Washington, D.C. - We all understand that electronic surveillance is a vital tool in the war on terror.  We all want to know when Osama bin Laden is calling – when he’s calling, who he’s calling, what he’s saying.  Existing law, FISA, gives the President the authority to do that.  And if the President wants greater flexibility in using that authority, he should come to Congress and tell us exactly what additional authority he needs.
  

As has been said, this Congress amended FISA, the electronic surveillance law, more than 25 times since 9/11 to accommodate changing technologies.  That’s why it was so troubling to learn that what we as a Congress did in the Patriot Act with respect to electronic surveillance was essentially a meaningless exercise.  We gave the President expanded authorities, but the President has since argued that he can go beyond the expanded authorities that we gave him.  And the Administration totally ignored the work of the Judiciary Committee and this Congress.
  

On what basis did they do that?  This President claims that when it comes to conducting electronic surveillance, he is, in the final analysis, not constrained by the laws passed by this Congress.  He claims that his constitutional authority as Commander-in-Chief under Article 2 in this area ultimately allows him to ignore the will of the Congress.  Take a look at the Administration’s legal memorandum of January 19, 2006.  Essentially, they say that we don’t have the power ultimately to regulate in this area.
  

And I find it incredibly curious that this bill removed language adopted by the Judiciary Committee, on a bipartisan basis, that affirmed Congress’ power to regulate in this area.  Mr. Flake proposed an amendment that simply said, “Congress finds that Article 1, Section 8, Clause 18 of the Constitution known as the Necessary and Proper Clause grants Congress clear authority to regulate the President’s inherent power to gather foreign intelligence.” That was passed on a bipartisan basis.  It is gone from this bill.  Mr. Flake’s amendment is gone from this final bill.
 

Now, here we are as a Congress passing a law that seeks to regulate the President’s authority in this area - albeit giving him additional authorities - that in passing that law we strip out the provision that says that we as a Congress find that we have the power to regulate in this area.  That makes this entire exercise a charade.  It is a total abdication of Congressional responsibility.  It is ceding the President’s argument that Congress doesn’t matter in this area.  And I believe ultimately it’s a dangerous power grab on behalf of this Administration.  And this Congress has not stood up to its responsibilities under the Constitution.