questions about syria's activity and syria's conduct, that we ought to continue the dialogue. i believe in the famous max imthat you -- maximthat you make peace with your enemies. and that you talk to people who maybe adversaries, not that i necessarily put syria in an adversarial position, and certainly wouldn't characterize them as an enemy. but the ambassador was withdrawn four years ago as a protest to the assassination of former lebanon prime minister harare. the security council of the united nations thought a resolution on april 7 of 2005 to

establish an independent international investigating commission to inquire into all aspects of the terrorist attack killing prime minister harare. that tribunal has faced considerable obstacles, but it is still in operation, and i think its report would be very important in making a determining as to who is responsible for the assassination of prime minister harare and whether syrian officials were complicated in any way. but i do believe and have believed for a long time that syria could be the key to advancing the peace process in the mideast in kwebgs with my duties as -- in connection with

my duties as work on the subcommittee during my work in the senate, i have traveled extensively abroad and concentrated on the situation in the mideast. in connection with those travels i visited syria 18 times and studied the syrian government, have gotten to know the former president, president hafez al asad, the current president bashir aseniorseniorassad. it has long been my view that dialogue with syria was very, very important. in december of 1988 i had my first meeting with the syrian president hafez al assad, a meeting which lasted four hours

and 35 minutes. during the course of that meeting president hafez al assad, who is known for long meetings, we discussed virtually every problem of the world and he have peri problem of the mideast. -- and every problem of the mideast. it seemed president assad was open to conversation. i had many similar meetings with him, was the only member of congress to attend his funeral in the summer of 2000. at that time i met his successor, president bashir assad and have gotten to know him with meetings virtually every year in the intervening time. there have been back channel negotiations conducted through turkish intervention between israel and syria, and i think that dialogue between the united states and syria could promote future discussions between syria

and israel. it would be my hope that the day would be sooner rather than later when syria would be willing to talk to israel directly. the israeli officials, the prime ministers have repeatedly stated their interest in direct conversations. syria has resisted but has undertaken conversations through back channels. president clinton came very close to effectuating -- or made a lot of progress toward an agreement, perhaps more accurate to say, in 1959 when prime minister -- in 1995 when prime minister rabin who was in charge of israel, and in the year 2000 there was substantial progress made by president clinton on those efforts. and the back channel communications between, brokered by turkey suggests that the time

is right for promoting that kind of an effort. only israel can make a determination as to whether israel wants to give up the golan heights, which is key to having the peace talks proceed. but it is a very different world today in the era of rockets than it was in 1967 when israel captured the golan heights. syria obviously wants the golan back as a matter of national pride. former prime minister -- former secretary of state kissinger told me that he found president hafez al assad to keep his word on the negotiations for the disengagement in 1974, so that obviously any arrangements would have to be very carefully negotiated under president

reagan's famous dictum of trust but verify. but it seems to me that now is a good time to promote that dialogue. the advantages would be if weapons could be stabilized, it is an ongoing question to the extent that syria destabilizing lebanon. syrian officials deny it. there is no doubt that syria supports hezbollah and hamas so that israel could gain considerably if some of their weapons to hamas were cut off and hezbollah was not a threat from the north. so the reopening of the ambassador is a very positive sign, positive sign that envoy former senator george mitchell was visiting. and this, i think, bodes well. the article i wrote in the

washington quarterly some time ago sets forth in greater detail my views on the issue of dialogue. i note my colleague has come to the floor, so i will conclude my statement and yield the floor. the presiding officer: morning business is closed. under the previous order, the senate will proceed to executive session to resume consideration of the following nomination which the clerk will report. the clerk: nomination, department of state, harold koh of connecticut to be legal advisor of the department of state. mr. specter: madam president, may i regain the floor for a unanimous consent request? i've been asked on behalf of the democratic leader to ask consent that caroline mcneil, nay can keefer and stephanie -- nathan keefer and stephanie lewis be allowed privileges of the floor for the remainder of the debate on the nuclear option of dean koh to be legal advisor to the

state department. prosecute. the presiding officer: without objection. a senator: madam president? the presiding officer: the senator from missouri. mr. bond: madam president, i rise today to express my strong opposition to the nomination of mr. harold koh to be the legal advisor to the department of state. my concerns with mr. koh arise primarily from his own statements, writings and testimony before congress. in my opinion, he seems more comfortable basing his legal conclusions on partisan political opinions and trendy arguments rather than the facts and the law. we don't need more legal clerics in government. we need more legal realists in government, someone who pays attention to the hard work that we do in this body to pass laws. the department of state and the country deserve better than that kind of advice. let me provide a few quick

