Day 3: Wednesday, March 29, 2006
The first order of business was for the secretary of state to give a press conference. The president was in attendance. During the conference the press secretary spoke of the administrations confidence that he Darfur Bill will pass. The secretary said that the Free Act that is seeing strong support from both parties and that the President is confident that the bill will pass. The republicans were hoping to repeal the death tax but they will settle from five million dollars being cut off it. Both the President and the secretary of state stressed the need for bipartisanship for the bills to pass swiftly and without incident. The President wished that the senate “reflect all views of Americans and not be divided by the lines of partisanship.”
After the conclusion of the press conference, the President and the cabinet went off to watch Anchorman while the committees came together to amend and vote upon their bills. Bill 2261 “Free and Fair Elections in Belarus” was the first to be discussed. There were amendments from both the Democratic and Republican side. The first amendment to be disused was sensate amendment 8 proposed by senator Hagel. It concerned the repression of Fidel Castro’s regime on political prisoners. The amendment passes by a unanimous vote. Senate amendment 10 was then discussed. It was to give ever person who under Bill S.R. 2261 would be released from prison in Belarus, a public apology from the administration. The amendment passed unanimously. Senate amendment 11 was the next to be voted upon it called for the USAID to allocate funs to support domestic nongovernmental organizations in their democratization efforts as well as to support the growth of independent media. Senate Resolution was sent to the floor with a unanimous agreement.
The next resolution to be considered was S. R. 623. The resolution is to secure the safety of the United States by responding to the nuclear threat from Iran. There were three amendments summated to the chair. Senate Amendment 29 was the fist to be voted upon. It was to remove a line of the resolve. There was much debate of the clause that stated that the United States would cut assistance to those countries invested in Iranian crude oil. Finally Senate Amendment 29 passed with a unanimous vote. The next to be discussed was S.AMDT. 9 that was just to add language into the Bill. After much debate over the true definition of fail, the committee passed the amendment with the words cease and stop instead of fail. Most of the amendments proposed were concerning wording in the bills or resolutions. All the amendments were either unanimously shut down or unanimously passed instantly.
The next bill to be brought before the committee to be voted upon was bill 1099: Palestine anti-Terrorism Act of 2006. There were five amendments to the bill. Senator Kerry requested that a panel be created to assess to threat of propaganda. Senator Kerry wanted to debate the nature of the panel during this current session. The committee chair as well as other senators thought that the idea for the Propaganda Threat Assessment Panel should be brought up as an amendment to the State Department Reauthorization Bill. After a few more amendments Bill 1099 passed unanimously to be debated on the floor tomorrow night.
The next and fourth bill to be brought before the committee was Senate Bill 562. The time was 9:17PM and after almost three hours only three of the eight seven bills had been voted upon. The bill had a four-page amendment that was written up by both parties working together. The chair decided against reading the full four pages upon the request of senator Martinez.
During the break senator Fiengold says she upset because the republicans affectively neutered her amendment when it was to their benefit as well.
The committee chair asked for a formal consent that the committee would not adjourn until the detainee bill is considered as well Kerry Proposition Panel Review. Which means that the committee could potentially be there for a very long time. After his statement the committee chair brought the Lugar Bill before the committee and it passed fairly quickly. Five out of seven, not including Senator Kerry’s additional proposition, have been voted upon and passed.
The next bill to be brought up was bill S. 6613: The State Department Reauthorization Bill. Amendments passed to the bill expanded the Peace Corps in Central and South America to promote democracy in hopes of building the United States image and stop any threat of terror cells building up. Another amendment was brought before the committee concerning education about sex and sexual transmitted diseases. The amendment was defeated due to its awkward wording about contraceptives that presented contraceptives negatively. The amendment was defeated only after a voice vote had been taken after a senator objected to the hand vote. The minority party evoked the sixty percent vote. No one seemed to know the true rules, and an argument over if the minority can do that after the vote and if there needs to be a new vote taken, went on for at least ten minutes. This was at 11:10PM. The chair then decided to take a hand vote to determine if there should be another vote on the amendment. The hand vote defeated the revote. The bill as a whole passed unanimously.
The next bill to be brought before the committee was the bill on Detainees. Senator Hagel stated that the committee couldn’t under its jurisdiction vote upon this bill. The bill started in the House Arms Committee and as such is not under the jurisdiction of the committee. The democrats were greatly attached to the bill and after a majority vote to not allow the bill to be presented in front of the committee, all the democrats walked out and thus the committee was adjourned.

