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WORKING TO CATCH TERRORISTS PLOTTING TO ATTACK THE UNITED STATES



Ginny meets with Florida Agriculture Commissioner Charlie Bronson and Hernando County FFA Members

 

Washington, D.C., Oct 6 -

As you know, several news leaks over the past year revealed that the National Security Agency (NSA) had been monitoring international communications of U.S. residents without a warrant.  However, you should know that this program does not allow the government to listen in on someone's conversation with Aunt Tillie, or take notes on someone's Domino's Pizza order.  Instead, it is specifically targeted toward terrorist communications.  Since the announcement of this program, legal scholars, judges, and Members of Congress have vigorously debated the legality of warrantless monitoring.  To resolve this debate, Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM) introduced H.R. 5825, the Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act.  The bill expands the President’s power to gather foreign intelligence within the U.S. without approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court.

Specifically, H.R. 5825 gives the President explicit authority to use warrantless electronic surveillance for a maximum of 90 days in three circumstances: a terrorist attack against the U.S., an armed attack against the U.S., or an imminent threat likely to cause death or widespread harm.  In any of these circumstances, the President must notify the House and Senate Intelligence Committees and the FISA court that the surveillance is taking place.  Additionally, the bill modernizes the 1978 FISA law to take into account advances in technology, and gives the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Intelligence Committee the authority to share information with other Committee Members as they see fit.

Overall, the bill increases transparency and accountability of this program, ensuring preservation of the balance between stopping terrorists and preserving Americans’ civil liberties.  However, it is important to note that H.R. 5825 is not authorizing a new presidential power.  The authority to use warrantless wiretapping predates the current Administration.  President Clinton signed an executive order that authorized the Attorney General to conduct physical searches for foreign intelligence purposes without a court order, and President Carter signed an executive order that authorized the Attorney General to use electronic surveillance to acquire foreign intelligence information without a court order.  The NSA program is not unprecedented, nor is it uncommon for Presidents to protect Americans from foreign agents operating in this country.

If the President were to stop monitoring communications of suspected terrorists, it would be a major threat to our national security.  It would be irresponsible to allow suspected terrorists to operate in this country without attempting to thwart their operations.  The safety and security of United States citizens prompted the President to use this avenue.  Given that our country has gone five years without another attack, I would like to attribute some of that success to the NSA operation.  Those who attack the President for this operation are reckless partisans and should know better.  They are putting political gain ahead of the security of this nation.

To that end, I voted in favor of H.R. 5825 on September 28, 2006.  To become law, the Senate must now consider this bill.  I urge you to contact your Florida Senators, Mel Martinez and Bill Nelson, to share your views on this matter.  You may find their contact information by visiting www.senate.gov or www.vote-smart.org. 

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© 2005 Congresswoman Ginny Brown-Waite. All Rights Reserved.