February 26, 2010

Congressman Gregory W. Meeks Votes In Favor of the House Intelligence Reauthorization Bill

(WASHINGTON, DC)– Today, Congressman Gregory W. Meeks and his bi-partisan colleagues in the House of Representatives voted in favor of HR 2701, “Intelligence Reauthorization Act of FY 2010”, the House legislation that sets policy and funding levels for various federal intelligence agencies.

“Today, the House took bipartisan action to pass this important bill that keeps Americans and our national interest’s safe,” stated Congressman Meeks. “I believe the Reauthorization is a positive step in keeping New Yorkers and our beloved city safe, and preventing extremist violence from reaching our shores. The bill increases vital funding that federal agencies need for intelligence collection and counterintelligence activities. In particular, funding has been invested to strengthen cyber-security because our social and consumer lifestyles have increasingly become integrated with electronic communications. I applaud the efforts of my colleagues to establish steps to make sure that intelligence gathering activities conform with America’s human rights values while balancing the need for efficient intelligence collection,” said Congressman Meeks.

The U.S. Senate has passed its own version of the intelligence bill. A final version of the bill will be worked out in conference between the Senate and House of Representatives.

Now serving in his sixth full-term, Meeks was elected to the House on February 3, 1998. Representing New York's Sixth Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives, Meeks' district covers all towns of Southeast Queens, Far Rockaway and Howard Beach. He is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services and the Committee on Foreign Affairs.  Congressman Meeks is the Chairman of the International Monetary Policy & Trade Subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee.  He is a Member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), New Democrats Coalition and the Democratic Leadership Council (DLC).  He serves as the Co-chair of the Malaysia Caucus, Services Caucus, Dialogue Caucus, OAS Caucus and the Middle East Economic Partnership Caucus.

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