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| Wilson Speaks On Expiration of FISA |
February 26, 2008 |
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Republican leadership invited Wilson to speak at weekly press conference
Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM) was invited to speak today at a press conference by House Republican Leadership. She was joined by House Minority Whip Roy Blunt and Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam to speak about the expiration of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Below is her statement in its entirety –
“After 9/11 we looked at what are all the tools we have available to prevent another terrorist attack. And I think first and foremost among them is good intelligence. When we look at what are the tools we have within intelligence in order to detect the likelihood of another terrorist attack - who’s doing what, what are they planning to do? Electronic surveillance is the tallest tree in the forest. If we can find out what they are doing, what they are planning, what their capabilities are, who they’re talking to, how they’re organizing, we can stop it, we can prevent another terrorist attack. So electronic surveillance in the world of preventing terrorism, is one of our most important tools.
“The foreign intelligence surveillance act was outdated by changes in technology and interpretations of the law. By the summer of last year, there was a huge backlog of requests for warrants to listen to foreigners in foreign countries. Heretofore, the 1978 law was never set up or intended to require warrants to listen to foreigners in foreign countries. The problem was, the way the law was written, if you touch a wire in the United States the court started interpreting that as requiring a warrant. We changed that of August of this last year in the Protect America Act, and it had a huge impact on our ability to rapidly collect intelligence and prevent another terrorist attack. We gathered important information and did it quickly.
“Most of us remember where we were the morning of 9/11. Most Americans don’t remember where they were the day that the British government arrested 16 people who were within forty-eight hours of walking on airliners in Heathrow and blowing them up simultaneously over the Atlantic. We don’t remember it because it didn’t happen. And it didn’t happen because of good intelligence from the British, Pakistani and American governments. Forty-eight hours. Sometimes time matters a great deal. And we need to very rapidly be able to listen, follow up on a tip, and as the Director of National Intelligence Admiral McConnell said last week, the threat is greater because this law was allowed to expire 11 days ago, and it grows over time.
“Tips come in today. We’ve got terrorists transiting Madrid who have just been trained in Pakistan. Who are they, where are they going, who are they talking to, what are they planning? We need to be able to respond immediately to those tips in order to find that out and stop the next terrorist attack. These electronic surveillance laws are outdated. The delay by the Democratic leadership to bringing a bipartisan bill to the floor compromises the security of this country. And if that bill was brought to the floor it would pass overwhelmingly and we could bring it to the president this afternoon so he could sign it. We need to close this intelligence gap and put the security of this country before partisan politics.”
Wilson is a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. She is also the ranking Member of the Technical and Tactical Intelligence Subcommittee and has been at the forefront of this issue since the determination was made that gaps in the law were leaving Americans vulnerable to a terrorist attack. Wilson believes that reform of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act passed by the Senate balances the need to protect the civil liberties of U.S. citizens with the need to protect our citizens from attack and should be enacted immediately.
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