J.Q.

Day 3: Wednesday, March 29, 2006
The first order of business was for the secretary of state to give a press conference. The president was in attendance. During the conference the press secretary spoke of the administrations confidence that he Darfur Bill will pass. The secretary said that the Free Act that is seeing strong support from both parties and that the President is confident that the bill will pass. The republicans were hoping to repeal the death tax but they will settle from five million dollars being cut off it. Both the President and the secretary of state stressed the need for bipartisanship for the bills to pass swiftly and without incident. The President wished that the senate “reflect all views of Americans and not be divided by the lines of partisanship.”
After the conclusion of the press conference, the President and the cabinet went off to watch Anchorman while the committees came together to amend and vote upon their bills. Bill 2261 “Free and Fair Elections in Belarus” was the first to be discussed. There were amendments from both the Democratic and Republican side. The first amendment to be disused was sensate amendment 8 proposed by senator Hagel. It concerned the repression of Fidel Castro’s regime on political prisoners. The amendment passes by a unanimous vote. Senate amendment 10 was then discussed. It was to give ever person who under Bill S.R. 2261 would be released from prison in Belarus, a public apology from the administration. The amendment passed unanimously. Senate amendment 11 was the next to be voted upon it called for the USAID to allocate funs to support domestic nongovernmental organizations in their democratization efforts as well as to support the growth of independent media. Senate Resolution was sent to the floor with a unanimous agreement.
The next resolution to be considered was S. R. 623. The resolution is to secure the safety of the United States by responding to the nuclear threat from Iran. There were three amendments summated to the chair. Senate Amendment 29 was the fist to be voted upon. It was to remove a line of the resolve. There was much debate of the clause that stated that the United States would cut assistance to those countries invested in Iranian crude oil. Finally Senate Amendment 29 passed with a unanimous vote. The next to be discussed was S.AMDT. 9 that was just to add language into the Bill. After much debate over the true definition of fail, the committee passed the amendment with the words cease and stop instead of fail. Most of the amendments proposed were concerning wording in the bills or resolutions. All the amendments were either unanimously shut down or unanimously passed instantly.
The next bill to be brought before the committee to be voted upon was bill 1099: Palestine anti-Terrorism Act of 2006. There were five amendments to the bill. Senator Kerry requested that a panel be created to assess to threat of propaganda. Senator Kerry wanted to debate the nature of the panel during this current session. The committee chair as well as other senators thought that the idea for the Propaganda Threat Assessment Panel should be brought up as an amendment to the State Department Reauthorization Bill. After a few more amendments Bill 1099 passed unanimously to be debated on the floor tomorrow night.
The next and fourth bill to be brought before the committee was Senate Bill 562. The time was 9:17PM and after almost three hours only three of the eight seven bills had been voted upon. The bill had a four-page amendment that was written up by both parties working together. The chair decided against reading the full four pages upon the request of senator Martinez.
During the break senator Fiengold says she upset because the republicans affectively neutered her amendment when it was to their benefit as well.
The committee chair asked for a formal consent that the committee would not adjourn until the detainee bill is considered as well Kerry Proposition Panel Review. Which means that the committee could potentially be there for a very long time. After his statement the committee chair brought the Lugar Bill before the committee and it passed fairly quickly. Five out of seven, not including Senator Kerry’s additional proposition, have been voted upon and passed.
The next bill to be brought up was bill S. 6613: The State Department Reauthorization Bill. Amendments passed to the bill expanded the Peace Corps in Central and South America to promote democracy in hopes of building the United States image and stop any threat of terror cells building up. Another amendment was brought before the committee concerning education about sex and sexual transmitted diseases. The amendment was defeated due to its awkward wording about contraceptives that presented contraceptives negatively. The amendment was defeated only after a voice vote had been taken after a senator objected to the hand vote. The minority party evoked the sixty percent vote. No one seemed to know the true rules, and an argument over if the minority can do that after the vote and if there needs to be a new vote taken, went on for at least ten minutes. This was at 11:10PM. The chair then decided to take a hand vote to determine if there should be another vote on the amendment. The hand vote defeated the revote. The bill as a whole passed unanimously.
The next bill to be brought before the committee was the bill on Detainees. Senator Hagel stated that the committee couldn’t under its jurisdiction vote upon this bill. The bill started in the House Arms Committee and as such is not under the jurisdiction of the committee. The democrats were greatly attached to the bill and after a majority vote to not allow the bill to be presented in front of the committee, all the democrats walked out and thus the committee was adjourned.

