[Congressional Record Volume 149, Number 68 (Thursday, May 8, 2003)]
[Senate]
[Pages S5899-S5907]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order, the hour of 11:30
having arrived, S. 113 is referred to the Committee on Intelligence,
and the committee is discharged from further consideration of the
measure, and the Senate will now proceed to consider the measure, which
the clerk will report.
The legislative clerk read as follows:
A bill (S. 113) to exclude United States persons from the
definition of foreign power under the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act of 1978 relating to international terrorism.
The Senate proceeded to consider the bill, which had been reported
from the Committee on the Judiciary, with an amendment to the title and
an amendment to strike all after the enacting clause and inserting in
lieu thereof the following:
[Strike the part shown in black brackets and insert the part shown in
italic.]
S. 113
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of
the United States of America in Congress assembled,
[SECTION 1. EXCLUSION OF UNITED STATES PERSONS FROM
DEFINITION OF FOREIGN POWER IN FOREIGN
INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT OF 1978 RELATING
TO INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM.
[Paragraph (4) of section 101(a) of the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801(a)) is
amended to read as follows:
[``(4) a person, other than a United States person, or
group that is engaged in international terrorism or
activities in preparation therefor;''].
SECTION 1. TREATMENT AS AGENT OF A FOREIGN POWER UNDER
FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT OF 1978
OF NON-UNITED STATES PERSONS WHO ENGAGE IN
INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM WITHOUT AFFILIATION
WITH INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST GROUPS.
(a) In General.--Section 101(b)(1) of the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (50 U.S.C. 1801(b)(1))
is amended by adding at the end the following new
subparagraph:
``(C) engages in international terrorism or activities in
preparation therefor; or''.
(b) Sunset.--The amendment made by subsection (a) shall be
subject to the sunset provision in section 224 of the USA
PATRIOT Act of 2001 (Public Law 107-56; 115 Stat. 295),
including the exception provided in subsection (b) of such
section 224.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona is recognized.
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I appreciate the opportunity to take up this
bill. It is under a unanimous consent agreement. Pursuant to that
agreement, we are going to have some opening statements. I will take
about 15 minutes and then Senator Schumer, the cosponsor of the
amendment, will be presenting his remarks. After that, anyone who would
like to speak for or against this bill can do so.
There will be two amendments in order. One will be an accepted
amendment offered by the Senator from Wisconsin, Mr. Feingold, and
another will be offered by Senator Feinstein of California on which
there is, I believe, a total of 4 hours authorized for debate. I do not
think we will need that much time, but when the time comes, I urge my
colleagues to oppose and defeat the Feinstein amendment so we can go to
final passage of this legislation.
I will briefly describe what the bill does and why we need it. Then I
will get into some of the procedure involved. It is actually very
simple. It involves an existing law that we passed in 1978 called the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known by the acronym FISA. FISA
allows us to get warrants, among other things, and allows us to surveil
people we suspect of committing acts of terrorism against us; for
example, to get a warrant to search their computer or their home.
There are two instances where the law currently applies. The
underlying predicate is that there has to be probable cause that
somebody is committing, about to commit, or planning to commit some
kind of criminal act, a terrorism kind of act. It applies to two kinds
of people: somebody who is either working for a foreign government or
somebody who is working for a foreign terrorist organization.
That leaves a little loophole because there are some terrorists who
are not on the membership list, shall we say, or who are not card-
carrying members of a foreign terrorist organization or a foreign
government; people such as Zacarias Moussaoui, for example, whom we now
believe to have been loosely involved in the al-Qaida attack of
September 11.
At the time, it was not possible to prove that he was involved with a
foreign intelligence organization. It may
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well be that at the end of the day he was, in fact, a lone wolf,
operating on his own, but very loosely affiliated with the radical
Islamic movement which has underpinned a lot of the terrorism which
threatens the United States and the rest of the world today.
The law as written in 1978 was intended to apply to a very specific
group of people, the Soviet spies, for example, or the Baader-Meinhof
gang or the Red Brigade or the Red Army. There were a lot of these
organizations back then, and they were very tightly knit organizations.
If somebody was involved in one of these groups, they were involved.
But today's radical Islamic movement around the world that associates
itself with terrorism is much more amorphous. As I factitiously said,
these people do not have cards identifying themselves as members of
these organizations. They are people who hate the West and the United
States. They move in and out of the different countries of the world.
They will take training in a certain place. They will affiliate a
little while with a group and then move on to support some other group.
The bottom line is that it is very difficult, sometimes impossible,
to prove that they are affiliated with a specific group. In some cases,
they are not. They are simply acting on their own. But they are still
terrorists. They are still foreign terrorists. They still mean to do us
harm on the international stage and should be covered by the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act.
We close this loophole by providing that not only does it cover the
person working for a foreign government, or who we can prove at that
point is working for a foreign terrorist organization, it also includes
the so-called lone wolf terrorist, or the individual we cannot yet
prove is directly affiliated with one of these amorphous groups. That
is really all the bill does.
I will give a specific example. I mentioned Zacarias Moussaoui.
Remember all of the criticism. He was a person who was taking flying
lessons. It was under very suspicious circumstances. We understood this
prior to September 11. There were people who wanted to get a Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant to search his computer. It went
to the FBI, and somebody in the FBI concluded that, yes, all of this
information looked good in the warrant except that they could not
specifically tie him to a specific international group. Quite a bit of
time was used following up leads that led to some group of Chechen
rebels, but that ended up to be kind of a dry hole. Meanwhile, the
attack of September 11 occurred.
Immediately after that attack, we were able to get the warrant. His
case is pending in Northern Virginia at this time. He was not able to
hook up with the attackers of September 11, but clearly his is an
example of a case to which this kind of provision should apply.
I will quote something from some of the testimony that we had with
regard to the need for this legislation. Spike Bowman, who is the
Deputy General Counsel of the FBI, testified at a Senate Select
Committee on Intelligence hearing on the predecessor bill to the one
that is before us right now. I will quote at length from his testimony.
He said:
When FISA was enacted, terrorism was very different from
what we see today. In the 1970s, terrorism more often
targeted individuals, often carefully selected. This was the
usual pattern of the Japanese Red Army, the Red Brigades and
similar organizations listed by name in the legislative
history of FISA. Today we see terrorism far more lethal and
far more indiscriminate than could have been imagined in
1978. It takes only the events of the September 11, 2001, to
fully comprehend the difference of a couple of decades. But
there is another difference as well. Where we once saw
terrorism formed solely around organized groups, today we
often see individuals willing to commit indiscriminate acts
of terror. It may be that these individuals are affiliated
with groups that we do not see, but it may be that they are
simply radicals who desire to bring about destruction.
