The Focus of Today's Session will be the
Fair Credit Reporting bill

            6:35 P.M.         

Senator Shelby has moved to table an amendment, S.Amdt.2065, by Senator Russ Feingold of Wisconsin pertaining to data mining. The following amendments were recently accepted by voice vote: S.Amdt.2064 and S.Amdt.2067.

            5:00 P.M.         

Senator Feinstein's amendment was tabled by a vote of 70-24.  The Senate agreed to three amendments, S.Amdt.2059. S.Amdt.2060, S.Amdt.2061 by a voice vote.  Senator Charles Schumer of New York is now speaking about banks charging consumers each time they use a debit card.  While serving in the House of Representatives Senator Schumer worked on legislation that required banks and ATMs to notify consumers if they would be charged for a transaction. 

            4:15 P.M.         

Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama, the Chairman of the Banking Committee, has just moved to table the Feinstein amendment.  As Chairman, Senator Shelby is responsible for managing the bill while it is on the Senate floor.  Senator Boxer spent some of the past hour speaking about California's consumer protections and her support for the Feinstein amendment. 

            3:20 P.M.         

During the past hour Senator John McCain of Arizona spoke at length about the recent arrest of Russian, Mikail Khodorkovsky, and U.S. relations with Russia.  Senator Durbin is speaking about the tragic tragic downing of the U.S. Chinook helicopter yesterday in Iraq, which left 16 American soldiers dead and 20 wounded.  He spoke about a letter he is sending to Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld requesting information about how U.S. Chinook helicopters are outfitted and if they have all the armor and defense mechanisms they need. 

            2:30 P.M.         

Senator Feinstein is speaking about an amendment regarding affiliate sharing that she has proposed, S.Amdt.2054. She is expanding upon her concerns over how information on consumers and their credit is shared throughout businesses that are affiliated together.

            12:30 P.M.         

A number of Senators have come to the floor to discuss the Fair Credit Reporting bill, including Senators Tim Johnson of South Dakota, John Rockefeller of West Virginia, and Liddy Dole of North Carolina.  In addition, Senator Dianne Feinstein of California came to the floor to speak about financial institutions being allowed to share the personal information of their customers with affiliated third party businesses.

            11:30 A.M.         

After Senator Larry Craig of Idaho and Senator Harry Reid of Nevada had a debate about the matter of conferees being appointed for the Healthy Forest Restoration Act conference, Senator Richard Shelby of Alabama began the discussion on the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  Senator Shelby spoke about the importance of updating this law on account of the number of technological changes that have occurred that could result in identity theft.

            10:30 A.M.         

This morning Senator Byron Dorgan of North Dakota spoke on the floor about jobs that have been moved off shore.  He was followed by Senator Bill Nelson of Florida who honored his colleague Senator Bob Graham of Florida, who announced yesterday that he would not seek another term in the Senate. 

            9:30 A.M.         

The Senate will resume consideration of S.1753, the Fair Credit Reporting Act.  There are a number of amendments that have been proposed and will be considered throughout the day.  The Fair Credit Reporting Act was originally enacted in 1970 to establish fair standards for the collection and use of credit information. To address advancements in technology since then, S.1753 includes provisions regarding identity theft, access to credit report information, and consumers' control over marketing solicitations they receive.

Appropriations vs. Authorization: While the power over appropriations is granted to Congress by the U.S. Constitution, the authorization-appropriation process is derived from House and Senate rules. The process consists of two sequential steps: (1) enactment of an authorization measure that may create or continue an agency or program as well as authorize the subsequent enactment of appropriations; and (2) enactment of appropriations to provide funds for the authorized agency or program.