[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 2] [Senate] [Page 2013] [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT EXTENSION Mr. REID. Mr. President, this morning the statement was made by the President in the Oval Office that he will refuse to sign a temporary extension of the current FISA law. This is a statement from the person who wants to unite, not divide. This is part of the Orwellian-speak we have had for 7 years out of the White House. Let's be very clear. President Bush, obviously, is more interested in politicizing intelligence than finding solutions to the problems we are facing in this difficult situation. Today, he continues to try to bully Congress. Let's not forget that we would not even be discussing this issue if not for his actions. What were some of those actions? In their unyielding efforts to expand Presidential powers, President Bush and Vice President Cheney created a system to conduct wiretapping, eavesdropping--including on American citizens--outside the bounds of longstanding Federal law. The President could easily have come to us and said: Let's change this law, and we would have gone along with probably little effort. But, no, he did not do that. He just went around the law, and when we passed the law to try to change it, he went around that too. Congress has repeatedly amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to reflect new technology and the legitimate needs of the intelligence community. We have done that often and for good reason. But, whether out of convenience, incompetence, or disdain for the rule of law, this administration chose to ignore Congress and basically ignored the law, ignored the Constitution. Congress is working updates to the FISA law as we speak. Senate Republicans and the White House have spent many weeks slow-walking the bill as part of the Republican strategy to jam the House. We have known that, we have talked about it, and they did a good job because we were not able to pass this bill until last night. I believe it is wrong and irresponsible for the White House to do this. Due to months of White House foot-dragging, the relevant House committees have only now just gotten important documents related to whether the Bush administration followed the law and the Constitution. I cannot speak about those documents on the floor, but people need time to review and analyze these documents. It is not four or five pages. So we must not let this critical issue be resolved by the White House trying to push everybody around. Let's work together on this issue. We are all working for the same goal: to protect American citizens against acts of terror. Congress is prepared to extend current law, the Protect America Act, by any length for Congress to complete the indepth analysis and negotiations necessary for long-term law broadly supported by the American people. If the President chooses to veto a short-term extension, as he said he would this morning, the responsibility for any ensuing intelligence- collecting gap lies on his shoulders and that of Vice President Cheney and theirs alone, no one else. ____________________