Majority Whip Clyburn | MajorityWhip.gov

Clyburn on FISA Agreement

Thursday, June 19, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. – House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn today released the following statement regarding introduction of the bipartisan Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Amendments Act of 2008, H.R. 6304.

“The compromise agreement introduced today will strengthen our national security by ensuring that our intelligence professionals have all the tools they need to defend the American people, and at the same time protecting our civil liberties. This compromise is the product of months of negotiations between the House, the Senate, and the Administration.
 
“I want to commend House Majority Leader Hoyer, Chairman Reyes and Chairman Conyers for their hard work and leadership throughout these negotiations.

“The New Direction Congress has been vigilant in securing our homeland and strengthening our counter-terrorist capabilities.  Almost immediately after taking office, Democrats in the House of Representatives began working to pass legislation that would modernize FISA and respond to the needs of the intelligence community.   Since then, the House has taken up and passed multiple bills that would have accomplished those ends, but they met with opposition from Republicans and the Administration.  Democrats in the House and Senate responded to these concerns by reaching out and working in a bipartisan manner to produce compromise legislation that would pass both the House and Senate and be signed into law. 

“The result is H.R. 6304, an important and historic bipartisan agreement to modernize FISA and ensure our Nation’s safety, while at the same time protect our civil liberties.  While there are aspects of this agreement that are not perfect, the bill is a substantial improvement over the Protect America Act and the bill that passed the Senate earlier this year.  I call on my colleagues to join me to pass this critically important legislation.”