We are increasingly seeing terrorist suspects who appear to
operate at a distance from these organizations. In perhaps an
oversimplification, but illustrative nevertheless, what we
see today are (1) agents of foreign powers in the traditional
sense who are associated with some organization or
discernible group, (2) individuals who appear to have
connections with multiple terrorist organizations but who do
not appear to owe any allegiance to any one of them, but
rather owe allegiance to the International Jihad movement,
and (3) individuals who appear to be personally oriented
toward terrorism but with whom there is no known connection
to a foreign power.
This phenomenon which we have seen . . . growing for the
past two or three years, appears to stem from a social
movement that began some imprecise time, but certainly more
than a decade ago. It is a global phenomenon which the FBI
refers to as the International Jihad Movement. By way of
background we believe we can see the contemporary development
of this movement, and its focus on terrorism, rooted in the
Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.
During the decade-long Soviet/Afghan conflict, anywhere
from 10,000 to 25,000 Muslim fighters representing some
forty-three countries put aside substantial cultural
differences to fight alongside each other in Afghanistan. The
force drawing them together was the Islamic concept of
``umma'' or Muslim community. In this concept, nationalism is
secondary to the Muslim community as a whole. As a result,
Muslims from disparate cultures trained together, formed
relationships, sometimes assembled in groups and otherwise
would have been at odds with one another[,] and acquired
common ideologies. . . .
Following the withdrawal of the Soviet forces in
Afghanistan, many of these fighters returned to their
homelands, but they returned with new skills and dangerous
ideas. They now had newly acquired terrorist training as
guerilla warfare [had been] the only way they could combat
the more advanced Soviet forces.
Information from a variety of sources repeatedly carries
the theme from Islamic radicals that expresses the opinion
that we just don't get it. Terrorists world-wide speak of
jihad and wonder why the western world is focused on groups
rather than on concepts that make them a community.
The lesson to be taken from how [Islamic terrorists share
information] is that al-Qaida is far less a large
organization than a facilitator, sometimes orchestrator of
Islamic militants around the globe. These militants are
linked by ideas and goals, not by organizational structure.
The United States and its allies, to include law
enforcement and intelligence components worldwide[,] have had
an impact on the terrorists, but [the terrorists] are
adapting to changing circumstances. Speaking solely from an
operational perspective, investigation of these individuals
who have no clear connection to organized terrorism, or
tenuous ties to multiple organizations, is becoming
increasingly difficult. The current FISA statute has served
the Nation well, but the international Jihad movement
demonstrates the need to consider whether a different
formulation is needed to address the contemporary
terrorist problem.
Of course, the different way we are approaching it is by adding a
third element to the FISA statute. If you are a non-United States
person and otherwise we have probable cause to believe you are planning
an act of or executing an act of terrorism, we have the right to seek a
warrant in the FISA court to search you, surveil you, whatever the
warrant might request.
That is the essence of this legislation. As I said, when FISA was
enacted in 1978, this international movement around an idea had not yet
evolved and we were focused on organizations. Now we need to add to the
statute, in addition to nations and specific organizations, non-United
States persons--in other words, foreign persons--who we believe are
carrying out some terrorist plan with international roots, directed at
the United States, sufficient to bring it under the aegis of the FISA
statute.
It is the responsibility of Congress to adapt our laws to these
changes. It is this challenge that Senator Schumer and I are attempting
to address by this amendment.
I introduced this bill with Senator Schumer in the 107th Congress on
June 5, 2002, so it has been around almost a full year. The current
bill is the identical bill introduced in the previous Congress. We held
a Select Committee on Interrogation hearing July 2002, the testimony
from which I just quoted, and we heard testimony from six witnesses.
There was no Judiciary markup in the previous Congress, but in the
108th Congress, when we reintroduced the bill January 9, the Senate
Judiciary Committee held a markup. This bill, by the way, was
cosponsored by Chairman Hatch, Senators DeWine, Schumer, myself,
Chambliss, Sessions, and there may be others of whom I am not aware.
March 6, the Judiciary Committee marked up the bill at an executive
session and adopted a substitute amendment, which is the bill we have
before the Senate now, rejected a Feingold amendment by a vote of 11 to
4, and voted to report the bill unanimously by a vote of 19 to 0 to the
Senate. That is where we are today.
We hope to call anyone who has an interest in this to the floor to
express their ideas. As I say, we are going to
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accept one amendment and we will be debating a second amendment, which
I hope we defeat. There will be a break in our consideration here for
some other business in the middle of the day. We will return in
midafternoon to complete the work on the bill. It should be done by the
late afternoon.
Until Senator Schumer arrives, I make another point. There has been a
worry on the part of some that this expands the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act to private American citizens. I make it crystal clear
that is not true.
By definition, we could not do that. This is a law that is only
justified because it relates to international terrorism. So if you come
here from a foreign country, you are a non-U.S. person, you come from a
foreign country, intending to do harm to Americans, as part of this
international movement, whether you are a member of some specific
organization or not, the act will be allowed to be used to determine
whether we should take further action against you. It is not pertaining
to U.S. citizens; it is only to non-U.S. citizens and only in this
particular context.
Second, you cannot just do this willy-nilly, like every other
warrant. Whether under FISA or not, we have to have probable cause.
That requirement is not changed one iota. If anyone suggests there is
anything improper, certainly it is not unconstitutional, but to the
extent anyone suggests that we are ready to recite the reasons why,
that is not true.
I note the Department of Justice has sent a letter announcing its
support for this legislation. Among those testifying in favor of it,
the U.S. Attorney General, the Director of the Bureau of Investigation,
former CIA Director, and any number of officials in our intelligence
and law enforcement community have endorsed the bill.
I direct Members' attention to a letter I will later put into the
Record, dated July 31, 2002, which presented the Department of
Justice's views on the bill and announced its support for the
legislation. It provides a detailed analysis of this question about the
fourth amendment and whether or not there would be any constitutional
issues.
The Department concluded that the bill would satisfy constitutional
requirements specifically related to the fourth amendment. In
particular, the Department emphasized that anyone monitored pursuant to
the bill would be someone who had at the very least been involved in
terrorist acts that transcends national boundaries in term of the means
they are accomplished, the persons they appear intended to coerce or
intimidate, or the locale in which the perpetrators operate or seek
asylum.
As a result, it would still be limited to collecting foreign
intelligence for the international responsibilities of the United
States and the duties of the Federal Government to the States in
matters involving foreign terrorism, to wit, protecting the American
citizens from people who come here to do us harm.
Let me conclude these remarks by noting that I have enjoyed the
cooperation, as usual, of my colleague who serves on the Judiciary
Committee, the Senator from New York, Mr. Schumer, who has been a
strong advocate of this kind of provision for a long time and whose
assistance in this matter has been extraordinarily helpful.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from New York.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, first, I thank my colleague, Senator Kyl
from Arizona, for his great work on this and many other issues.
We live in a new world. It is a post-September 11 world. We have to
adjust to those realities. I believe we can do both, have security and
liberty, the great concern of our Founding Fathers. I think this bill,
in a careful and thoughtful way, readjusts that balance.
