The Congressional Record, Thursday, June 5, 2008:

[Mr. BLUNT.] In terms of legislation, one issue that we have talked a lot about, you and I have worked on, one of my colleagues has worked on a lot, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, I am going to yield for a moment to my good friend from California.

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Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. I thank the gentleman for yielding.

I would just like to underscore the seriousness of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act fix. We did it, as the gentleman knows, last August, for a 6-month period of time, the Protect America Act. It was enough bipartisan support that it passed, but it had a 6-month life on it. Since February 16 at 12:01 a.m. we have not had that or similar ability for our intelligence community to act.

While they made some decisions within that 6-month period which carry over to the present time, as the gentleman from Maryland knows, we are up against it with respect to this summer.

I know that the distinguished majority leader announced his hope that we would have some sort of answer on this before Memorial Day. We missed that date. The gentleman knows our position, that a vast majority of Members on this side of the aisle, combined with the Members on your side of the aisle who have publicly said they would support the bipartisan Senate version, would give us that answer today. But I understand that the gentleman is attempting to mollify more Members on his side of the aisle.

So my question would be, can the distinguished majority leader give us some idea of when we might see something on the floor that we might vote on that might in his judgment get enough bipartisan support to pass in the event that you continue not to bring us the Senate bill?

Mr. BLUNT. Reclaiming my time, I yield to my friend.

Mr. HOYER. I thank the gentleman for yielding and I thank the gentleman for his observation and question. While I don't have a date, I do believe that we are making very significant progress. You have heard me quoted as saying that on the floor. I think that has been true for the last, frankly, 4 to 5 weeks, and I really think that everybody who has been addressing has been working in a very forthright, open and conscientious way to get us to a place where we can have legislation on the floor which will accomplish the objective the gentleman seeks.

I think we are making good progress, and I am therefore hopeful that this will be sooner rather than later. I don't want to set a date. I wanted to do it by Memorial Day. We didn't get there. But we are working very hard, and I am hopeful in the near future we will get there.

Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. Will the gentleman further yield?

Mr. BLUNT. I further yield to the gentleman.

Mr. DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California. The distinguished majority leader has indicated we did not have the urgency of passing this because until August of next year it appeared that we had certain protections. We can't articulate what those are here on the floor. So I guess my question would be, does the gentleman expect that we will have it to vote before we leave for our recess in August?

Mr. HOYER. Yes.

Mr. BLUNT. I thank the gentleman.

After next week, we have 2 weeks remaining before our July 4 District Work Period, and I hope we can continue to work together to find a solution to that problem, to get the supplemental on and off the floor in a way that it properly funds the troops, and we get our work done. We will be working together to do that.

http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getpage.cgi?dbname=2008_record&page=H5018&position=all

Yep, two political parties "working together" today means daylight robbery of the American people - of our treasury and our liberty - and continued death and destruction for the Iraqi people and their nation at our hands.

Because our nation is obviously in such great shape now, those party animals in the House are shutting down our Congress for the year after ten more weeks of legislative session, per Pelosi yesterday. Which means about 4 weeks of "work" in September after the August recess will conclude the shameful tenure of Pelosi and Hoyer and their lemming-like party members of this Congress, who want nothing more than to return to their comfortable public seats, where they are permitted by colleagues and an enabling media to suspend their consciences and ignore their duties to the American people and our Constitution. And "the system" will by and large allow them to do just that, starting all over again next January, after a mere 3-4 month holiday - er, sorry, that's a 3-4 month "District Work Period" (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

America must kick the Two-Party-Only tug-of-war (for the right to unquestioningly obey a president) habit. That suffocating and destructive (though forced) addiction to Constitution-oblivious party factions is savaging our Republic, and everything to which it once aspired.