Tuesday, Oct. 2, 2007: Senate Opens Debate on Defense Appropriations FY 2008

[18:38]
Senate has adjourned for the day. Back at you tomorrow early—9:30 eastern for resumption of debate on Department of Defense Appropriations FY 2008.

[17:12]
Senate is in quorum call right now. Senators are able to bring their amendments to the floor for the DoD Appropriations Bill FY 2008.

This afternoon, Senators voted to table a Barbara Boxer (CA) Amendment that would prohibit the Armed Forces from using "waivers" to enlist any citizen who had a felony on his or her criminal record within the five years prior to enlistment. Boxer said that "common sense" dictated passage of this amendment. Daniel Inouye (HI) rose in opposition to the amendment. You might recognize Inouye as the young Hawaiian medical student who joined the Marines from Ken Burns's "The War" on PBS. Inouye said that the amendment was too harsh, that it would nonetheless keep too many good soldiers out of the army. And he pointed to Jena, LA, and asked if the youth accused of attempted murder should be kept out of the Army. Inouye's point was to say that some jurisdictions prosecute crimes in ways that differ from other jurisdictions.

[14:00]
The Senate is still on lunch recess. But I wanted to do a quick Senate personnel update.

Sadly, Craig Thomas (WY) died earlier this year. Thomas was a mystery to me. Since I started following the Senate closely two years ago, it seemed like Thomas was hardly ever on the floor until early this year when he was all over the place, making speeches about nearly every bill under debate. I noted that he had lost a lot of weight and was losing some hair but I didn't really think much of it because he seemed so energetic. He died of leukemia on June 4, 2007. He has been replaced by John Barrasso, a Republican and state senator. Barrasso joins Mike Enzi to form the Senatorial delegation of Wyoming. I will remember the way Thomas went out, so eager to take to the floor when he knew his days were waning.

Switching tones, I wanted to note that Larry Craig (ID) is still active in the Senate and has been voting during roll-call votes. Yet, there is some question about whether he will step down when/if a Minnesota judge denies Craig's request to withdraw a guilty plea that Craig submitted following an odd scene in a Minneapolis airport men's bathroom during which Craig was said to be stomping his foot, peeking through a stall slat, waving his hand under a neighboring stall, and, apparently, soliciting sex from an undercover officer.

[12:18]
The Senate has recessed for lunch. The morning was not all that exciting. Some general speeches, lots of time in quorum call.

Precap

After having yesterday passed the Dept of Defense Authorizations Act FY 2008, the Senate begins debate on an Act appropriating funds to the DoD for FY 2008. The Authorization prescribes how the money will be spent. The Appropriations Bill actually moves the money.

Senator Daniel Inouye (HI) is in charge of the bill on the floor. He has made it clear that he doesn't want any amendments thrown onto this bill so as to slow it down. Congress want to conference this spending bill and get it to the President by Friday.

The bill is in the amount of $460 billion. This does not include so-called "supplemental" funding for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Senate will debate that "Supplemental" later this year. At that time, senators will attempt to attach conditions to the Supplemental funding such as Iraq withdrawal timelines.