight and investigation quote it was not immediately clear whether the energy department was contributing to the salaries of the very scientists involved in the dish year reactor project to a michigan democrat representative john the dangle chairman of the house we're going to have to acknowledge some things are happening within russia that are not positive way wish it weren't so we wish we could be in a better shape with russia today and it's just most live with him it was a next exceedingly informative and wonderful trip and i value those relationships that we had at that time but the government of  russia is on a different track i am afraid we might as well begin to talk about it so in the latter that congressman dingell wrote he now said in october two thousand seven the national intelligence estimate concluded quote iranian into teas are continuing to develop a range of technical capabilities that could be applied to producing nuclear weapons if i decision is made to do so close quote and if we'll remember the the national intelligence estimate written by a committee headed by state department persons not professional intelligence officers concluded at the the iranians one attempting to build a nuclear bomb but in that report i did note that they are pushing forward aggressively creating a nuclear reactor generate electricity when they're sitting on untold wealth of natural gas and oil which is an operate a nuclear reactor is by far the most important step in building a nuclear bomb if you can handle that problem it takes you very little time to create a nuclear weapon this is not the first time and this issue is being and has been discuss nonproliferation policy education center in washington d c and coeditor with pastor rick clawson the book getting ready for a nuclear ready or ron made some very troubling  comments and he starts off sighing this perhaps the only thing more disappointing than mass chaos shipment this week of highly enriched you write him to and russia and the president apparently was making a comment consistent with that the and the article goes on the study quote technically this will only bring to iran closer to getting a bomb if the fuel is diverted and used as fresh the need faraz iranian enrichment centerpieces at natanz it could dramatically reduce the time and effort needed to make a bomb's worth of highly enriched weapons grade uranium rush or ship eighty two tons of lightly and risk uranium under secretary of state john bolton repeatedly detailed in public testimony and speeches these concerns now that he's left the department it looks like our people have forgotten about what to go occurring here that we have an agreement with russia that would allow them to profit from this in a substantial degree i'll just quote from this press spokesman follow the department o iran including construction of additional power reactors will assist directly on an directly or ron's ambitious request for nuclear weapons now back in two thousand and three spokesman went on the state we have underscored to russia that an end to russian nuclear assistance to iran would allow the united states and russia to reap the full promise i'll buy a new strategic relationship benefiting russia economically and strategic far more than the short term gain from construction of additional reactors or other sensitive transfers to wrong and then it he went on suggested the state quote if the russians and the sensitive cooperation with iran we have indicated we would be prepared to favorably consider such transfers of spent fuel back to russia that now cannot be done legally without our colored and i quote an arrangement worth potentially several billion u s dollars in revenue to moscow interest in going forward with creating a nuclear weapon that was the headlines out of it it was written designed to do that and create that headline i am convinced and the persons who allowed to ride it the iranian nuclear program i would have included that there are component parts that the portion of it may be the least significant has halted because now there was a proportion of the nuclear weapons program that they a rogue state iran who has been determined to obtain nuclear weapons and have been working on it for years and they are receiving assistance from the russians and we're supporting the russians apparently so madam president i would just conclude and we're going to have talk about this a good bit more as time goes by but a lot of things are happening that are very troubling as i said i wish it weren't so just on february fourth a jerusalem post reported that a successful satellite  launch by the iranians it would testified to a dramatic improvement in their missile capability denner john the president was present at the launch site and gave orders to should control the most advanced technology that include nuclear weapons we are grateful to god for witnessing the first and the termonde steps toward an iranian satellite let spending a lot of their money on satellites and weapons systems and nuclear weapons that's just a fact  we're going to have to think about mr putin and the russian leadership that just back we wish that things were going better there not there's been a string of a belligerent and deliver a political act to try to pressure the ukrainians their former satellite in may of two thousand and seven russian cyber attack shut down the internet throughout estonia  rice and satellite now independent and had no desire whatsoever to be back a part of the soviet union or anything like it in august of two thousand and seven russian jet fighters invaded georg airspace and dropped a missile and georgia is a free nation with elections and i have an intelligent leadership team many of whom educated in the united states this is a military threat from the e u we can't even get him to pull the trigger in afghanistan some more him carry guns are not threatening russia in summer of zero seven russia started bombing flights outside his territory encroaching on the airspace the united kingdom norway and guam the united states territory in september of zero seven russia would loudly announce the test of a super strength conventional bomb a new super strength bomb their building in october of zero seven putin announced a grandiose plan to restore russia's armed forces and develop new nuclear weapons while we are dramatically reducing the number of weapons in our country that they are developing and testing missiles to evade u s missile energy has resumed work on the be shared reactor conducted major arms sales with iran and china and syria and venezuela including fighter aircraft and anti aircraft missiles and up an issue between the united states and russia over our perfectly legitimate and reasonable decision to build a nuclear missile think that they say this is a tremendous threat to them but they will only be a few missiles there they are not the design in any wide to defend against russian missiles and they have many many many many times the numbers that that little dice could ever build in paul but now they are trotting up a dispute between the united states and europe and russia over this some say well it's for domestic political consumption to help consolidate his power whatever reason it's not healthy and this nation has got to wake up healthy partner and we've got i ask some real questions are they going to be i legitimately partner for a better world or not president this article in yesterday's new york times was just very troubling to me and represents i think another example of confused  thinking that maybe existing within the bowels of our government regarding our relationship with russia and with the iran we've