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| A Permanent Fix to FISA |
January 31, 2008 |
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Dear Friends,
Back in August, Congress passed a temporary bill to give our intelligence agencies the tools they need to listen to foreigners in foreign countries without a warrant. Every member of the House Democratic leadership opposed the bill. But we got it done anyway.
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Over the next 15 days, I will work to pass a bill that President Bush can sign into law that gives our intelligence agencies the tools they need to keep us safe while protecting American civil liberties.
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The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was written in 1978 and intended to protect the civil liberties of Americans. The law requires a warrant to collect intelligence off a wire in the United States. When the law was written, almost all international calls were over the air – bounced off satellites. Over the air or “radio” communications did not require a warrant, but there are procedures in place to mask or destroy information about Americans if our intelligence agencies inadvertently collect a U.S. call. In 1978, almost all local calls were over a wire. Now, because of changes in technology, the situation is completely reversed. Almost all long haul communications are over wires or fiber optic cables and most local calls are over the air.
We also must make sure that the telecommunications companies who may have helped to collect foreign intelligence after the September 11th attacks don’t face lawsuits because they participated in the effort to listen to terrorists overseas.
A condition of passing the bill last August, the fix had a provision that it would expire in six months – February 1, 2008. Six months was plenty of time to review implementation of the new law and fix final items like immunity for the telephone companies. Six months later, we find ourselves just days away from the bill’s expiration, and no permanent plans in place. The failure of the Congress to act and fix the law is jeopardizing our national security.
The Senate is closer to passing a reasonable bill than the House is and came close to finishing its work this week. Harry Reid wanted a 30 day extension of the current law, but that would take the pressure off and our intelligence agencies need certainty.
On Thursday, we passed a 15-day extension. We cannot allow this law to lapse on February 1st, and put American lives at risk and we have to keep the heat on the Democrat leadership to stop playing games with our national security. The Wall Street Journal said this week that it strains credibility that Democrats need another 30 days to do what they couldn’t do in six months.
Over the next 15 days, I will work to pass a bill that President Bush can sign into law that gives our intelligence agencies the tools they need to keep us safe while protecting American civil liberties.
The first responsibility of the federal government is to provide for the common defense and intelligence is our most important weapon against terrorism. Making the Protect America Act permanent is vital to our national security.
Wish you were here,
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