Senate by Cboldt: March 2006

Prayers for Senator Byrd

Senator Byrd's wife, Erma, died earlier today.

My prayers go out for the Senator for an extra heaping helping of faith. He and Erma were married for 69 years, and her death will certainly leave a void that cannot be filled.

Judiciary Committee Executive Meeting - March 27, 2006

A prelude to what promises to be a busy week in the Senate. Add one Circuit Court nominee to the Senate's Executive Calendar, and discuss three hot topics: Immigration, proposed legislation dealing with the President's NSA Terrorist Surveillance Program, and bring up Feingold's proposed censure resolution.

The Monday Executive Business Meeting sets the stage for Hearings the rest of the week.

TENTATIVE AGENDA
Executive Business Meeting
Senate Judiciary Committee
226 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Monday, March 27, 2006 at 10:00 a.m.
I. Nominations
Norman Randy Smith
to be U.S. Circuit Judge for the Ninth Circuit
Patrick J. Schiltz
to be U.S. District Court Judge for the District of Minnesota
Steven G. Bradbury
to be an Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Legal Counsel
II. Bills
S. _____, Comprehensive Immigration Reform [Chairman's Mark]
S. 1768, A bill to permit the televising of Supreme Court proceedings
[Specter, Leahy, Cornyn, Grassley, Schumer, Feingold, Durbin]
S. 829, Sunshine in the Courtroom Act of 2005
[Grassley, Schumer, Cornyn, Leahy, Feingold, Durbin, Graham, DeWine, Specter]
S. 489, Federal Consent Decree Fairness Act
[Alexander, Kyl, Cornyn, Graham, Hatch]
S. 2039, Prosecutors and Defenders Incentive Act of 2005
[Durbin, Specter, DeWine, Leahy, Kennedy, Feinstein, Feingold]
S. 2292, A bill to provide relief for the Federal judiciary from excessive rent charges
[Specter, Leahy, Cornyn, Feinstein, Biden]
S. 2453, National Security Surveillance Act of 2006
[Specter]
S. 2455, Terrorist Surveillance Act of 2006
[DeWine, Graham]
III. Matters
S.J. Res. 1, Marriage Protection Amendment
[Allard, Sessions, Kyl, Hatch, Cornyn, Coburn, Brownback]
S. Res. 398, A resolution relating to the censure of George W. Bush
[Feingold]

Judiciary Committee Hearings - Week of March 27, 2006

""NSA III: War Time Executive Power and the FISA Court" "
Senate Judiciary Committee
Full Committee
DATE: March 28, 2006
TIME: 09:00 AM
TIME CHANGE TO 9:00 a.m. AND ROOM CHANGE TO HART 219
The hearing on "NSA III: War Time Executive Power and the FISA Court" scheduled by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary for Tuesday, March 28, 2006 will begin at 9:00 a.m. and will take place in Hart Building Room 219.
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=1825
""Judicial Nominations""
Senate Judiciary Committee
Full Committee
NOTICE OF COMMITTEE HEARING
DATE AND TIME CHANGE TO WEDNESDAY, MARCH 29, 2006 at 9:30 a.m.
The hearing on "Judicial Nominations" scheduled by the Senate Committee on the Judiciary will take place on Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 9:30 a.m. in Room 226 of the Senate Dirksen Office Building rather than the previously scheduled date of Tuesday, March 28, 2006 at 2:30 p.m.
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=1839
"What's in a Game? State Regulation of Violent Video Games and the First Amendment" "
Senate Judiciary Committee
Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights
DATE: March 29, 2006
TIME: 02:00 PM
NOTICE OF SUBCOMMITTEE HEARING
The Senate Committee on the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Property Rights has scheduled a hearing on "What's in a Game? State Regulation of Violent Video Games and the First Amendment" for Wednesday, March 29, 2006 at 2:00 p.m. in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=1824
""An Examination of the Call to Censure the President""
Senate Judiciary Committee
Full Committee
DATE: March 31, 2006
TIME: 09:30 AM
ROOM: Senate Dirksen 226
NOTICE OF COMMITTEE HEARING
The Senate Committee on the Judiciary has scheduled a hearing on "An Examination of the Call to Censure the President" for Friday, March 31, 2006 at 9:30 a.m. in Room 226 of the Dirksen Senate Office Building.
By order of the Chairman
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=1841

Senator Frist on Regulating Political Expression on the Internet

A couple items from the Congressional Record.

31 . ONLINE FREEDOM OF SPEECH ACT -- (Senate - March 09, 2006)
Mr. FRIST. Mr. President, yesterday, I filed the Online Freedom of Speech Act as an amendment to the lobbying reform bill.
This morning, the House Administration Committee will mark up identical legislation. We expect the House to act as early as next week to pass this vital protection of free speech.
Thomas Jefferson once quipped that, ``Advertisements contain the only truths to be relied on in a newspaper.''
But despite his low opinion of the press, he also observed that, ``Were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.'' ...
As an amateur blogger myself, and soon-to-be private citizen, I am committed to ensuring that the extraordinary explosion of political debate in the blogosphere is protected from meddling bureaucrats and regulators in Washington, DC.
I commented on this very issue on my own blog last week. Free political expression is not a narrow privilege but a fundamental right. ...
It seems only reasonable that free speech should include the humble act of posting a blog.
44 . TEXT OF AMENDMENTS -- (Senate - March 08, 2006)
SA 2955. Mr. FRIST submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by him to the bill S. 2349, to provide greater transparency in the legislative process; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:
At the end of title II, insert the following:
SEC. __. MODIFICATION OF DEFINITION OF PUBLIC COMMUNICATION.
(a) Short Title.--This section may be cited as the ``Online Freedom of Speech Act''.
(b) Amendment.--Section 301(22) of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 431(22)) is amended by adding at the end the following: ``Such term shall not include communications over the Internet.''.

And links to the amendment and the bill (and other bills), to facilitate following progress if this measure is taken up by the Senate.

H.R. 1606 - Online Freedom of Speech Act
H.R. 4900 - Internet Free Speech Protection Act of 2006
S. 2349 - Legislative Transparency and Accountability Act of 2006
S.Amdt. 2955

See also FEC Draft Final rules:
http://www.fec.gov/agenda/2006/mtgdoc06-20.pdf