My colleague from Arizona has been a leader on these issues. We do
not always agree, but we often do. It is a pleasure to work with him.
His persistence and dedication to making this country secure and
maintaining its freedom at the same time is something I share and I
respect.
As I mentioned, the age-old debate between security and freedom is at
the nub of the Constitution. It was probably debated more by the
Founding Fathers than any other issue. They realized that in times of
crisis, in times of war, in times of attack, the pendulum could swing
more to the security side and at other times to the freedom side. They
realized, as Benjamin Franklin said, that giving up even an ounce of
precious freedom is a very serious thing to do.
FISA is a debate about that. While I certainly believe, as I think
most of my colleagues do, given the fact that what we have learned
since September 11, that terrorists can strike in our heartland, that
small groups of people empowered by technology can do the kind of
damage we have never seen before, which my city suffered on September
11. We remember the losses every day. We do have to reexamine this,
particularly when there has been one law for people overseas and one
law for people in this country because the walls have changed.
That is a general debate on FISA. I know some of my colleagues have
wanted to do that today. My colleague from Wisconsin says the law has
shifted too far one way. My colleague from Utah thinks it has shifted
the other way. Senator Kyl and I are not debating that. We do not give
up any liberty in this bill. The very standards that are now in the law
with FISA remain, standards of what must be done to get a FISA warrant.
Those do not change. The only change is our recognition that in these
new post-9/11 years, technology has allowed small groups unknown
before, or even lone wolf individuals, to commit terrorism, and if they
are doing the same thing as established terrorist groups or established
terrorist nations, there seems to be no reason why they shouldn't be
susceptible to the same type of surveillance of other groups. That is
at the nub of this issue.
We are informed by history. Again, those who say don't do anything to
change don't look at history, in my judgment. We learned from the
disclosures regarding Zacarias Moussaoui, the so-called 20th hijacker,
that the FBI had abundant reason to be suspicious of him before 9/11,
but they did not act, they did not do what Agent Rowley wanted them to
do. She, of course, has been heralded as a great leader and a great
American for what she has done, and I join in that. But they didn't
want to do what she wanted, which was pursue a warrant to dig up
evidence that may have been the thread which, if pulled, would have
unraveled the terrorists' plans.
The anguish she felt then, and so many of us feel afterwards, that
this might have been stopped but wasn't because of a provision in the
FISA law that quickly became archaic as terrorists advanced and we
learned that small groups could do such damage, is what motivates this
legislation.
One reason we have been given--and Agent Rowley agrees with this, I
believe--why the FBI did not seek the warrant is the bar for getting
those warrants when it came to those not affiliated with known
terrorist groups or known terrorist countries was set too high.
That is why Senator Kyl and I introduced this amendment to FISA. We
intend to make it easier for law enforcement to get warrants against
non-U.S. citizens--this does not affect a single U.S. citizen--who are
suspected of preparing to commit acts of terrorism.
As I mentioned, we leave two of the standards in place, the ones that
measure the bar. Right now, the FBI is required to show three things
before they can get a warrant: They must show the target is engaging in
or preparing to engage in international terrorism. We keep that
requirement. It does not change. They must show a significant purpose
of the surveillance is foreign-intelligence gathering. We are keeping
that requirement, too, that foreign-intelligence gathering is a
significant purpose.
Here is the problem. They also must show under present law that the
target is an agent of a foreign power, such as Iraq, or a known foreign
terrorist group, such as Hamas or al-Qaida. That is the hurdle we are
removing. If that requirement had not been in place, there is no
question the FBI could have gotten a warrant to do electronic
surveillance on Zacarias Moussaoui and, who knows, not certainly but
perhaps, 9/11 might not have occurred.
That is the anguish we all face. Right now we know there may be
terrorists plotting on American soil. We may have all kinds of reasons
to believe
[[Page S5902]]
they are preparing to commit acts of terrorism. But we cannot do the
surveillance we need if we cannot tie them to a foreign power or an
international terrorist group. It is a catch-22. We need the
surveillance to get the information we need to be able to do the
surveillance. It makes no sense. The simple fact is, it should not
matter whether we can tie someone to a foreign power. Whether our
intelligence is just not good enough or whether the terrorist is acting
as a lone wolf or it is a new group of 10 people who have not been
affiliated with any known terrorist group, should not affect whether we
can do surveillance, should not affect whether they are a danger to the
United States, should not affect whether they are preparing to do
terrorism. Engaging in international terrorism should be enough for our
intelligence experts to start surveillance.
It is important to note if we remove this last requirement now it
will immeasurably aid law enforcement without exposing American
citizens or those who hold green cards to the slightest additional
surveillance. Let me repeat, because I know we get some who write that
this is the unraveling of the Constitution and it befuddles me because
it is not, it does not affect a single American citizen or those who
have green cards.
It is fair. It is reasonable. It is a smart fix to a serious problem.
It passed out of the Judiciary Committee with unanimous support. It is
supported by the administration as well.
One final word. This is about an amendment from my good friend, a
colleague from California, Senator Feinstein, which we will debate. She
is introducing an amendment that would allow some gray into the law,
rather than making it black or white. Her amendment would leave the
decision whether or not to grant the FBI a FISA warrant against a lone
wolf, she would leave that up to a particular judge.
I do not believe we can afford any more uncertainty. We saw what
uncertainty did when the Zacarias Moussaoui case occurred. The FBI, so
worried that they might overstep, said no. We need clarity in the law
when it comes to fighting terrorism.
Therefore, I urge my colleagues to oppose the Feinstein amendment and
support the bipartisan bill which is before us today.
Mr. President, I yield the floor and I suggest the absence of a
quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Fitzgerald). The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. INHOFE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent the order for the
quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Order of Procedure
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Arizona.
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that Senator DeWine
be recognized at 1 p.m. for 15 minutes of morning business.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that in the debate on
the pending business involving the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act, a letter from the Department of Justice dated July 31, 2002, be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
U.S. Department of Justice,
Office of Legislative Affairs,
Washington, DC, July 31, 2002.
Hon. Bob Graham,
Chairman, Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Richard C. Shelby,
Vice-Chairman, Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Mr. Chairman and Mr. Vice Chairman: The letter
presents the views of the Justice Department on S. 2586, a
bill ``[t]o exclude United States persons from the definition
of `foreign power' under the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act of 1978 relating to international
terrorism.'' The bill would extend the coverage of the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillence Act (``FISA'') to
individuals who engage in international terrorism or
activities in preparation therefor without a showing of
membership in or affiliation with an international terrorist
group. The bill would limit this type of coverage to non-
United States persons. The Department of Justice supports S.
2586.
