Senate

May 25, 2007 -- Washington, DC – The Senate Intelligence Committee today released the latest in a series of reports in its “Phase II” investigation into pre-war Iraq intelligence. This report explores prewar intelligence assessments about postwar Iraq.

Senator Feinstein offered additional conclusions to the Committee report, which is available at http://intelligence.senate.gov/prewar.pdf.

The following is Senator Feinstein’s statement on today’s report:    » read more »

May 25, 2007 -- Washington, DC – The Senate today approved a new version of the FY’07 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill.

“I am deeply disappointed that this bill fails to hold the President accountable for his Administration’s flawed Iraq War policy. The American people have made their voices clear that there must be an exit strategy for Iraq. Yet this President continues to stubbornly adhere to more of the same,” Senator Feinstein said.    » read more »

May 24, 2007 -- Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding the emergency spending bill:

"In March and in April I voted for emergency spending legislation that would have fully funded our troops in Iraq, but also changed their mission to a sound one. That mission would have taken our troops out of the middle of a civil war, and put them into a support role, training Iraqi soldiers and police, fighting al Qaeda, and protecting our troops.

The President will not agree to that.    » read more »

May 25, 2007 -- Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE) introduced legislation (S.J. Res 15) today to repeal the original 2002 Iraq war authorization, replacing it with a much narrower mission statement for our troops in Iraq. The new mission - to start immediately - would be limited to: combating terrorists, training Iraqis and force protection for our troops. Sen. Biden's legislation requires that the President start withdrawing troops in 4 months and sets a goal of getting all troops that are unnecessary for the new mission out by March 2008.    » read more »

Immigration Moves Forward — Validation Of Comprehensive Reform

May 22, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C—Today, Senator Edward M. Kennedy released the following statement in response to the Dorgan Amendment being defeated in the United States Senate.    » read more »

May 22, 2007 -- Too often, it takes a crisis to move Congress to act on an urgent national need. We have already had crisis after crisis on drug safety, and yesterday we learned of another. A report published in the New England Journal of Medicine shows that the diabetes drug Avandia may increase the risk of heart attacks and death. If further evidence were needed that improving drug safety is an urgent national priority, this latest report puts the issue beyond any doubt.    » read more »

May 22, 2007 -- WASHINGTON – Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich) and John McCain (R-Ariz.), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, today asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates for a comprehensive review of individual body armor systems.    » read more »

Calls For Passage Of His Legislation; After Major Crashes in Oneida, East Rochester, and Selkirk This Year, and More than 500 Accidents Since 2000, Schumer Called for Long Over Due Congressional Inquiry

May 22, 2007 -- Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer testified before the Senate Commerce Committee's Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety, and Security to blast the railroad companies for turning a blind eye to safety and infrastructure problems in New York and across the country.    » read more »

May 21, 2007 -- Washington, DC - "Today's record-high gas prices are the price that the American people are paying for the Bush Administration's failed energy policies. We need to move forward with a real energy plan that will reduce our dependence on foreign oil by speeding development of biofuels and more efficient vehicles.    » read more »

May 22, 2007 -- Washington, DC - Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) joined with House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill. 5th District), and House Democratic military veterans Tim Walz (D-Minn. 1st District) and Patrick Murphy (D-Penn. 8th District) today to call upon the White House to increase the pay raise for wartime troops to 3.5 percent. The group also asked Bush not to cut a proposed benefit for grieving spouses, which would provide $40 a month to help these military families cover expenses when a loved one is killed in action.    » read more »

May 21, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) today sent a letter to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras raising serious concerns about whether the FTC has adequately protected America's seniors from abusive telemarketing fraud schemes.    » read more »

May 21, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement today in response to a Washington Post story that reported "an evolution in administration attitudes toward" the Iraq Study Group report:    » read more »

May 21, 2007 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. — Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made the following statement today in response to reports that gas prices have reached record highs:

"The news that our nation's gas prices have hit an all-time high - especially as we approach the beginning of the summer travel season - underscores the urgent need for a better national energy policy that quickly brings clean and affordable renewable fuels and more energy-efficient vehicles to market. We have to make it a national priority to reduce our reliance on oil, especially foreign oil.    » read more »

May 18, 2007 -- Washington, DC – One day after Senators announced an historic agreement on comprehensive immigration reform, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Larry Craig (R-ID) unveiled details of the agricultural workers program included in the package.

The agricultural workers program mirrors legislation that Senators Feinstein and Craig introduced earlier this year.    » read more »

May 22, 2007 -- Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) today hailed the House of Representatives’ passage of legislation to prevent the circumvention of the Senate’s constitutional prerogative to confirm U.S. Attorneys.

The legislation, authored by Senator Feinstein, was introduced in the Senate shortly after it was revealed that at least eight U.S. Attorneys were fired without cause. The Senate approved the bill on March 20, 2007, and it now goes to the President to be signed into law.    » read more »