Today in Washington D. C. - Dec 17, 2007

From Senate & News Sources: Congress is left with critical issuesto resolve before Christmas. Most importantly, our troops putting their lives on the line in Iraq and Afghanistan need to get the funds to properly do their jobs. In a video below, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell calls on this Congress to pass funds for the troops by Christmas.

The alternative minimum tax remains unresolved which means 23 million taxpayers could be hit with the AMT next year. The Democrats’ dithering in passing a patch has already guaranteed delays in processing $75 million in tax refunds. House Democrats initially included billions in tax hikes to offset the AMT patch but the Senate rejected that approach and sent the House a bill that included no tax increases. Sen. McConnell addresses this situation in a video below.

Senate will work on a critical FISA reform bill today. Some Democrats have objected to the inclusion of immunity protections for telecommunications companies. But Sen. Bond, Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee has pointed out that “We can’t have an effective intelligence system for electronic collection unless we have protection and cooperation of carriers.”

On The Floor: Senate reconvened at 10 AM today and resumed consideration of the motion to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed to the FISA reform bill (S. 2248). A vote on the cloture motion is expected at noon. S. 2248 is the bipartisan bill passed by the Senate Intelligence Committee. The Senate Judiciary Committee will have a substitute amendment to the bill that is expected to be debated. In a Statement of Administration Policy released today, the White House wrote, “the Senate Judiciary Committee reported an amendment to the [FISA reform] bill that would have devastating consequences to the Intelligence Community’s ability to detect and prevent terrorist attacks and to protect the Nation from other national security threats.” Accordingly, the president would likely veto the bill if the Judiciary Committee language is included.

On Friday, the Senate passed a bill to overhaul the Federal Housing Administration’s mortgage lending practices, the fiscal 2008 Defense authorization bill, and the long-stalled farm bill.

Se. McConnell on Troop Funding

Sen. McConnell on AMT Situation

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