We note that the proposed title of the bill is potentially
misleading. The current title is ``To exclude United States
persons from the definition of `foreign power' under the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 relating to
international terrorism.'' A better title, in keeping with
the function of the bill, would be something along the
following lines: ``To expand the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act of 1978 (`FISA') to reach individuals other
than United States persons who engage in international
terrorism without affiliation with an international terrorist
group.''
Additionally, we understand that a question has risen as to
whether S. 2586 would satisfy constitutional requirements. We
believe that it would.
FISA allows a specially designated court to issue an order
appoving an electronic surveillance or physical search, where
a significant purpose of the surveillance or search is ``to
obtain foreign intelligence information.'' Id.
Sec. Sec. 1804(a)(7)(B), 1805(a). Given this purpose, the
court makes a determination about probable cause that differs
in some respects from the determination ordinarily underlying
a search warrant. The court need not find that there is
probable cause to believe that the surveillance or search, in
fact, will lead to foreign intelligence information, let
alone evidence of a crime, and in many instances need not
find probable cause to believe that the target has committed
a criminal act. The court instead determines, in the cause of
electronic surveillance, whether there is probable cause to
believe that ``the target of the electronic surveillance is a
foreign power or an agent of a foreign power,'' id
Sec. 1805(a)(3)(A), and that each of the places at which the
surveillance is directed ``is being used, or about to be
used, by a foreign power or an agent of a foreign power,''
id. Sec. 1805(a)(3)(B). The court makes parallel
determinations in the case of a physical search. Id.
Sec. 1824(a)(3)(A). (B).
The terms ``foreign power'' and ``agent of a foreign
power'' are defined at some length, Id. Sec. 1801(a), (b),
and specific parts of the definitions are especially
applicable to surveillances or searches aimed at collecting
intelligence about terrorism. As currently defined, ``foreign
power'' includes ``a group engaged in international terrorism
or activities in preparation therefor,'' Id. Sec. 1801(a)(4)
(emphasis added), and an ``agent of a foreign power''
includes any person who ``knowingly engages in sabotage or
international terrorism or activities that are in preparation
therefor, for or on behalf of a foreign power,'' Id.
Sec. 1801(b)(2)(C). ``International terrorism'' is defined to
mean activities that: (1) involve violent acts or acts
dangerous to human life that are a violation of the criminal
laws of the United States or of any State, or that would be a
criminal violation if committed within the jurisdiction of
the United States or any State; (2) appear to be intended--
(A) to intimidate or coerce a civilian population; (B) to
influence the policy of a government by intimidation or
coercion, or (C) to affect the conduct of a government by
assassination or kidnapping; and (3) occurs totally outside
the United States, or transcend national boundaries in terms
of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they
appear intended to coerce of intimidate, or the locale in
which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.
S. 2586 would expand the definition of ``foreign power'' to
reach persons who are involved in activities defined as
``international terrorism,'' even if these persons cannot be
shown to be agents of a ``group'' engaged in international
terrorism. To achieve this expansion, the bill would add the
following italicized words to the current definition of
``foreign power'': ``any person other than a United States
person who is, or a group that is, engaged in international
terrorism or activities in preparation therefor.''
The courts repeatedly have upheld the constitutionality,
under the Fourth Amendment, of the FISA provisions that
permit issuance of an order based on probable cause to
believe that the target of a surveillance or search is a
foreign power or agent of a foreign power. The question posed
by S. 2586 would be whether the reasoning of those cases
precludes expansion of the term ``foreign power'' to include
individual international terrorists who are unconnected to a
terrorist group.
The Second Circuit's decision in United States versus
Duggan, 743 F.2d 59 (2d Cir. 1984), sets out the fullest
explanation of the ``governmental concerns'' that had led to
the enactment of the procedures in FISA. To identify these
concerns, the court first quoted from the Supreme Court's
decision in United States versus United States District
Court, 407 U.S. 297, 308 (1972) (``Keith''), which addressed
``domestic national security surveillance'' rather than
surveillance of foreign powers and their agents, but which
specified the particular difficulties in gathering ``security
intelligence'' that might justify departures from the usual
standards for warrants: ``[Such intelligence gathering] is
often long range and involves the interrelation of various
sources and types of information. The exact targets of such
surveillance may be more difficult to identify than in
surveillance operations against many types of crime specified
in Title III [dealing with electronic surveillance in
ordinary criminal cases]. Often, too, the emphasis of
domestic intelligence gathering is on the prevention of
unlawful activity or the enhancement of the government's
preparedness for some possible future crisis or emergency.
Thus the focus of domestic surveillance may be less precise
than that directed against more conventional types of
crime.'' Duggan, 743 F.2d
[[Page S5903]]
at 72 (quoting Keith, 407 U.S. at 322). The Second Circuit
then quoted a portion of the Senate Committee Report on FISA:
``[The] reasonableness [of FISA procedures] depends, in part,
upon an assessment of the difficulties of investigating
activities planned, directed, and supported from abroad by
foreign intelligence services and foreign-based terrorist
groups. . . . Other factors include the international
responsibilities of the United States, the duties of the
Federal Government to the States in matters involving foreign
terrorism, and the need to maintain the secrecy of lawful
counterintelligence sources and methods.'' Id. at 73 (quoting
S. Rep. No. 95-701, at 14-15, reprinted in 1978 U.S.C.C.A.N.
3973, 3983) (``Senate Report''). The court concluded:
Against this background, [FISA] requires that the FISA
Judge find probable cause to believe that the target is a
foreign power or an agent of a foreign power, and that the
place at which the surveillance is to be directed is being
used or is about to be used by a foreign power or an agent of
a foreign power; and it requires him to find that the
application meets the requirements of [FISA]. These
requirements make it reasonable to dispense with a
requirement that the FISA Judge find probable cause to
believe that surveillance will in fact lead to the
gathering of foreign intelligence information.
Id. at 73. The court added that, a fortiori, it
``reject[ed] defendants' argument that a FISA order may not
be issued consistent with the requirements of the Fourth
Amendment unless there is a showing of probable cause to
believe the target has committed a crime.'' Id. at n.5. See
also, e.g., United States versus Pelton, 835 F.2d 1067, 1075
(4th Cir. 1987); United States versus Cavanagh, 807 F.2d 787,
790-91 (9th Cir. 1987) (per then-Circuit Judge Kennedy);
United States versus Nicholson, 955 F. Supp. 588, 590-91
(E.D. Va. 1997).
We can conceive of a possible argument for distinguishing,
under the Fourth Amendment, the proposed definition of
``foreign power'' from the definition approved by the courts
as the basis for a determination of probable cause under FISA
as now written. According to this argument, because the
proposed definition would require no tie to a terrorist
group, it would improperly allow the use of FISA where an
ordinary probable cause determination would be feasible and
appropriate--where a court could look at the activities of a
single individual without having to access ``the
interrelation of various sources and types of information,''
see Keith, 407 U.S. at 322, or relationships with foreign-
based groups, see Daggan, 743 F.2d at 73; where there need be
no inexactitude in the target or focus of the surveillance,
see Keigh, 407 U.S. at 322; and where the international
activities of the United States are less likely to be
implicated, see Duggan, 743 F.2d at 73. However, we believe
that this argument would not be well-founded.
