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President Signs McConnell’s Burma Sanctions Legislation

August 1, 2007



WASHINGTON, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell announced Wednesday that President Bush signed into law his legislation renewing sanctions against the Burmese government.



“I appreciate the President’s support of this important legislation. By signing the bill, he sends a strong message that the United States will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with the people of Burma in their struggle for freedom and democracy.”



BACKGROUND:



The bill, cosponsored by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), calls for the renewal of sanctions against the Burmese junta, which include an import ban on Burmese goods entering the U.S. and visa restrictions on officials from the regime -- the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC).



The legislation maintains sanctions on the regime until changes are taken by the SPDC – changes that include taking concrete, irreversible steps toward reconciliation and democratization, such as the full, unfettered participation of the National League for Democracy and ethnic minorities in the political affairs of the country; ending attacks on ethnic minorities; and securing the immediate, unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience, including Nobel Peace Prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi.



The bill passed the Senate on July 24, 2007.



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The Kids First Act

August 1, 2007



‘Our alternative will add 1.3 million new kids to the SCHIP program by 2012. By contrast, the Finance Committee bill actually begins reducing kids’ coverage in 2012, and results in fewer children having SCHIP coverage in 2017’



Washington, D.C. –Senator Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and Republican Leader Mitch McConnell introduced an alternative to the SCHIP legislation on Wednesday, titled the Kids First Act. The alternative proposal would focus the program on low-income children without raising taxes. Leader McConnell made the following statement Wednesday regarding the Kids First Act.



“The State Children’s Health Insurance Program was created to target the health-care needs of poor children whose families made too much to be eligible for Medicaid, but were still in danger of not being able to afford private health insurance.



“SCHIP is in many ways successful, as last year, 6.6 million children had health care coverage thanks to it, including more than 50,000 in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. From 1996 to 2005, the rate of children living without health insurance in America dropped by 25 percent.



“So as the Senate turned to debate the reauthorization of this federal/state partnership, I had hoped that all of my colleagues would focus on SCHIP’s true goal: covering children.



“Unfortunately, that’s not what the Finance Committee’s bill does. This bill is a dramatic departure from current SCHIP law that will significantly raise taxes, increase spending and lead to government-run health care.



“At a time when the people of America have made clear that they want us to reduce government spending, Democrats are going to spend $112 billion of the taxpayers’ money. And part of this increase will go toward people that SCHIP was never meant to cover, as this proposal will allow more adults to piggyback onto a children’s health program.



“So Senators Lott, Kyl, Gregg, Bunning and I have proposed an alternative measure I hope all of my colleagues will consider. Our Kids First Act will refocus SCHIP to help the people it was designed to help: low-income children.



“The Kids First Act will reauthorize SCHIP for five years, and would ensure that children enrolled in SCHIP stay covered by adding $14 billion in funding above and beyond the baseline SCHIP budget.



“Our alternative will add 1.3 million new kids to the SCHIP program by 2012. By contrast, the Finance Committee bill actually begins reducing kids’ coverage in 2012, and results in fewer children having SCHIP coverage in 2017.



“Our alternative also provides $400 million over the next five years for states to spend on outreach and enrollment for low-income children who are eligible but not on SCHIP, so we can enroll them. This money will help guarantee that SCHIP dollars go towards the low-income kids the program is meant to help.



“The Kids First Act takes several measures to make health insurance more affordable and cost-effective. For instance, it encourages premium assistance to aid parents in buying private health insurance for their children.



“It also includes the Small Business Health Plan legislation we considered in the 109th Congress. Of the 20 million working Americans who do not have health insurance, nearly half work in firms of 25 or fewer.



“Small Business Health Plans would allow those firms to band together across state lines, increase their bargaining power and afford better health-care coverage for their employees.



“Finally, our alternative ensures that the taxpayers’ dollars are spent appropriately by decreasing the number of adults who can take advantage of the program.



“While considerably less expensive to the taxpayers than the Finance Committee’s bill, it’s worth noting that many states, including Kentucky, would fare better next year under the Kids First Act than under the committee bill.



“Our plan is fiscally responsible and focuses government assistance on those who really need it. It reauthorizes and improves upon a program that works, instead of transforming it into a license for higher taxes, higher spending, and another giant leap toward government-run health care.



“It can receive a presidential signature, and it deserves this Senate’s support.”



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Bond, McConnell Introduce Needed Terrorism Surveillance Modernization

August 1, 2007

‘We should not adjourn until we have closed this gap, until we have fixed this outdated law’



Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Christopher Bond, Ranking Member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, introduced an updated terrorist surveillance law Wednesday to modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and called for its passage before Congress adjourns for August recess. Leader McConnell delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor Wednesday.



“Yesterday the Director of National Intelligence came to Capitol Hill and implored Congress to pass vital legislation to protect Americans before we leave for recess. He was echoing the warnings of the entire intelligence Community, which has assured us that the threat is real and that the need is urgent.



“The latest National Intelligence Estimate makes clear that the greatest terrorist threat to the United States is Al-Qaeda. Their intent to attack us is undiminished since 9/11. They’ve gained recruits and strength in the Middle East. They continue to adapt and improve their capabilities. And we must continue to adapt and improve our ability to detect their movements and their plots swiftly, with every tool of intelligence we have.



“One of the most effective tools we have in this important work is our electronic surveillance program. Ever since the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, was written in 1978, the principle has been clear: terrorists operating abroad and plotting attacks against us are fair targets of surveillance.



“But over the years, advances in technology have created an absurd and unintended consequence: intelligence analysts are now required to seek a warrant for tracking the communications of terrorists. The original intent of FISA was to give us access to terrorists, but its effect has been to slow that access down. In a significant number of cases, intelligence professionals are now forced to obtain court orders to collect foreign intelligence concerning foreign targets located on foreign soil.



“The targeting of a foreign terrorist overseas should not require a FISA warrant. That was never the intention of the original legislation.



“The facts here are not in dispute: our nation faces an alarming intelligence gap, a situation in which the Intelligence Community every day is missing a significant portion of what we should be getting in order to protect the American people. We should not adjourn until we have closed this gap. We must act quickly, in a bipartisan manner, and let the appropriate committees come back and review FISA and other matters related to the legislation in a more comprehensive manner.



“We should not return in September knowing that we have failed in our duty, and we pray that we don’t have cause to regret our inaction. Let there be no doubt: if we had had the foresight in August of 2001 to enact a law that would have exposed the plot that was being hatched against us then, the vote to approve that law would have been cast unanimously and without hesitation. None of us would have shrunk from that duty. Six years later, that duty remains.



“There is little that we do here in the Senate that can immediately and decisively improve the security of this country. But by passing a FISA modernization bill that the President can sign before we go home for recess, we will have done just that. We need to act on this legislation now. We should not adjourn until we have closed this gap, until we have fixed this outdated law."



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