got it the realistic and honest and accept the fact that things are not going well and that in many many ways russian activity is darker and darker and less and less positive they continue to define their relationships with rogue states and bad actors continue to fr frustrating that and so i'm concerned about it and we're probably talking about this more as time goes by and by it might as well start right now questioning just how reliable russia is as a partner should we be participating in space programs with the russians frankly it's cost us money or that we gain from their systems many experts say so this partnership is mainly been a good way for the russians to gain inside and drive technologies but it has not been i really managed to last space program and if we don't watch it will be dependent on them in a way that can keep issue that caused a lot of concern for years now but it's really now calm to a conclusion i think and i'm glad that it has i'm glad to learn that waterboarding has not been used but three times in the country and has not been used in almost five years from the reports that many and statements made by members of congress and extreme groups around around the world you would think that we have had a systematic effort of war to waterboard people and otherwise torture and abuse them only one prisoner has died since i've been in u s custody since the beginning of the war on terror we treat him very well i have been to g by on more than one occasion and i have seen our energies are conducted so has large numbers of our body here nonstop about it indicated in earlier remarks we wish the world were safer than it is unfortunately it's not as safe as we would like and those of us sitting comfortably at home forget the real threats that are out there and we are we can to forget that there are determined groups who want to attack the united states of america like they did on nine eleven and kill our people and this is a pleasant  and when confronted on the battlefield in iraq and afghanistan we shoot them and we kill them and we drop bombs on them and we kill them because these are life and death matter that congress has authorized i wish that weren't necessary and now it's a failure of us in some form or fashion but as a practical person we know no other about in the last year this is a quote from mcconnell quote in the last year the number of terrorist attacks and death was greater than in the past six years combined he was talking about the battle for pakistan's survival and and he further goes on to state that out qaeda planned more attacks against the united states and was working on a plan for attacking the white house as recently as two thousand and six homegrown  here have been primitive he said but mr mcconnell registered his concern that new more sophisticated cells might threaten us domestically in the years ahead  quoting from the article and that's a fair summary i think of admiral mcconnell's comments and then i guess since we've now all probably talked about the waterboarding question and members of congress are have now gotten the information i think we need to make sure we know exactly how those three are current is developed first thing we know is that it worked it worked number two the agency all of the cia now the united states military now the department defense not in iraq not in afghanistan that was not utilized by our military but the central intelligence agency on three occasions since september eleventh and they utilize it only on those terror leaders who have posed the most threat to our national security ob al rahman al nashiri he was the mastermind of the attack on the u s code we had hearings in armed services committee of mirjam a member about that dastardly attack you know i remember about a year after the call i was attacked and we had what eighteen american cyclists killed by this vicious attack and could have been a lot more we commissioned a ship down in norfolk virginia and as we walked out of the ceremony a young hollowed out and he still makes my hair stand up remember the cold well we got  him that's is name now for the professionals to lead shaikh mohammed and is so i believe that the attorney general of the united states after researching this matter carefully and i believe our intelligence agencies after continuing to give it thoughtful review have concluded that we do not need to make an opinion and he said he believed they were justified under those circumstances and he would not say that we would never ever do it again in the future that circumstances would determine how you handle those kind of situations and let me just not again for a lot of people these are not honest and legitimate soldiers of a nation state the rules of war and i don't wear uniforms they deliberately tack attack civilian personnel they do it through subterfuge and violence and their goals are outside all rules of warfare and until some recent cases they were clearly considered not to be provided any protections under the geneva convention so  would just say man and present we hate to talk about these things we wish that we didn't face a kind of threat from the diabolical terrorists that we do we wish that we didn't have to go to war and shoot and kill many of them  we as a nation congress both parties authorize that activity we find that activity soldiers are out there putting their lives on the line at this very moment to execute that policy placing themselves in harm's way and i'm glad the attorney general has reviewed it carefully i'm glad he's able to say only waterboarding was utilized only three times that had been years and five years but i'm glad he also said he would not senators in accordance with the provisions of rule twenty two of the standing rules of the senate hereby move to bring to a close the debate on us twenty two forty eight to face a bill signed by seventeen senators as follows reid shemar brown a congressman on a journey later i asked for the will report senate resolution four thirty two urging the international community to provide the united states african union mission in sudan with essential tactical and utility helicopters with out objection the senate will proceed to the measure ask consent that it be in order for the senate to consider and block the following two concurrent resolutions as congress sixty seven ask on a sixty eight both relating to the joint congressional committee on inaugural ceremonies without objection the order i ask consent that the current resolutions the clerk needs to report are to be done and he done that part of the resolution so that concurrent resolution sixty seven establishing the joint congressional committee concurrent resolution sixty eight authorizing the use of the rotunda of the capitol by the joint congressional committee sciences without objection the committee of discharge in the senate will proceed to the measure i ask consent concurrent resolution be agreed to preamble be agreed to motion reconsider be laid on the table there be will report twenty six fifteen a bill to extend the protect america act of two thousand and seven for fifteen days as twenty six sixteen a bill to authorize certain programs and activities in the forest service department of the interior and the department of energy and for other purposes as twenty six nineteen a bill to protect innocent americans from violent crime in national parks i now asked first second re on block but i object to my own request and log back direction resume consideration s two two four eight foreign intelligence surveillance act as under previous order finally asked the record remain open until two p m today to allow senators and boost bills and submit statements