The expanded definition still would be limited to
collecting foreign intelligence for the ``international
responsibilities of the United States, [and] the duties of
the Federal Government to the States in matters involving
foreign terrorism.'' Id. at 73 (quoting Senate Report at 14).
The individuals covered by S. 2586 would not be United States
persons, and the ``international terrorism'' in which they
would be involved would continue to ``occur totally outside
the United States, or transcend national boundaries in terms
of the means by which they are accomplished, the persons they
appear intended to coerce or intimidate, or the locale in
which their perpetrators operate or seek asylum.'' 50 U.S.C.
Sec. 1801(c)(3). These circumstances would implicate the
``difficulties of investigating activities planned, directed,
and supported from abroad,'' just as current law implicates
such difficulties in the case of foreign intelligence
services and foreign-based terrorist groups. Duggan, 743 F.2d
at 73 (quoting Senate Report at 14). To overcome those
difficulties, a foreign intelligence investigation ``often
[will be] long range and involve[] the interrelation of
various sources and types of information.'' Id. at 72
(quoting Keith, 407 U.S. at 322). This information frequently
will require special handling, as under the procedures of the
FISA court, because of ``the need to maintain the secrecy of
lawful counterintelligence sources and methods.'' Id. at 73
(quoting Keith, 407 U.S. at 322). Furthermore, because in
foreign intelligence investigations under the expanded
definition ``[o]ften . . . the emphasis . . . [will be] on
the prevention of unlawful activity or the enhancement of the
government's preparedness for some possible future crisis or
emergency,'' the ``focus of . . . surveillance may be less
precise than that directed against more conventional types of
crime.'' Id at 73 (quoting Keith, 407 U.S. at 322).
Therefore, the same interests and considerations that support
the constitutionality of FISA as it now stands would provide
the constitutional justification for the S. 2586.
Indeed, S. 2586 would add only a modest increment to the
existing coverage of the statute. As the House Committee
Report on FISA suggested, a ``group'' of terrorists covered
by current law might be as small as two or three persons.
H.R. Rep. No. 95-1283, at pt. 1, 74 and n.38 (1978). The
interests that the courts have found to justify the
procedures of FISA are not likely to differ appreciably as
between a case involving such a group of two or three persons
and a case involving a single terrorist.
The events of the past few months point to one other
consideration on which courts have not relied previously in
upholding FISA procedures--the extraordinary level of harm
that an international terrorist can do to our Nation. The
touchstone for the constitutionality of searches under the
Fourth Amendment is whether they are ``reasonable.'' As the
Supreme Court has discussed in the context of ``special needs
cases,'' whether a search is reasonable depends on whether
the government's interests outweigh any intrusion into
individual privacy interests. In light of the efforts of
international terrorists to obtain weapons of mass
destruction, it does not seem debatable that we could suffer
terrible injury at the hands of a terrorist whose ties to an
identified ``group'' remained obscure. Even in the criminal
context, the Court has recognized the need for flexibility in
cases of terrorism. See Indianapolis v. Edmond, 531 U.S. 32,
44 (2000) (``the Fourth Amendment would almost certainly
permit an appropriately tailored roadblock set up to thwart
an imminent terrorist attack''). Congress could legitimately
judge that even a single international terrorist, who intends
``to intimidate or coerce a civilian population'' or ``to
influence the policy of a government by intimidation or
coercion'' or ``to affect the conduct of a government by
assassination or kidnapping,'' 50 U.S.C. Sec. 1801(c)(2),
acts with the power of a full terrorist group or foreign
nation and should be treated as a ``foreign power'' subject
to the procedures of FISA rather than those applicable to
warrants in criminal cases.
Thank you for the opportunity to present our views. Please
do not hesitate to call upon us if we may be of additional
assistance. The Office of Management and Budget has advised
us that from the perspective of the Administration's program,
there is no objection to submission of this letter.
Sincerely,
Daniel J. Bryant,
Assistant Attorney General.
Mr. KYL. Mr. President, I would like to advise Members that under the
unanimous consent agreement for the consideration of this bill there is
a period of 2 hours general debate and 4 hours equally divided on the
Feinstein amendment. We would like to ask Members who have comments to
make about this legislation to come to the floor and express themselves
so that we can conclude this bill today under the unanimous consent. I
will continue to discuss the bill. But if other Members would like to
come, I will yield the floor to them. I would ask that those who have
amendments that are authorized by the unanimous consent agreement to
lay those amendments down so Members who wish to speak to those
amendments could also address that.
In the meantime, let me continue some of the conversation Senator
Schumer and I had before. We are talking about a bill which would plug
a loophole in the existing law--the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
Act--which currently authorizes warrants to be obtained in two specific
situations. We make it clear that there is a third situation as well.
The two specific situations are where you either have somebody you
suspect is involved in international terrorism because they work for a
foreign government--that is a situation like the old Soviet spy--or
they work for some international terrorist organization. Remember that
this law was created at the time when we had organized groups such as
the Red Brigade and the Meinhof gang, and those types of groups. That
is why those two definitions in the statute were included in the way
they were. What was not anticipated is that we would also have people
coming from abroad to the United States to commit acts of terrorism
against American citizens as part of this rather amorphus Islamic Jihad
movement rather than an organization of people affiliated around a
culture or an idea or a movement.
As a result, the statute needs to include that third group of people,
as we know, after September 11. We have specific cases of people in
which warrants were sought but were not obtained because we couldn't
make that connection to either a specific country or a very specific
terrorist organization. Instead, the individual had relationships with
various people and organizations involved in terrorism but certainly we
couldn't say he was a card-carrying member in the sense that the
statute was originally drafted. So the same requirements, as Senator
Schumer said, would pertain. It doesn't apply to U.S. citizens. It only
applies to foreign terrorism. But it would include a person coming here
from another country--not a U.S. citizen--and we have probable cause to
believe is engaged in or about to engage in an act of terrorism.
In that case, the law enforcement authorities can go to the court and
seek a warrant just as they do in any other criminal court. But the
difference here is the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. One of
the reasons a special
[[Page S5904]]
court is set up for that is because the information which the Justice
Department frequently presents is highly classified. Clearly, here you
are dealing with foreign threats--either an international spy spying on
us from another country or some kind of terrorist like Zacarias
Moussaoui, and the information you have that enables the warrant to be
sought was obtained obviously through intelligence work. You don't want
to compromise either the sources or the methods of intelligence. As a
result, you can't just file publicly in the regular court system for a
warrant.
