Senate Proceeding on Feb 4th, 2008 :: 4:27:36 to 4:33:25
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4:25:44 to 4:27:36( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Harry Reid

4:27:16 to 4:27:36( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: i am aological confused here -- mr. schumer: i am a little confused here. does the majority leader have any idea why the minority leader would want to hold up fisa? mr. reid: i sure do i say to my friend.

4:27:36 to 4:27:53( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: there have been books written on this. books written on this. how the president has circumvented the lawse pass to have him wiretapped, okay? now there is not a single democratic senator that doesn't

4:27:36 to 4:33:25( Edit History Discussion )
Speech By: Barbara Boxer

4:27:53 to 4:28:06( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: want to get the bad guys. we want to be able to do wiretapping so we can listen in on some of their evil conversations. but the president, you see, based on past -- on his past and how we've been treated

4:28:06 to 4:28:21( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: here, doesn't want this fisa bill to change in any manner except to give them retroactive immunity. that is, to say the phone companies, all the things you've done, good, bad, or indifferent shall the

4:28:21 to 4:28:31( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: courts can't look at it. civilly, we just want to get this -- they can't look at it civilly. and so the president wants to have that out of the way so that he can wait until the last minute to not

4:28:31 to 4:28:43( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: have all of these amendments that senator feingold feingold, senator dodd, senator leahy and others have offered -- feinstein -- have offered to improve this legislation, to make it more in keeping

4:28:43 to 4:28:52( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: with the constitution. so they, as i've indicate ed earl earlier, i say to my friend from new york, they want to wait until the last minute. so that whatever we do here, the house will have to accept.

4:28:52 to 4:29:07( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: mr. schumer: i thank my colleague from california and the majority leader for that. now it all becomes clear what the minority is doing. mrs. boxer: mr. president? the presiding officer: the senator from

4:29:07 to 4:29:24( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: california. mrs. boxer: i just want to say while my -- while my leadership team is here -- i've just gotten the two pages -- it's actually one and a half -- of the additional language -- the additional

4:29:24 to 4:29:39( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: language on liheap. the rest was taken verbatim from the house bill that the president supports.~ i've actually read r it, yes, while you were chitchatting with senator schumer. this is liheap. this

4:29:39 to 4:29:52( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: is a program that has been around for decades. this is $1 billion to help people pay for the expensive cost of heating their homes. and as i look at my friend, senator sanders in the chair, what a

4:29:52 to 4:30:05( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: champion of this program, those from the northeast in particular. now, i have to take the minority leader at his word. he says the reason he's holding everything up, he doesn't want to do any work,

4:30:05 to 4:30:23( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: he doesn't want to do anything, because he must study this bill. well, if he were here righter now, unfortunately he's gone, but senator kyl's here, let's read this together. this is ey. this is

4:30:23 to 4:30:42( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: almost as easy as jane and john take the dog for a walk. this is easy. and, yet, and still they come out here and are holding up the business of the senate and the country. and, mr. president,

4:30:42 to 4:30:56( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: and i say to my leaders, look, this isn't some debate here. because i think we won it. this is what's at stake.ke 20 million seniors in a weekend argue about how many angels dance on the head of a

4:30:56 to 4:31:17( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: pin. but 20 million seniors are waiting for us to act. 20 million seniors were left out of the president's and house package. and i want to say to my friend, senator mcconnell, via the magic of

4:31:17 to 4:31:30( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: television, because he's not here right now, that this matters. and when he says, the deal's been cut, i say to my leader, the teel's deal's been cut, down. wait a minute. look at the constitution.

4:31:30 to 4:31:53( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: there is a united states senate. and there is a house and there is a president. and we work together. we work our will, they work their will, we get together and compromise. 20 million seniors were

4:31:53 to 4:32:11( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: left out. we're fixing it. what else are we fixing? we're fixing the fact that they left out 250,000 disabled veterans. so why are we holding up work on something as simple as that? and the answer

4:32:11 to 4:32:30( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: comes back in a very convoluted way. and i just have to say, as someone who represents the state that is in a recession, and i know the senator of nevada's state is in a recession. many states are

4:32:30 to 4:32:45( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: in a recession. the president said, we should act and we're not acting. and we're not acting on fisa. and, again, to respond, senator bond and senator rockefeller agree on how to fix the foreign intelligence

4:32:45 to 4:33:00( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: sul surveillance act. well, good for them. well, guess what, the senate has to debate this. the senate has to work its will. some people think that the phone company should have immunity. some of

4:33:00 to 4:33:11( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: us, other folks think, if you give them eye immunity, you will never find out who was spied on, how were they spied on, why were they spied on, how long were they spied on? we feel strongly, is

4:33:11 to 4:33:25( Edit History Discussion )

Barbara Boxer: the minority leader suggesting because two senators agree that the rest of us are chopped liver, as my mother would say? i'll tell you something, this place is like alice in wonderland and tonight

4:33:25 to 4:33:41( Edit History Discussion )

Harry Reid: more than any other night it's like alice in wonderland. you have a president of the united states who is scared about the economy. he's begging us to act on the stimulus package and we have intelligent