Next Senate meeting: Tuesday, Feb 1, 2005
9:45 a.m. Convene and begin a period of morning business.
Thereafter, begin consideration of the nomination of Alberto R. Gonzales to be Attorney General.
Hmmmmmmmmmmm...... I wonder if Kennedy will bring up Abu ghraib? Ya think!!
PING... 
LOL. Anyone taking bets.
BTW ... did you catch Reid and Pelosi's comments yesterday about the President's State of the Union Speech and something about how it doesn't take much intelligence to get a hundred members to stand up and clap?
9:00 a.m.: Convene and begin a period of morning business.
Thereafter, proceed to Executive Session and resume consideration of the nomination of Alberto R. Gonzales to be Attorney General.
SENATE ARMED SERVICES ~ U.S. Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. (C-span 10am) [Live thread]
C-span 2..Debate on Gonzales Day 3 ~ Vote today (maybe) [LIVE THREAD]
From Sensenbrenner's ofc:
U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary
F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr., Chairman
www.house.gov/judiciary
News Advisory
For immediate release Contact: Jeff Lungren/Terry Shawn
February 9, 2005 202-225-2492
Sensenbrenner House Floor Statement on REAL ID Legislation
WASHINGTON, D.C. - House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.) delivered the following remarks during today's House floor debate on H.R. 418, the REAL ID legislation:
"Thank you, Mr. Chairman. In December, the President signed into law legislation intended to respond to the recommendations of 9/11 Commission. Unfortunately, the legislation that was enacted failed to include several key provisions critical to addressing vulnerabilities found in both the 9/11 Commission report and the 9/11 staff report on terrorist travel. To that end, on January 26th of this year, I introduced H.R. 418 - the REAL ID Act. This bill, which now has 139 co-sponsors, encompasses four of the most important border and document security provisions that the House overwhelmingly approved as a part of H.R. 10 last year.
"The goal of the REAL ID Act is straightforward. It seeks to prevent another 9/11-type terrorist attack by disrupting terrorist travel. The 9/11 Commission's terrorist travel report stated that 'abuse of the immigration system and a lack of interior enforcement were unwittingly working together to support terrorist activities.' The report further states that, 'members of Al Qaida clearly valued freedom of movement as critical to their ability to plan and carry out the attacks prior to September 11th.' Finally, the report observes, 'if terrorist travel options are reduced, they may be forced to rely on means of interaction which can be more easily monitored and to resort to travel documents that are more easily detectable.'
"The REAL ID Act contains four provisions aimed at disrupting terrorist travel. First, the legislation does not try to set states' policy for those who may or may not drive a car, but it does address the use of a driver's license as a form of identification to a federal official. American citizens have the right to know who is in their country, that people are who they say they are, and that the name on the driver's license is the real holder's name, not some alias.
"Second, this legislation will tighten our asylum system, which has been abused by terrorists. The 9/11 Commission staff report on terrorist travel states that 'once the terrorists had entered the United States, their next challenge was to find a way to remain here. Their primary method was immigration fraud.' Irresponsible judges have made the asylum laws vulnerable to fraud and abuse. We will end judge-imposed presumptions that benefit suspected terrorists in order to stop providing a safe haven to some of the worst people on Earth. The REAL ID Act will reduce the opportunity for immigration fraud so that we can protect honest asylum seekers and stop rewarding the terrorists and criminals who falsely claim persecution.
"Liberal activist judges in the 9th Circuit have been overturning clearly established precedent and are preventing immigration judges from denying bogus asylum applications by aliens who are clearly lying. If criminal juries can sentence a defendant to life imprisonment or execution based on adverse credibility determinations, certainly an immigration judge can deny an alien asylum on this basis. It is one of the foundations of our system of jurisprudence that juries and trial judges should be able to decide cases on the basis of the credibility or lack of credibility of witnesses. The bill will again allow immigration judges to deny asylum claims on the basis of credibility.
"The bill overturns an even more disturbing 9th Circuit precedent that has made it easier for terrorists to receive asylum. The Circuit has actually held that an alien can receive asylum on the basis that his or her government believes the alien is a terrorist.
"Third, the REAL ID Act will waive federal laws to the extent necessary to complete gaps in the San Diego border security fence, which is still stymied eight years after congressional authorization. Neither the public safety nor the environment are benefitting from the current stalemate.
"Finally, the REAL ID Act contains a common-sense provision that helps protect Americans from terrorists who have infiltrated the United States. Currently, certain terrorism-related grounds of inadmissibility to our country are not also grounds for deportation of aliens already here. The REAL ID Act makes aliens deportable from the U.S. for terrorism-related offenses to the same extent that they would be inadmissible to the United States to begin with. And the Act provides that any alien who knowingly provides funds or other material support to a terrorist organization will be subject to immigration consequences.
"The REAL ID Act will make America a safer place. It is endorsed by the 9-11 Families for a Secure America, an association of family members of 9-11 victims. I urge my colleagues to support this bill."
http://www.house.gov/sensenbrenner/
2: 00 p.m.: Convene and begin consideration of S. 256, the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act of 2005.