Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) issued the following statement today after it was announced that The Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints Church President Gordon B. Hinckley died yesterday at the age of 97 in Salt Lake City, UT.

“President Gordon B. Hinckley was a man I respected and admired greatly. Over the years, I had the opportunity to get to know him and my wife Jackie came to know him beginning in the 1980s when she worked for then-Utah Senator Jake Garn.  As the Church’s 15th president in its 177-year history, President Hinckley served for nearly 13 years.  His life was marked by his dedication to service, his leadership on humanitarian work throughout the world, and his desire to reach out to those of other faiths.  President Hinckley had a delightful disposition and his gentle kindness, sense of humor and, of course, his leadership, will be sorely missed.”

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Mr. President: Last night we saw into the heart of Republican priorities. Since last month, day after day after day, opponents of retroactive immunity have been warning about its underlying motive: shutting up the president’s critics.

Pass immunity, we’ve said, and the debate will be shut down, the critics will be shut up, and the actions of the president’s favored corporations will be shut in the dark, for good.

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Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) this morning continued his fight to strip the provision granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with the Bush Administration’s secret wiretapping program from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform legislation by speaking on the Senate floor in support of the Leahy amendment, which would eliminate the retroactive immunity language from the bill.  The full text of Senator Dodd’s remarks as delivered are below: 

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As the Senate today prepares to consider, for the second time, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform legislation that would grant immunity to telecommunications companies who cooperated with the Bush administration’s secret wiretapping program, Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) made the following remarks:

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Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, today held a press conference to discuss the recent market volatility and downturn in the American economy, as well as the priorities that the Banking Committee will focus on over the year ahead to help working families and businesses achieve economic security and prosperity.  Below are his remarks as prepared:

Senator Chris Dodd today will make the following remarks on the Senate floor regarding his opposition to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform legislation being considered by the Senate: 

Mr. President:

I rise to urge my colleagues to vote against cloture on S. 2248, the FISA Amendments Act of 2007.

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) today continued to show his strong opposition to the war in Iraq by voting against legislation which would provide funding for military operations in Iraq because it did not contain a firm and enforceable deadline for the phased redeployment of combat troops out of Iraq. 

Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) today continued his fight to stand up for American civil liberties by insisting that immunity provisions are stripped from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform bill currently being considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee.  Yesterday, Dodd sent a letter to Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT) requesting that the Chairman include his statement on the FISA reform legislation as part of the record of today’s Committee hearing to examine the bill. Chairman Leahy agreed to Dodd’s request.  Dodd has also placed a hold on the bill, a tool available to Senators to stop legislation from moving forward.

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Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) today spoke on the Senate floor about his efforts to stop the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) reform legislation, in its current form, from being considered by the full Senate and from receiving a vote on the Senate floor.  Last week Dodd announced he has placed a hold on the bill, a tool available to Senators to stop legislation from moving forward. 

I rise to honor the life of one of the finest men I’ve known in this body: Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota. Paul—along with his wife Sheila and his daughter Marcia; his staff members Will McLaughlin, Tom Lapic, and Mary McEvoy; and pilots Richard Conry and Michael Guess—died in a plane crash five years ago to the day. Five years, half a decade already: The time has passed so quickly that it comes as a shock to stop and recall just how long Paul has been gone. In marking his death, we remember that the years are passing just as fast for each of us, and that they can take us, as they took our friend Paul, when we are least ready to go. What a privilege we have to serve here—what a short time we’re given! Paul’s death and Paul’s life remind us to fill that short time with all the best we can bring. Paul Wellstone did: He lived just 58 years, and yet it seems that in that time, he lived enough to fill two or three or four lives.