examples. on september 16, 2008, mr. koh testified before the senate judiciary subcommittee on the constitution. his written testimony included the following statement -- quote -- "a compliant congress repeatedly blessed unsound executive policies by enacting nominal loophole-ridden bans on torture and cruel treatment and rubber-stamping without serious hearings, presidentially introduced legislation ranging from the patriot act to the military commissions act to the most recent amendment of the foreign intelligence surveillance act." in the same testimony, he argued that congress should revisit the hayesly enacted fisa amendments with less emphasis on the issue of immunity for telephone and internet service providers. he obviously wasn't paying attention. but besides his condescending and inappropriate tone, i think his statements reflect a poor

understanding of some of the most important pieces of national security legislation that had been passed since the september 11 terrorist attacks and passed on a bipartisan basis in both houses. as my colleagues may know, i was heavily involved in the legislative process surrounding the passage of the fisa amendments act. i can assure you that that certainly was not the result of a congressional rubber stamp that was enacted hastily. we began working on the first one, the protect america act, and debated it, passed it in the summer of 2007. when we came back in the fall, the senate intelligence committee went to work on a bipartisan basis, and we worked for months to get a truly bipartisan bill that came out of the committee. in that bill, we added many additional protections to american citizens to assure that their rights would be protected

from warrantless sufrpls even if they were overseas -- warrantless surveillance even if they were overseas. that passed the senate. it went to the house and it was stalled for months. in the spring of 2007, i sat down with the republican whip and the democratic whip in the house of representatives -- steny hoyer of maryland, mr. roy blunt of missouri -- and we went through and took account of all of the concerns that they had on both sides in the house of representatives. we worked with lawyers from the department of justice, from the intelligence community, and lawyers for the majority staff in the house of representatives. and it took us several months. but what we finally came up with was a piece of legislation that

overwhelmingly passed on a bipartisan basis the house and came back and passed the senate on a bipartisan basis. another key aspect of the fisa amendments act was to ensure -- the key problem was to ensure the intelligence community could continue to collect timely intelligence that could be used to prevent future terrorist attacks. another key aspect of the legislation was liability provisions that were designed to end frivolous litigation against companies alleged to have responded to request for assistance from the highest levels of government. i don't know what planet mr. koh is living on, but if he thinks we can accept electronic communications without being able to give legitimate orders to the carriers of those communications, he doesn't understand the real world. that is where we find out what the terrorists' plans are, who are the terrorists are and where they're likely to strike.

and if we cannot say that we're not going to have frivolous lawsuits against those who respond to lawful orders from the federal government, then we're not going to be able to have access to that information. i'm happy to report that earlier this month the united states district court of the northern district of california, which had raised questions and entertained legislation, rejected the constitutional challenges that a carrier liability provisions and dismissed all but a few of the lawsuits involved in the multidistrict litigation. they found that contrary to mr. koh, that they were constitutional and in a well-reasoned opinion said that they were right. and a bipartisan majority in both houses of congress said they were right. let me be clear, the fisa amendments act was a necessary and important piece of national security legislation that is

keeping us all safe. but despite what apparently mr. koh does not see it that way. despite the overwhelming bipartisan approval. and i would urge my colleagues, even those who voted for cloture, to go back and think again to see if legislation worked on for a year in this body on a bipartisan basis and passed by this and the other body should be dismissed as hastily approved. in his book, he condemns the democratic leaders who played -- in the senate who played a leading role in making improvements to the fisa act. and to the republicans, he condemned everybody who worked on it. apparently decisions need to be made in the department of justice, not through the elected will of those of us who represent the people of america. i think his charges and his

disregard of congress warrant a hard look at him. another example can be found in his may 2006 article in the indiana law journal where he wrote -- quote -- "we should resist the claim that a war on terror permits the commanders an chief's power to be expanded in a wanton power. end quote. that might be a nice media sound bite. i think it's a bit premature to conclude that the united states illegally tortured the detainees. we know that the legal counsel reviewed the interrogation procedures, found them to be lawful. we in the senate intelligence committee are conducting a review of those practices to make sure that what was done complied with the law. where american soldiers violated all standards not only of law,

but of decency and performed unspeakable acts on detainees at abu ghraib prison. they were rightfully punished and sent to prison as they should have been. that's what we do even with our brave soldiers who step out of bounds. now, here's another clever soundbite by from koh. in around article for the berkley journal of national law he wrote -- quote -- "what role can transnational legal process play in nations whose disobedience with international law has attracted attention after september 11. most prominently north korea, iraq and our own country of the united states of america. for shorthand purposes, i will call these countries the axis of disobedience." close quote. to my fellow colleagues, i ask: do you accept the fact that the

