S8980
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD — SENATE
The yeas and nays are mandatory under the rule. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk called the roll. Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from South Dakota (Mr. JOHNSON) is necessarily absent. Mr. LOTT. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator from Kansas (Mr. BROWNBACK) and the Senator from Louisiana (Mr. VITTER). The PRESIDING OFFICER. Are there any other Senators in the Chamber desiring to vote? The yeas and nays resulted—yeas 56, nays 41, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 241 Leg.] YEAS—56
Akaka Baucus Bayh Biden Bingaman Boxer Brown Byrd Cantwell Cardin Carper Casey Clinton Coleman Collins Conrad Dodd Dorgan Durbin Feingold Feinstein Hagel Harkin Inouye Kennedy Kerry Klobuchar Kohl Landrieu Lautenberg Leahy Levin Lincoln McCaskill Menendez Mikulski Murray Nelson (FL) Nelson (NE) Obama Pryor Reed Reid Rockefeller Salazar Sanders Schumer Smith Snowe Stabenow Sununu Tester Warner Webb Whitehouse Wyden
July 11, 2007
to act—and I am afraid leaking over into the legislative branch of Government—listen to some of the things the Surgeon General was directed to do. Dr. Carmona said the administration ‘‘would not allow him to speak or issue reports about stem cells, emergency contraception, sex education, or prison, mental and global health issues.’’ ‘‘Dr. Carmona said he was ordered’’— now, listen to this one—‘‘he was ordered to mention President Bush three times on every page of his speeches.’’ Any time he gave a speech, he had to mention President Bush’s name three times or he could not give the speech.
. . . administration officials even discouraged him from attending the Special Olympics because, he said, of that charitable organization’s long-time ties to a ‘‘prominent family’’. . . .
The Senator from Michigan [Mr. LEVIN], for himself, Mr. REED, Mr. SMITH, Mr. HAGEL, Mr. KERRY, Ms. SNOWE, Mr. BIDEN, Mr. OBAMA, and Mrs. CLINTON, proposes an amendment numbered 2087 to amendment No. 2011.
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment be dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: To provide for a reduction and transition of United States forces in Iraq) At the end of subtitle C of title XV, add the following:
REDUCTION AND TRANSITION OF UNITED STATES FORCES IN IRAQ. (a) DEADLINE FOR COMMENCEMENT OF REDUCTION.—The Secretary of Defense shall SEC. 1535.
Now, we know that President Kennedy’s sister got this started many years ago. He could not even attend the event.
‘‘I was specifically told by a senior person, ‘Why would you want to help those people?’ ’’. . . .
We are Senators. We have the ability, by virtue of our constitutional duties, to have a say in what goes on in this country. We are separate and equal branches of Government. My Republican colleagues must speak out against what the administration is directing this Congress to do. We need to stop protecting the President and start protecting our troops. That is what this amendment is all about. And to think that this administration is getting down into the weeds of things by saying how many times you have to mention his name in a speech speaks volumes of what is going on here in the Senate. I urge all my colleagues who believe we need a new course to support this amendment, to vote for cloture. It is a crucial first step on the path toward a responsible end to this war.
CLOTURE MOTION
NAYS—41
Alexander Allard Barrasso Bennett Bond Bunning Burr Chambliss Coburn Cochran Corker Cornyn Craig Crapo DeMint Dole Domenici Ensign Enzi Graham Grassley Gregg Hatch Hutchison Inhofe Isakson Kyl Lieberman Lott Lugar Martinez McCain McConnell Murkowski Roberts Sessions Shelby Specter Stevens Thune Voinovich
NOT VOTING—3
Brownback Johnson Vitter
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, pursuant to rule XXII, the Chair lays before the Senate the pending cloture motion, which the clerk will state. The bill clerk read as follows:
CLOTURE MOTION We, the undersigned Senators, in accordance with the provisions of rule XXII of the Standing Rules of the Senate, do hereby move to bring to a close debate on the Webb, et al., amendment No. 2012, to H.R. 1585, Department of Defense Authorization, 2008. Jim Webb, Richard J. Durbin, Daniel K. Akaka, Jack Reed, Carl Levin, H.R. Clinton, Russell Feingold, Jeff Bingaman, Christopher Dodd, Frank R. Lautenberg, John Kerry, Patty Murray, Jon Tester, Sherrod Brown, Ken Salazar, B.A. Mikulski, Joe Biden, Harry Reid.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. On this vote, the yeas are 56, the nays are 41. Three-fifths of the Senators duly chosen and sworn not having voted in the affirmative, the motion is rejected. The Senator from Virginia is recognized.
AMENDMENT NO. 2012, WITHDRAWN
Mr. WEBB. Mr. President, I withdraw my amendment and I suggest the absence of a quorum. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll. The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll. Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum call be rescinded. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
AMENDMENT NO. 2087 TO AMENDMENT NO. 2011
commence the reduction of the number of United States forces in Iraq not later than 120 days after the date of the enactment of this Act. (b) IMPLEMENTATION OF REDUCTION AS PART OF COMPREHENSIVE STRATEGY.—The reduction of forces required by this section shall be implemented as part of a comprehensive diplomatic, political, and economic strategy that includes sustained engagement with Iraq’s neighbors and the international community for the purpose of working collectively to bring stability to Iraq. As part of this effort, the President shall direct the United States Permanent Representative to the United Nations to use the voice, vote, and influence of the United States at the United Nations to seek the appointment of an international mediator in Iraq, under the auspices of the United Nations Security Council, who has the authority of the international community to engage political, religious, ethnic, and tribal leaders in Iraq in an inclusive political process. (c) LIMITED PRESENCE AFTER REDUCTION AND TRANSITION.—After the conclusion of the reduction and transition of United States forces to a limited presence as required by this section, the Secretary of Defense may deploy or maintain members of the Armed Forces in Iraq only for the following missions: (1) Protecting United States and Coalition personnel and infrastructure. (2) Training, equipping, and providing logistic support to the Iraqi Security Forces. (3) Engaging in targeted counterterrorism operations against al Qaeda, al Qaeda affiliated groups, and other international terrorist organizations. (d) COMPLETION OF TRANSITION.—The Secretary of Defense shall complete the transition of United States forces to a limited presence and missions as described in subsection (c) by April 30, 2008.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Rhode Island is recognized.
AMENDMENT NO. 2088 TO AMENDMENT NO. 2087
Mr. REED. Mr. President, I send a second-degree amendment to the desk. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Rhode Island [Mr. REED] proposes an amendment numbered 2088 to amendment No. 2087.
cnoel on PRODPC60 with SENATE
The PRESIDING OFFICER. By unanimous consent, the mandatory quorum call has been waived. The question is, Is it the sense of the Senate that debate on amendment No. 2012, offered by the Senator from Virginia, Mr. WEBB, shall be brought to a close?
Mr. LEVIN. Mr. President, on behalf of myself, Senators REED, SMITH, HAGEL, KERRY, SNOWE, BIDEN, OBAMA, and CLINTON, I send an amendment to the desk. The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report. The legislative clerk read as follows:
Mr. REED. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that reading of the amendment dispensed with. The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered. The amendment is as follows:
At the end of the amendment add the following:
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