Monday, October 1, 2007: FY 2008 Defense Auhtorizations Act Passes 92-3

[18:48]
The Senate has adjourned until 10:00 eastern tomorrow.

[17:58]
The Senate has just started a final vote on the FY 2008 Defense Authorization Act. This Act instructs the Dept of Defense on how it will use FY 2008 Appropriations.

Pretty much everyone is voting for this bill with the exception of: Robert Byrd (WV), Russ Feingold (WI), and Tom Coburn (OK).

Th Defense Authorization Act for FY 2008 passes 92-3.

[17:53]
There is a vote underway on a Mikulski/Kennedy Amendment to the Defense Authorization Act FY 2008. The Amendment affects the way that government contracting would work such that any private employer awarded a contract from the Defense Department would have to offer its employees under the contract the same level of health benefits as that employer would receive from the federal gov't. The federal gov't actually has a really good health benefits package, meaning that private employers winning gov't contracts would have to up the benefits that they give to employees doing work under the contract. Republicans are voting against this amendment, Democrats are voting for it. Speaking for the minority, John Thune (SD) opposed the amendment because it meant that the contracting process would become less competitive and because, he said, the benefits offered by the private contractors have been adequate to the tune of 80% of gov't benefits on average.

Amendment agreed to with 51 yeas. Close one.

[15:49]
The senators have turned to the FY 2008 Defense Authorization Act. Senators are debating amendments to the bill. Most amendments to most bills are not subject to a roll-call vote because they are not controversial. The bills that meet stiff opposition are the ones that senators, as their proponents, must speak about on the floor in an effort to persuade the public as well as their colleagues.

[14:56]
Tom Harkin (IA) is blasting Rush Limbaugh for calling "phony soldiers" those troops in Iraq who oppose the Iraq War. Harkin wonders if any of his colleagues on the other side of the aisle will condemn Limbaugh's statements. Harkin notes that Limbaugh sits in an air-conditioned office and has never served yet feels free to say such shameful things about U.S. soldiers who dare to speak their minds. Incredulous, Harkin says, "I don't know, maybe he was high on his drugs again."

[14:39]
Charles Grassley (IA) is upset that President Bush would deign to veto the just-passed extension/expansion of the children's health insurance program. Note: there is a major campaign underway in Washington to convince Bush to sign the bill, not veto it (as Bush has said he would do). Grassley says that if Bush vetoes the bill, he will be reneging on a promise he made during the 2004 campaign. Here's Bush at the 2004 convention:

BUSH: America's children must also have a healthy start in life. In a new term, we will lead an aggressive effort to enroll millions of poor children who are eligible but not signed up for the government's health insurance programs. We will not allow a lack of attention or information to stand between these children and the health care they need.

Grassley says that a simple extension of S-CHIP would not effectuate the enrollment of more children in the program.

[14:19]
Senate is in session. Currently senators are speaking as if in morning business, meaning senators can speak on any issue. Floor debate turns to the Dept. of Defense Authorization Act FY 2008 at 15:00.

Right now senator Charles Grassley (IA) is talking about the national ad campaign for the war against drugs. He just said something about how the ad where a girl is "smushed into a couch" because of pot and where a dog talked and aliens ran around damaged the credibility of the campaign because the ads were unrealistic depictions.

Grassley is also talking about how the youth "anti-drug" media campaign seems to be aimed at marijuana despite evidence showing that teenagers are increasingly getting high on prescription drugs lifted from their parents' medicine cabinets.

Precap:

The Senate was unable to pass any of the 12 annual appropriations bills in advance of today's Fiscal New Year. However, the Senate did manage to vote in favor of raising the U.S. Treasury's debt limit by $850 billion. Surprisingly, a bipartisan collective of 42 senators voted against raising the debt limit.

This week the Senate will try to pass one or two of the departmental spending bills. These are appropriations, i.e. budget bills, for the 15 cabinet-level executive agencies—Defense, Justice, State, Agriculture, etc. Majority Leader Reid (NV) said last week that the Senate will tackle Defense Appropriations FY 2008 first and then move to an appropriations package for a collection of agencies, including the DEA.