united states is part of an axis of disobedience? do you really think fighting back against the terrorists who struck on on 9/11 was disobedience? do you think that we should have a legal adviser in the state department who believes that international law ill defined, not applicable should be pride to -- applied be to affect his judgment on america. the legal adviser for the state department should be an advocate for the nation, not a detractor. if i remember correctly, after september 11th, by a vote of 77 members of the senate plus a majority in the house we made the determination to go to war in iraq to make sure that we didn't suffer further attacks. it was in compliance with the united nations resolution. i say, by the way, that was a

legal international resolution. now, a lot of people will say that mr. koh had a distinguished career in government service and legal academia. i am concerned he spent a little too much time in the ivory tower and he wish he would return to that jurisdiction. given my previously stated concerns, i cannot and will not in good conscience vote in favor of his nomination. i recognize that mr. koh may be headed for confirmation, but i would ask those who may have previously voted for cloture to go to this nomination, think about what he said about congress, about the work that we've done here and about what he has said about america. are you comfortable having him as a legal adviser to the state department after what he said about america being part of the axis of disoh, bead snens are you comfortable with what he said about those of us who voted for the war resolution, about

those of us who voted for the fisa amendments act? i'm certainly not. if he is confirmed, i would hope that for his and our country's sake, if he returns to the state department, his legal advice will be based on facts rather than political rhetoric. i yield the floor. i note the absence of a quorum. the presiding officer: the clerk will call the roll. quorum call:

the presiding officer: the senator from delaware. mr. kaufman: i ask that the quorum call be dispensed with. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: i ask consent to speak as if in morning business for up to 10 minutes. the presiding officer: without objection. mr. kaufman: thank you, madam president. once again i rise to honor a federal employee whose service to our assassination exemplary. -- who service to our nation is exemplary. i want to thank senator cochran for his statements about federal employees on june 11. i want by those who work in the federal government.

mr. president, last week i shared the story of a federal employee who spent his career working at redstone arsenal in alabama. he designed and tested the advanced missile system to defend our military overseas. this week i wish to share the story after federal employee who works to advance our interest overseas, that of a humanitarian good works. both are vital to our global leadership. i spoken before about the groundbreaking research performed by our federal employees at the national inuse it of health. it helps to keep america health care the most innovative in the world. yet making breakthroughs and developing treatments is one part of how the federal government is helping promote global health. one of our foreign policies humanitarian priorities is to expand access to new medications and health technologies among those who live in the developing world. the hard-working men and women

of the centers for disease control and prevention are at the forefront of initiatives to bring lifesaving medicines to those in the greatest need. foremost the c.d.c. monitors, prevents and, if necessary, contains the outbreak of deadly diseases near the united states such as west nile and swine flu. part of this effort is a push toker rat indicate some of the most -- eradicate some of the most dangerous viruses around the world. so much has been said about its shortcomings. for all of the problems that we face on this front, americans are blessed with freedom from fear of disease that afflicted previous generations. when i was young, 10,000 of children each year were stricken with polio. in the early part of the 20th century, polio outbreaks occurred with deadly frequency. many became paralyzed or had to

make use of the iron lung. we have seen the famous images of franklin roosevelt seated behind his desk at the oval office signing new deal programs in law. but at same time so few americans knew that behind that desk our president sat in a wheelchair, his legs paralyzed from his own battle with polio. today in parts of africa and south asia, hundreds of children still develop polio. while developed nations receive the vaccines, this is a luxury for rural villages in places like india, nigeria, afghanistan and se somolia. leading the charge over the past decade denise johnson serves as the acting chief of the c.d.c.polioer ratification branch. before she was directed to do

this, she was a member of the c.d.c. family violence prevention program. she oversaw the -- through community and social change initiatives. this is around the time that congress passed the violence against women act which is one of the proudest achievementses my friend and predecessor vice president biden had in the senate. when asked why denise was sought to work in the polio project, one person said that she did a good job from keeping children being beat en, you know that she can eradicate polio. they have been working in close concert with the world health organization and unicef. in her first few years alone denise and her team helped to immunize over half a billion -- let me repeat, that half a billion children in 93 countries. from her office in atlanta denise oversee as staff of 40 professionals working overseas. her effective leadership is a

key factor in the program's success. denise administers the purchase of 200 million doses of polio vaccine and routinely serves as a field consultant in polio hotspots around the world. she is in kenya taking the fight of polio to the frontlines. 20 years ago there were 350,000 cases of porch lio in 25 countries, today there are fewer than 2,000 cases. that is 350,000 cases down to 2,000 cases. because of the diligent work performed by denise and the rest of her team, it is only a matter of time before the disease no longer threatens our world's children. madam president, denise is just one of so many federal employees who dedicated years of their lives to serving the greater goosmed she and her team are truly engaged in what president obama has called -- quote -- "repairing the world." unquote. their work saves lives an helps