J.Q.

Day 2: Tuesday, March 28, 2006


The committee came to order at 6:39 PM on a rainy March 28, 2006. The first order of business was to continue testimony on what is occurring in the Sudan. Dr. Salim, a representative from the AU came to brief the committee on the current situation. Dr. Salim stressed the weaknesses in the UN mandate that was set forth for the Sudan and the need for a swift and bloodless peace. Dr. Salim remained cool and calm throughout the whole questioning period giving excellent full and insightful answers to all the questions asked of him.
After the period of questioning, the committee took a short five-minute recess.
Once the committee reconvened the President entered to give a statement on what is occurring in Belarus. He spoke out against the lack of democracy during the last election and lack of political freedom. The President’s comments served as a bridge to the test testimony. The committee called forth a witness to testify on the situation. The testimony concerned Resolution S.R. 2261 that calls for a free and fair presidential election in Belarus. The witness spoke of the tragedy that occurred in hopes that the United States would come to the assistance of the people in order to stop the brutality. After the testimony and questioning the committee took a one-minute recess.
The committee then moved into discussion concerning bill 1099: Palestine anti-Terrorism Act of 2006. Hamas, the now elected ruling group of Palestien, is a group that holds ideals of violence that are not in accordance with the United State’s and the rest of the World’s efforts for peace between Palestine and Israel. The legislation will restrict assistance to the Palestinian government until it rejects its terrorist actions. It does not cut of humanitarian assistance that goes right to the Palestinian people and does not go through the government. The committee then heard testimony from Professor Benjamin Aviv. He stressed that the worst of Hamas was not in the terror but in the destruction of morals. Children are being brought into terrorist training camps as well as receiving a partial education that teaches the ideas of Hamas. Professor Aviv stated that the best possible way to achieve peace is through peace talks that could only be properly and affectively completed with the assistance of the United States. He spoke in such a convoluted fashion that he tended to contradict himself. The committee caught on to his inconsistencies and began to question him in depth about previous statements. By tracing back to previous statements the committee hopped to understand the true intentions of Professor Aviv’s testimony. Despite the attacks on his testimony, Professor Aviv remained attentive and answered all the questions to the best of his not entirely prepared ability. After the questioning the committee took a five-minute recess.
After the break Secretary of State Rice spoke to the committee on the intentions for bill 1099. She stressed that they cabinet was looking over economic plans that would send aid that would bypass the Hamas government and go directly to the people.
The next resolution brought before the committee was Resolution 623 that proposes to end the Iranian uranium enrichment program. For the last twenty years the Iranian government has attempted to make an atomic bomb. The State Department has stated that Iran is a harbor for terrorist and that the combination of terror and atomic weaponry could only be disastrous. The director of the IAEA was brought before the committee to testify. He reiterated the threat of Iran and their supposed peaceful nuclear program. He laid out all the different types of nuclear programs that Iran is undertaking. He stressed the importance for quick and steady resolution. The Iranians need to comply with the IAEA so that world can better understand at what stage the Iranians are in the their program. The world really has no idea what is really going on behind the closed doors of Iran. The director answered the questions clearly and insightfully despite a rather goofy question comparing Iran to a football team on steroids. After the conclusions of the questioning another five-minute recess was taken. After the five-minute recess the committee adjourned. The time was 9:38 PM.


