Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. SCHUMER. 7888 be the following: Paul No. 1829; Marshall No. 1834; Wyden No. 1820; Paul No. 1828; Durbin No. 1841, as modified; Lee No. 1840; further, that upon disposition of the amendments, the bill, as amended, if amended, be considered read a third time and the Senate vote on passage, with 60 affirmative votes required for adoption of the Paul amendments and on passage, as amended, if amended, with 2 minutes for debate, equally divided, prior to each vote, with Senator Paul permitted to speak for up to 10 minutes prior to the vote on amendment No. 1829, all without further intervening action or debate.
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, we have good news for America's national security. Senators have reached an agreement that clears the way to approve the FISA reauthorization tonight.
For the information of my colleagues, we will have up to seven rollcall votes. First, we will vote on the six amendments and then final passage.
All day long, we persisted and persisted and persisted in the hopes of reaching a breakthrough, and I am glad we got it done. There was a great deal of doubt that we could get this done, but now we are on a glidepath to passing this bill.
Allowing FISA to expire would have been dangerous. It is an important part of our national security toolkit, and it helps law enforcement stop terrorist attacks, drug trafficking, and violent extremism. This legislation has been carefully tailored, and I am ready to work with colleagues on both sides of the aisle to keep strengthening protections for American citizens.
I thank all of my colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their good work.
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, now, before we move on, I would like to acknowledge a rare milestone that is just about to be achieved on this coming vote in the Senate. Our dear colleague from Maine, Senator Susan Collins, will cast her nine-thousandth consecutive rollcall vote.
(Applause, Senators rising.)
She has never--never--missed a single rollcall vote in her entire career. Who else can claim that? Raise your hand. Even the freshmen can't claim that.
I congratulate Senator Collins on this historic accomplishment. It puts her in rare company in the history of the Chamber.
Senator Collins and I, of course, belong to different parties, but she has the enormous respect of those of us on this side of the aisle as well as her own colleagues. And I have been grateful for the chance to work with her in recent years on many issues. So we all have applauded her great work.
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Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, in the nick of time, bipartisanship has prevailed here in the Senate. We are reauthorizing FISA right before it expires at midnight--20 minutes before midnight, as the time is now. This bill now goes to the President's desk.
All day long, we persisted and persisted and persisted in trying to reach a breakthrough. In the end, we have succeeded, and we are getting FISA done. Democrats and Republicans came together and did the right thing for our country's safety. It wasn't easy. People had many different views. But we all know one thing: Letting FISA expire would be dangerous. It is an important part of our national security to stop acts of terror, drug trafficking, and violent extremism.
Thank you to all of my Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle for their good work in getting this done. Order of Business
Now, for the information of the Senate, after this vote, we will have no further votes this evening. We are working on an agreement for consideration of the supplemental. Without an agreement, we will vote on laying down the supplemental as soon as we receive it from the House tomorrow. But we are working on the agreement now.
Mark Warner has done a great job here as chairman of the Intelligence Committee, and I yield to him for 30 seconds.
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