Providing for Consideration of Motions to Suspend the Rules

Floor Speech

PROVIDING FOR CONSIDERATION OF MOTIONS TO SUSPEND THE RULES -- (House of Representatives - August 03, 2007)

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Mr. SESSIONS. Madam Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Madam Speaker, the Republican minority is very aware, as a result of Speaker Pelosi's Web site that is called Congress Working for All Americans, WWW.SPEAKER.GOV, that the Speaker has announced very publicly her intention to follow regular order for legislation. I would like to quote from that Web site at this time: ``Members should have at least 24 hours to examine a bill in a conference report text prior to floor consideration.''

Madam Speaker, just minutes ago, we began the debate on this rule. Just before we began debate, as we began debate on this rule just hours ago probably, but as we began, we received the text of one of the most important bills to come to the floor of the House of Representatives at the time we began debate on the rule, which seems absolutely, just completely backwards from what the Speaker describes on her Web site.

Number two, the Suspension Calendar should be restricted to noncontroversial legislation.

Madam Speaker, here we are today on the floor of the House of Representatives not only with a bill that we had not seen the text to until we began debate but, secondly, the Suspension Calendar has very controversial legislation that we are handling today.

I would have to make a motion if we were in Rules Committee, and we did, we tried, that we should receive all of these bills. And, of course, we have not.

Very interestingly, part of the debate about this bill that we are on with foreign intelligence surveillance activities, there was a discussion just days ago in the Rules Committee whereby a Member of the Democrat majority, as part of the conversation, asked a Republican that was there: ``So you're asking to basically reduce probable cause and just basically throw probable cause out as a reason that we are trying to change the FISA rules?''

The Republican answered: ``You shouldn't be having to get a warrant to listen into phone conversations between someone from Saudi Arabia calling somebody in Sudan, when neither one of them are Americans.'' The response from the Democrat was: ``Well, I don't know if I agree with that.''

Madam Speaker, we are here on the floor today to also talk about the directions we are headed, the directions we are headed for protecting this country. And today, we are on the floor of the House of Representatives with the language only just given to us. On top

of that, it is one of the most controversial items that has come to the floor of the House of Representatives in the years that I have been here.

Madam Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

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