B.H.

Day 1: Monday, March 27, 2006
“Tonight…the State of our Union is strong – and together, we will make it stronger”
- President Bush

President Bush received a warm welcome that helped him through his State of the Union Address. Bush’s delivery was strong, to the point and well conceived. He delivered several strong points in his twenty-minuet speech, ranging from the war in Iraq to the current state of the Economy.
The president stated that democracy is the tool that brings hope to those who are suppressed and if achieved will guard their rights and freedoms as human beings. The wars against terror and with Iraq are both trying to accomplish that. Dictatorships, such as the regime ruled over by Sadam Hussein, harbor terrorist. If the United States fails to finish its mission we will forsake the citizens of Iraq to death. The only way to bring the troops home is to come out victorious.
Along the same lines as spreading democracy to Iraq, the President wishes to increase the amount being sent to Iran to promote democracy. He requested that the senate increase appropriations from 10 million dollars to 75 million. While Bush requested that more money be sent to Iran he requested that no more money be sent to the now Hamas-controlled Palestinian government.
According to Bush the economy is on the rebound. 4.6 million new jobs have been created, which is more than Japan and the European Union combined. This is helpful for competing with the newfound rival: India. The president wishes to cut taxes in order to help families and small businesses prosper. In return the small businesses will help feed the economy.
After the President ended his State of the Union, Senator Reed gave the democratic response. He began by giving a picture of the town he grew up in and how if he was able to rise out of a small-secluded town in Middle America and child now with the new opportunities should be able to accomplish almost anything. The story’s message was covered up by a sappy attempted heartfelt situation where a boy approaches him saying he only wishes he could amount to what Reed has accomplished.
After the story Reed finally dove into his real points. He attacked the President on his lack of investment for the future, his failure to give a speedy response to Hurricane Katrina and his cutting educational benefits for the lower and middle class. The way I saw it was that the President has taken steps for the future for example: he is investing in alternate fuel sources so that the United States will no have to rely so heavily on foreign oil and gas. The President’s “No Child Left Behind Act” has helped many children achieve what would previously be impossible. Reed said that the well being of the citizens of the United States should be the top priority of the President. It seems to be from what I have observed that that is just what the President is doing. Bush is taking great measures to protect the homeland as well as create the best possibly for the Citizens.
After the democratic repose ended the senate broke into committees. I sat in on the committee on Human Rights and Foreign Relations. The first Bill to be discussed was Bill S562 “Taxpayer Relief and Genocide Act”, which is on sending aid to Sudan. There are three goals of this bill: 1st, to let the American People know that we, the Foreign Relations Committee, are faithfully acting as the watchdogs of their hard-earned money, to ensure that it only goes for good, honest purposes that further the interests of the United States and Justice in the world; 2nd, to put the Sudanese government on notice, to let them know that we can see what has happened and that we strongly disapprove; and 3rd, to ensure that the many nations receiving support from the United States know that we will not participate, directly or indirectly, in acts which we find disgraceful and unjust.
The committee called a farmer who fell victim to the genocide to testify. To escape he fled to Chad where he has lived in abysmal conditions in a refugee camp. He gave a heartfelt picture of what was happening. After hearing his testimony the committee adjourned until 6:30 on the morrow.
J. Adams