Stakeout with Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)
Statement
Stakeout with Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and Rep. John Boehner (R-OH)
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SEN. MCCONNELL: Good afternoon, everyone.
I want to make a few observations about where we are on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and its permanency, which we've dealt with now in the Senate. Just to refresh your memory, the bill we passed in the Senate is the Rockefeller-Bond bill. It came out of the Senate Intelligence Committee 13-to-2 and yesterday passed the Senate with 68 members voting for it. In the Senate, this is pretty overwhelmingly bipartisan.
We also know, over in the House, which Leader Boehner can refer to, that there's a bipartisan majority in the House, based on the letter we've seen from the Blue Dogs to the speaker, to take up and pass the Senate Bill. The Senate is not going to be receptive to another extension. And the reason for that is, this is not a new issue. This has been around quite a while.
We passed a six-month extension back in August, because Congress wanted to do only a six-month extension. We passed a 15-day extension two weeks ago, because the majority in Congress only wanted to do a 15-day extension. We understand this issue thoroughly. The solution is to pass the bipartisan measure, that passed the Senate, that we know the president will sign.
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SEN. MCCONNELL: We'll take a couple of questions, if there are any.
Q Did the president -- (off mike) -- Democrats and the White House -- (off mike)?
SEN. MCCONNELL: Well, the president's made it very clear that he's not interested in signing additional extensions. He believes we're all thoroughly familiar with this issue and it's not some brand- new issue that just got dropped on the doorstep of the House. As Leader Boehner has indicated and I've indicated, the president is fully aware that there's a bipartisan majority in the House for passing the Senate bill. We know what we need to do, and now's the time to step and do it in order to protect the American people.
Q (Off mike.)
SEN. MCCONNELL: You'd have to White House people who the president spoke with.
Q (Off mike.)
SEN. MCCONNELL: Yeah. I wouldn't be the best one to ask about conversations that may have occurred between the president and others.
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