That is why the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court was
established. These are judges just like any other judge, but they have
special intelligence clearances. They have been cleared to handle
classified material. By the rules of the court, that material is kept
in the court. Once allegations have been filed against people, then the
matter can be debated in camera, which is to say in private--not in
public hearings. Proceedings remain classified, at least until the
matter is included; perhaps thereafter as well.
This is the way in which these highly sensitive intelligence matters
are handled. It takes a special procedure and a special court to do
that. But there is nothing antithetical to a constitutional right
simply because we have to handle it that way.
There are other situations, as well, in which in our court system can
handle things nonpublicly. There are sometimes sensitive matters
between litigants that have to be handled in camera; that is to say, in
effect in the judge's chambers and not out in public. Certainly, I
think everybody can recognize that in some of the big spy cases and
international terrorism cases you just can't take the evidence you
gathered by the intelligence mechanism which we have and produce all of
that information in open court. That is why you have these special
procedures. But the underlying legal requirements to obtain the warrant
remain essentially the same. They are slightly different in the
classified court than in a regular court.
In all candor, they are a little bit easier to obtain. But the basic
element of probable cause and belief that a crime is being committed or
is about to be committed or is planned remains. Nothing is changed.
As Senator Schumer pointed out, our legislation doesn't change
anything relating to the standard of proof, the burden of proof, or
anything of that sort in the existing law that works so well. What we
do is ensure that the warrant can be obtained not just against the spy
for a specific country, or the terrorist whom you can identify as a
member of a particular terrorist organization--sort of an anachronistic
concept in today's terrorist situation--but also pertains to the non-
U.S. citizen, a foreign person who comes here from abroad with the
intent to commit some act of terrorism against U.S. citizens.
When you have those elements, you have the same foreign terrorist
nexus to the law that our Constitution permits included within the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for purposes of obtaining
warrants or obtaining other surveillance of the individuals. That is
all we do. That is all that is done by this legislation.
So those of us--including I think every one of us on the Judiciary
Committee--who consider ourselves civil libertarians need not be
concerned that this statute or that this legislation, in any way, would
impact on our constitutional rights, nor that it would diminish the
constitutional rights of non-U.S. persons who are not engaged in
terrorism. But if we have probable cause to believe you are engaged in
an act of terrorism, then, yes, you would be subject to provisions of
this law.
This legislation has an interesting history, as I alluded to earlier,
because it was assigned to the Intelligence Committee, and it was
almost included as a part of the Intelligence Authorization Act of last
year. And the chairman of the Intelligence Committee this year was kind
enough to offer to include it in this year's legislation as well.
Since we were able to also have the bill marked up in the Judiciary
Committee and brought to the floor as a result of that markup, that was
not deemed necessary. That is why the bill is here--actually as a
result of action by the Judiciary Committee.
So both the Intelligence Committee and the Judiciary Committee have
been involved in this legislation, the former having a hearing and the
latter having marked up the bill. Having been a member of the
Intelligence Committee and sitting, as I do, on the Judiciary
Committee, I can tell you it was also the subject of additional
comments and hearings that were held for broader purposes of examining
the terrorism issue. That is why I mentioned the fact that the
legislation had actually been supported publicly by various Government
officials who testified before either the full Judiciary Committee or
the subcommittee I chair on terrorism and technology. They had
testified before our committee on terrorism issues generally, and I
specifically asked whether they supported the legislation in question;
the response to the questions, of course, was that they did.
Another interesting hearing, which was a joint hearing, as I recall,
between the Judiciary and the Intelligence Committees had testimony
from Coleen Rowley, referred to by Senator Schumer earlier. You will
recall, she was the agent from Indianapolis who was very exercised
about the fact that she could not get a warrant against Zacarias
Moussaoui and complained bitterly that the FBI headquarters had
prevented her from doing that. She thought the conditions warranted the
issuance of the warrant.
It is a debatable point. But it would not have been debatable if our
proposal had been law. It would have been very clear. We had the
probable cause. The only question was, Can we tie this person to some
international terrorist organization? As I said before, we spent a lot
of time and a lot of effort trying to run around tracing his contacts
with Chechen rebels, and at the end of the day it just was not specific
enough to be able to use the statute to get the warrant against him.
Right after 9/11, when essentially the same warrant was sent forward,
then we had additional information of contacts this individual had, as
a result of which the warrant was obtained. But that would not have
occurred had September 11 not occurred--or at least it is doubtful it
would have occurred. Let me put it that way.
Would that have prevented the September 11 attacks? No one knows for
sure. I suspect not, but at least a plausible case can be made that we
would have known a lot more about the planning of September 11 had we
been able to get into Moussaoui's computers and questioned him and
ascertained what he was up to and, furthermore, traced the contacts we
were later able to trace from Moussaoui to others involved in the al-
Qaida movement that would have painted a much clearer picture of what
was being planned prior to September 11 than the information that we
had.
The point is, we do not want to be in that position again. So whether
it would have prevented 9/11 is really beside the point. We had the
ability to get information which can protect the American people
against acts of international terrorism. Why wouldn't we want to take
advantage of that opportunity?
As I said, the Judiciary Committee unanimously voted this bill out of
committee to send it to the floor so we could deal with that precise
issue. I am certain my colleagues will agree that this is important to
do and that we will do it a little bit later on this day. When we do, I
think we can be very proud of the fact that this is another in a series
of things we will have done to help prepare our country against the
international terrorist threat.
We know that in the whole matter of homeland security you can only
provide so much defense, that it really is about taking the fight to
the enemy. Because our country is so big, it is so open, we have such
broad freedoms in this country--and thankfully so--it is virtually
impossible to absolutely protect us from a terrorist who would come
here to do us harm. One of the ways we can help to protect against that
is by getting good intelligence on people who come here from abroad and
who we find out mean us ill. This provision today is a way to help us
do that.
So this is a tool in the war on terror that will really help us
ensure that we deal with as many of these threats as we possibly can.
Are we always going to find out enough to even get a warrant? Not
necessarily so. That is why
[[Page S5905]]
the efforts of the administration to go after these terrorists all
around the world are so important.
But what has helped us in that regard is that we have had cooperation
from other governments. And as much as we have been critical of some of
our allies for not supporting us as we would like to have had them do--
such as the situation in Iraq--I will tell you, virtually every country
in the world has been supportive in one way or another in supplying us
with information about terrorists in their countries or terrorists of
whom they are aware who might be affiliated in some way in this
international movement that threatens us all.
One of the things we discovered, however, in talking to legislators
and parliamentarians from these other countries, and intelligence
officials, and law enforcement officials, is that they have legal
inhibitions just like the United States does. Their laws only permit
them to go so far in tracking down these terrorists in their country.
In the case of Germany, for example, which has been very helpful to
the United States, they were able to change one of their laws to make
it easier for them to go after these terrorists. There was another law
they also needed to change, and at last count I do not recall whether
they were able to get that done.
But the point is, if we are able to change our law, as we did with
the Border Security Act and the USA Patriot Act, we can demonstrate a
seriousness of purpose to these other countries to convince them that
all of us need to make these kinds of changes in our laws so that we
can go after these terrorists.
The analogy is, we won the war in Iraq in a most amazing way. We sent
our troops with the best equipment and the best training ever in the
history of the world. And I wish I could share some of that, the
information about that equipment publicly. But I think we have all,
through the embedded reporters, come to appreciate how just one
American soldier, with all of the technology at his disposal, can make
a tremendous difference.
We also have helped protect them. They have special flak vests,
bulletproof vests that protect them against a lot of incoming. We try
to protect them with the special chemical gear in the event of a
chemical attack, and so on.
We want to send our troops into battle protected in the very best way
and with the very best means of accomplishing their mission. Why would
we deny our law enforcement and intelligence officials the very same
kinds of weapons in the battle that we send them out to win?
I guarantee you that the next time there is a case like Zacarias
Moussaoui or some other terrorist about whom we have some information
but we don't go after strongly enough, and he does something to us, the
recrimination will be great. Oh, the accusations will fly: Why didn't
we do something about that when we could have?
So our response today is going to be: We did. We came together as a
Senate and we enacted another law, another piece--it is a small piece,
but it is an important piece--to help us fight this war on terror. We
did not shirk our responsibility. When we became aware of the loophole
in the law, we acted to fill it.
Now, we have to do that in order to be able to take this credit,
obviously, but I believe strongly that the House of Representatives
will act similarly and that we will be able to get this to the
President's desk in very short order, so at the end of the day today we
can say we have done something very important to advance our ability to
fight the war on terror and protect the American people.
Again, I urge my colleagues, if there is no opposition--and I hope
there isn't--that is fine. But anybody, either in opposition or in
favor of the legislation, come forward so that we can have whatever
debate is necessary. And I especially ask the proponents of amendments
to come forward so that we can begin to debate them.
I will take this moment to press some of the comments that will be
made about the two amendments.
Senator Feingold has proposed an amendment that we will accept and
the Senate should accept which requires that the warrants obtained
under this law generally--not just the provision we are talking about
today, but if we obtain a warrant under either of the other provisions
as well, that the information be compiled and shared with the Senate;
specifically, that the information be sent to the Intelligence
Committee--it is classified information, obviously--and that the
cleared people on the Judiciary Committee who are appropriate to view
the information have full access to that so we can evaluate whether
these provisions are being used, abused, how often they are being used,
how effectively, and so on. I believe his amendment calls for an annual
report which we could examine. That is very useful information for us
to have.
One thing we found was that prior to 9/11, this statute had not been
used very often. It is not a particularly easy statute with which to
comply. You do really have to have your information together before you
seek the warrant because you don't ever want to be turned down. I don't
believe the Justice Department ever was turned down. That is evidence
of the fact that they were careful. Since 9/11, there have been a lot
more cases in which this has been used. That information will be
available to us, and therefore I will support Senator Feingold in
offering the amendment.
The other amendment that is in order under the unanimous consent
agreement, with all due respect to my great friend and colleague
Senator Feinstein, would gut the bill and would be bad. It would really
undermine the whole FISA process. We should reject it. I know she
offers this amendment not for that purpose. Of all the people in the
Senate with whom I have worked who share my strong conviction that we
need to do everything we can to support our intelligence and law
enforcement communities, Senator Feinstein is equaled by none. She is
the ranking member of the Terrorism Subcommittee, and she and I have
cosponsored numerous bills or amendments designed to enhance law
enforcement and intelligence capabilities. She is a very strong
advocate of giving our intelligence and law enforcement communities the
very best tools possible.
She just has a different point of view about how this FISA warrant
process should work. I will let her describe it. I will offer my view
that it has no place in the FISA situation. What her amendment purports
to do really might have some applicability in a court setting because
it talks about a presumption. As lawyers know, presumptions arise when
you have two parties to litigation and one party comes forward with a
particular piece of evidence or allegation which then changes the
burden of going forward with the evidence or the burden of proof in the
case. A presumption is established, and then the other side has to
overcome it. That has no place in an ex parte hearing where the
Government is seeking a warrant against a party who is not even aware
that the warrant is being sought. Obviously, you don't get a search
warrant by notifying him that you are about to do that.
What her amendment pertains to does not really have application to
the situation presented in an application for a FISA warrant and would
seriously undermine the Government's ability to obtain it. You could
either read it one of two ways. Either it would be totally
meaningless--and I know that that is not intended--or else it would be
very pernicious because it would create the suggestion in court that
the material presented to it is not, is no more than a presumption,
that it is not to be accepted on its face.
Specifically, the Government would be asserting that the person
against whom the warrant is sought is a non-U.S. citizen, a foreign
person under the definition of the statute. If that information is
presented in sufficient form for a court to issue the warrant, it makes
no sense at all to have the information merely a presumption that the
individual is a foreign person. How does that advance the ball? How
does it help the court? How does it protect anybody? The court is still
going to have to answer the very same question: Do I believe the
information the Government is presenting to me that this is a non-U.S.
citizen? Either he is or he isn't. It is not a matter of a presumption.
If the court is not convinced that the Government's information is
correct,
[[Page S5906]]
then the court is not going to issue the warrant. It would be improper
to do so. If the court is convinced that the person is a non-U.S.
citizen, then the court can issue the warrant if the other requirements
are met. I don't believe Senator Feinstein attacks the other
requirements.
Either you are a foreign-born person, or a non-U.S. person, or you
are not. The court has to make that decision. And creating a
presumption about it is really irrelevant to this particular process.
If it is more than irrelevant, there is some kind of a problem.
Obviously, you don't want the court to have to somehow independently
verify the information that is presented to it by the Justice
Department. That is not a part of; that is not the way the court works.
The court does not do this sua sponte, or on its own. The court has the
information before it, and it either has to accept the information or
not. It doesn't have to accept the Justice Department's word for it.
The Justice Department cannot simply make the assertion. It has to
offer the proof. If the proof is not satisfactory, the warrant will not
issue. Later, if it is found that the evidence was not satisfactory,
then there is always some question about whether the evidence obtained,
of course, could be used, say, in a later prosecution.
The bottom line is that that amendment does not help. It could
seriously hurt the application of the entire FISA statute. It is not
just limited to the amendment we are offering today. I urge my
colleagues, when the time comes, to reject the Feinstein amendment, not
because it is not well intended--I am confident that it is--but,
rather, that its effects are ill understood at best and, at worst,
would be pernicious to the application of the statute.
I have said all I need to say at this point on the legislation. I
would note that time will run against the time allotted under the bill.
