‘So here we are, once again pushed up against a looming deadline because of a pattern of misplaced priorities and partisan delay’



Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell delivered the following remarks on the Senate floor Monday regarding the Democrats’ decision to block passage of the bipartisan Rockefeller-Bond FISA legislation:



“We’re now only a few days away from expiration of the Protect America Act — days away from a situation in which the Intelligence Community will be unable to freely monitor new terrorist targets overseas. We are flirting with disaster, and the American people deserve to know how we got in this predicament. So let’s review.



“Ten months ago the Director of National Intelligence asked us to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Our Democratic friends waited until July to take up a bill that agreed with his recommendations, it wasn’t until August that Congress finally answered his pleas by authorizing for six months the overseas surveillance of foreign terrorist targets with the Protect America Act.



“When our Democratic friends got back from the August break, they vowed to quickly address what they decried as the shortcomings in the Protect America Act.



“The Senate Intelligence Committee took on the task. Reforming FISA was complicated and demanding work. But the Committee members came together, as they were intended to, along with the Executive Branch, as was necessary.



“Everyone involved acted with determination, deliberation, and skill. The process lasted for months. It involved numerous hearings, briefings, and negotiation sessions. And the final product was a model of bipartisanship and accommodation, across the Senate aisle and with the White House. The Committee vote wasn’t 15-0, but around here 13-2 is nearly as impressive.



“But what was perhaps even more impressive is the fact that such a broad coalition of players had come together to meet the minimum standards required of any legislation that replaces the Protect America Act — something that allows the intelligence community to operate without unreasonable and counterproductive restrictions; which protects phone carriers from frivolous lawsuits for helping the government hunt for terrorists; and which is guaranteed to be signed into law.



“Unfortunately, it wasn’t until just before the Christmas break that our Democratic colleagues decided to even turn back to this vital issue. And even then we had to listen to a filibuster against FISA reform.



“Then, when we began this session, our Democratic colleagues delayed consideration of FISA reform again by moving to the Indian Health bill instead.



“So here we are, once again pushed up against a looming deadline. During last week’s consideration of the FISA reauthorization, the Majority said it would not consider 60-vote thresholds for votes. It did not offer time agreements. Nor did it make any effort to limit the number of amendments.



“In short, the Senate faces a legislative logjam that ensures that we will let the February 1st deadline come and go without making a reasonable effort to enact a law.



“It shouldn’t have turned out this way. The Administration negotiated in good faith with the Democratic Majority on the committee that has the technical, operational expertise to handle this subject. And in the course of painstaking negotiations, the Administration made tough concessions to our Democratic colleagues. It did this in order to arrive at a fair, bipartisan result that would allow it to continue to protect the Homeland. Now that work is being brushed aside.



“The menu of amendments to the Intelligence Committee bill is little more than an effort to renegotiate this hard-won deal, an effort to deconstruct the bipartisan Intelligence Committee bill, and reconstruct — amendment by amendment — the divisive Judiciary Committee bill that was tabled by a strong, bipartisan majority. That bill will not — I repeat, will not — become law.



“Reconstructing the Judiciary Committee bill is a pointless exercise. And with only five days until the Protect America Act expires, it is an exercise we do not have the luxury to engage in.



“We can get serious and pass the bipartisan Intelligence Committee product, or we can waste time voting on poison pill amendments that weaken that bill and that will prevent it from becoming law.



“I urge my colleagues to make the right choice, to vote for cloture so we can continue to protect the Homeland and against cloture on the 30-day extension. We cannot delay this important legislation for another month.



“That said, if we can’t complete this bill, Republicans will not allow this critical program to expire and will offer a short-term extension, if necessary.”



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