Katie Couric of the Today Show interviewed Senator Biden this morning about President Bush’s latest Iraq speech. You can watch video of the interview by clicking on the image below (there may be a short pause while the video file loads).

Senator Biden appeared on Meet the Press on Sunday to discuss Port Security, Iran, and the situation in Iraq. Click the image below to watch the segment (there may be a short pause after clicking while the video file loads). From the program:

…Iraqis must have a constitution that unites fighting factions of the society or “it’s game over.”

“We can’t want peace in Iraq more than the Iraqis want it,” Biden said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.” “We can’t want it more than they want it. And if they don’t step up to the ball, we’re going to be gone.”

Senator Biden discusses Port Security with Chris Wallace on Fox News. Click the image below to watch the segment (there may be a short pause after clicking while the video file loads).

On Thursday, Senator Biden delivered a speech at the University of Texas entitled, “The Totality of America’s Strength.” This excerpt summarizes the speech pretty well:

Here in Texas, where people appreciate straight talk, this is the case I will make: the national security strategy of this administration has been a failure. There is a better way to secure America.

You can read the full text of the speech here.

Senator Biden traveled to Austin, Texas today to mark the tenth anniversary of the National Domestic Violence Hotline, which was created by Senator Biden’s Violence Against Women Act (VAWA). In the ten years since it launched, the Hotline has answered more than 1.6 million calls:

Surrounded by domestic violence advocates, service providers and corporate partners, United States Senator Joseph Biden and The National Domestic Violence Hotline (NDVH) today unveiled innovative new technology systems that will enable more victims to access life-saving services through the Hotline (1-800-799-SAFE).

[…]

“Across the country, millions of women take the first step to escape family violence by calling the National Domestic Violence Hotline,” said Senator Biden. “The new technology made possible by the Connections Campaign will ensure that no battered woman, man or child gets a busy signal and no victim’s life is ever put on hold.”

You can read more here.

You can also watch Senator Biden talk about the hotline on Fox News here.

This morning, Senator Biden appeared on Fox News to discuss the tenth anniversary of the Domestic Violence Hotline, which Senator Biden helped create. Click the image below to watch the segment (there may be a short pause after clicking while the video file loads).

This morning, Senator Biden appeared on CNN’s American Morning to discuss the transfer of American ports to an Arab company, as well as the tenth anniversary of the Domestic Violence Hotline, which Senator Biden helped create. Click the image below to watch the segment (there may be a short pause after clicking while the video file loads).

Yesterday, Senator Biden appeared on Hardball with Chris Matthews to discuss, among other things, whether the Senate Intelligence Committee should vote to hold an investigation into the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program. (There may be a short pause after clicking while the video file loads).

In advance of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s upcoming business meeting tomorrow, U.S. Senator Joe Biden (D-DE) today urged the committee to open a thorough investigation into the NSA’s controversial wiretapping program.

“Everyone is for listening in on terrorist’s phone calls. But we don’t know who the NSA is listening to or the extent of the program. We need to know the facts. Is the Administration telling the truth?” said Biden. “The Senate Intelligence Committee must hold extensive hearings to get to the bottom of this.”

Read more here.

On Monday, February 6, members of the Senate Judiciary Committee questioned Attorney General Alberto Gonzales regarding the legality of President Bush’s domestic surveillance program that is being conducted by the National Security Agency. You can see video of his answers to my questions by clicking on the images at the bottom of this post.

Unfortunately, as you can see from Attorney General Gonzales’s answers on Monday, after two rounds of questions, we know little more about the program than when we began. Furthermore, so far the Senate Intelligence Committee has been reluctant to undertake an extensive investigation to make sure Congress has all the facts.

This cannot stand: we need to know the facts.

Issues concerning the core privacy rights of United States citizens, the critical balance between national security and privacy, whether we are fighting an effective war on terrorism, and the fundamental structure of our separation of powers are directly involved here and deserve a full and thorough examination.

I am calling for a bipartisan effort similar to the one undertaken when the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was first written. At the time, writing FISA was a joint project of the Senate Intelligence and Judiciary Committees. Over a period of several years, the two committees conducted extensive public and private investigations to make sure we got it right — crafting a law that protected our national security while safeguarding our civil liberties.

I believe we need to undertake a similar process here. It is essential that such a carefully considered record be developed so that we don’t act precipitously either to legislate or not to legislate.

At present, our knowledge of the National Security Agency program is severely limited, compounding the difficulty of assessing its legality — although my view as one of the drafters of FISA is that it is illegal (and the great weight of legal authority backs this conclusion). Nevertheless, to make a true assessment of the value of the program or programs, their impact on civil liberties, and whether they have contributed to our efforts to prevent terrorism, we need to know much more. We need to know the facts.

That is why the Intelligence Committee, under the leadership of Chairman Roberts, must act to hold extensive - and if necessary, secret - hearings on this program. On Thursday, February 16, the Intelligence Committee is holding a business meeting. I urge the committee to vote for a full and thorough investigation on that day.

Through these hearings, in public whenever feasible, and in classified settings when necessary, we need to learn, among other things:

(1) the nature and scope of the program or programs;
(2) when did the program or programs begin;
(3) who has the authority to order a wiretap;
(4) how many people have this authority;
(5) how decisions are made on whom to target;
(6) how many terrorists or collaborators have been identified;
(7) how many arrests have been made as a result;
(8) what is done with the data collected that is not relevant;
(9) any procedures followed to protect civil liberties under the program or programs; and
(10) the reasons why the FISA warrant procedure was not followed.

I believe we can preserve the promise of our Founders — to simultaneously protect both our national security and our civil liberties. It is beyond me why the Administration did not seek amendments to FISA to meet its requirements when it sought and obtained changes in FISA during the PATRIOT Act and other legislative debates. But, at this point, Congress must now fulfill its Constitutional oversight responsibility.

Thank you,

VIDEO FROM ATTORNEY GENERAL ALBERTO GONZALES’S APPEARANCE BEFORE THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE:

Round One:

Round Two: