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Fighting For The Constitution and
Against Warrantless Wiretaps
"We need not choose between our security and our liberty."
Rep. Wasserman Schultz has been a leading voice in the fight to reform the FISA process. For more videos of her speaking out on this issue, CLICK HERE |
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November 15, 2007
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(Washington, DC) -- Today, the House of Representatives passed H.R. 3773, the RESTORE (Responsible Electronic Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed and Effective) Act. The bill provides a mechanism to conduct foreign electronic surveillance for the purpose of defending against terrorism and other national security threats, but does so in a manner that responds to concerns that the recent temporary FISA revision (Protect America Act) lacked sufficient judicial safeguards for Americans’ phone calls, e-mails, and other communications.
Rep. Wasserman Schultz and the Democratic-led Congress are committed to strengthening our intelligence community and ensuring that it has the tools it needs to keep our country safe.
The RESTORE Act is a balanced bill – that gives the intelligence community the strong tools it needs to track terrorists and prevent another terrorist attack, while at the same time protecting the constitutional rights of innocent Americans. The legislation provides a mechanism to conduct foreign electronic surveillance for the purpose of defending against terrorism and other national security threats, but does so in a manner that responds to concerns that the recent temporary FISA revision (Protect America Act) lacked sufficient judicial safeguards for Americans’ phone calls, e-mails, and other communications.
This legislation does NOT provide constitutional protections to foreign terrorists. Instead, this bill is tough on terrorism – it does not extend Fourth Amendment protections to overseas targets such as Osama bin Laden and other members of terrorist organizations. The bill makes clear that surveillance of purely foreign-to-foreign communications never requires a court order.
The bill puts the FISA court back in the business of protecting Americans’ constitutional rights – by providing for court oversight of surveillance that is reasonably likely to include communications between foreign targets and Americans. By contrast, the Administration is seeking no meaningful court oversight.
Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz has been outspoken on the need to protect American's constitutional rights while protecting Americans from terrorists. This evening she took to the floor of the House of Representatives to make the following statement in favor of the RESTORE Act:
"Mr. Speaker, in August I urged my colleagues to vote against an unconstitutional Senate bill. Simply put, that bill trampled on our constituents' constitutional right to privacy.
Today, I am proud to rise in support of the RESTORE Act, a bill that provides the intelligence community the tools it needs, but that restores the constitutional rights of Americans.
Mr. Speaker, we can be both safe and free, and this bill strikes the right balance.
This bill permits surveillance of foreign-to-foreign communication. It allows us to listen in on Osama bin Laden or any other terrorist who threatens our troops or country. This bill will keep us safe.
But this bill also requires a warrant from the FISA Court in order to eavesdrop on the communications of ordinary Americans, and it requires a court review of targeting procedures to ensure Americans' rights are protected. This bill restores our civil liberties.
Mr. Speaker, our colleagues across the aisle would rather play politics with this bill and unleash arguments of mass distortion, so let me be clear: nothing in this bill gives our constitutional rights to terrorists.
Our Republican colleagues create this smoke screen in order to hide the fact that they have taken away those same constitutional freedoms from Americans.
We need not choose between our security and our liberty. With the RESTORE Act, we can have both."
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