Since both Senator Schumer and I control the time, anyone who wishes to
come to speak to the legislation either for or against, I ask unanimous
consent that if neither Senator Schumer nor I are here, they should be
permitted to do so without specific acquiescence by Senator Schumer or
myself.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. KYL. Unless there is someone else who wishes to speak at this
time, I ask unanimous consent that the time consumed in the quorum call
be equally divided.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. KYL. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. REID. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Order of Procedure
Mr. REID. Mr. President, shortly the distinguished Senator from Ohio
is going to speak for 15 minutes as in morning business. I ask
unanimous consent that the time, even though in morning business, be
charged against the underlying bill.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. REID. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that at 1:25 p.m.
today there be 20 minutes for debate equally divided between the
chairman and ranking member of the Judiciary Committee prior to the
cloture vote at 1:45 p.m.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. DeWINE. Mr. President, today--on the 58th Anniversary of the
unconditional surrender of Germany and the end of World War II in
Europe--a flag will be flown over this Capitol building here in
Washington, DC, to honor the men who served in Company K, the most
decorated company in the 409th Regiment of the 103rd Infantry Division,
6th Corps of the 7th Army. The members of the Company will display this
flag at their reunion later this year in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and at
all future reunions, in memory of the men from K Company who fell on
the field of battle, the men who did not return home.
Though it has been 58 years nearly 6 decades, since these men served
and fought and lived and died together, the men of K Company, now in
their late 70s and 80s, continue to remember and honor their brothers
who died in battle.
The members of K Company--the men who did return home--the men who
were able to lead their lives and have families and grow old and spend
time with their children and grandchildren and now even great-
grandchildren--these men have great reverence for those who died. As
Bill Gleason, who was a Private in Company K, so eloquently once wrote
in the Southtown Economist in May 1988:
Some in our Company were denied the chance to reach old
age. They didn't make it to adulthood. They never were old
enough to vote in an election. They died then--there in
France or Germany. . . . They are frozen in time as they
were--forever youthful.
I would like to take a moment to read the names of those men of K
Company, the men who perished during battle, the men who remain, as Mr.
Gleason so fittingly wrote, forever youthful: Wilson F. Rogers from
Tacoma, WA.; James Rosenbarger from Corydon, IN; Rosco Fry from
Spickard, MO; Stanley Berdinski from Muskegon, MI; Bruno Pashisky from
Chicago, IL; Sherman Sprague from Clinton, IA; Alex Hurtiz from El
Paso, TX; Charles Frakes from Kokomo, IN; Abe Umansky from San Diego,
CA; Edwin Byron from Akron, OH; and Albert Strang.
K Company was no ordinary company. It was recognized as the Most
Decorated Company in the 409th Regiment. The soldiers of K Company
fought valiantly in France, Germany, and Austria. They saw combat in
the Rhineland from September 15, 1944 to March 12, 1945 and in Central
Europe from March 22, 1945 to May 11, 1945.
Two books have been written about the Company--one by Bill Gleason,
called Task Force Kommando: Camp Howze, Texas to Jenbach Austria; and A
Combat Infantryman in World War II, by Otis Cannon, who also served in
the Company. Both books provide an excellent perspective of an Infantry
company in combat during World War II. They describe the reality of the
War that these brave, young Infantrymen on the frontlines faced. They
paint us a picture of what life was really like for these men--how they
struggled and endured fierce fighting, rugged terrain, and miserable
conditions until they helped secure the ultimate victory 58 years ago
today.
I had the opportunity to read both of these books this past weekend.
Both of them provide insightful understanding of what life was like for
these men during that period of time.
The one book, ``Task Force Kommando,'' by Private Gleason, was
written shortly after the end of World War II. Both books were written
by the men who engaged in the combat. It goes almost in a day-by-day
chronicle describing that combat. It gives us an understanding of what
the combat was like.
K Company's commander was Captain Joseph Bell, who hailed from
Topeka, KS. By all accounts, Captain Bell was a man among men. He was
fearless. He was a brilliant tactician. And, he was respected and
admired by those who served under him.
I was quite taken by a description of Captain Bell that I read from a
recent e-mail exchange between two former K Company soldiers. In this
e-mail, one of the men recalled his first impressions of Captain Bell
and how this man and how this Company have had a lasting impact on his
life. I think that this depiction captures a very colorful image of
Captain Bell and how he was looked up to and admired by his men. I'd
like to take a few moments to read from that e-mail. It begins as a
young, World War II Army Private, who has recently arrived in Europe,
awaits his company assignment:
We were told that the next morning, we would be assigned to
some infantry company. That night, we went into a bar and
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were bought some beer by some GI's who knew we were (for want
of a better word) very uptight. All they talked about was
Captain Bell and his K Company. They told us that if we
wanted to do a lot of fighting that would be the company to
be assigned to. That was really not what [my buddy, Ernie
Dessecker] and I had in mind!
A little before dark, someone on the other side of the room
yelled that Captain Bell was walking down the street and
every single soldier in that bar got up and crammed the
windows to get a look at him. He had a couple of other
officers on both sides of him, but he was walking a step or
two ahead. It was a dirt muddy street, but he looked like he
was walking on a parade ground. After he went by, you could
hear Captain Bell stories all over the bar.
The next day, we were loaded on a truck and at each town,
it would stop and some names were called to get off. When
Dess and I were told to get off, the first thing we asked
was, ``What company is this?'' When told it was Company K, we
both wished we could climb back on that truck and head for
the rear echelon! Of course, in a very short time, we were so
very proud to be part of Captain Bell's Company K, and that
pride continues to this day.
I was assigned to John Miller's squad in the second platoon
with Sergeant Hart and Lieutenant Monk as platoon leaders.
They were very kind and excellent leaders. I learned a lot
from them that has stayed with me all these years.
Mr. President, leaders like Captain Bell and John Miller and Sergeant
Hart and Lieutenant Monk were tough soldiers, but they had to be, and
all the men who served under them came to understand that.
As Bill Gleason wrote about Captain Bell:
We understood . . . that if we made it through the war, we
would owe our lives to him. And, we do. . . . [H]e kept us
alive simply because he insisted we stay alive.
Leaders, like Captain Bell, made all the difference.
As Memorial Day approaches, I ask my colleagues to think about
Captain Bell and the men of K Company. I ask my colleagues to think
about and remember all the men and women who served our Nation during
World War II--and to think about and remember all the men and women who
have defended our Nation since that time. Memorial Day is a time to
honor and remember these individuals. They fought, and therefore all of
us now know peace and freedom--our children and our grandchildren know
peace and freedom. We owe them our respect and, we give them our
thanks.
I am grateful for the men of Company K.
I am grateful that they fought so that I can be here today in a free
country--that I can stand here today on the Floor of the United States
Senate in the world's greatest Democracy.
And, I am grateful that we can continue to enjoy Life, Liberty, and
the Pursuit of Happiness because of their efforts nearly 60 years ago.
I thank them.
I thank all the men of K Company and especially one man who served in
the Company--the author of the e-mail I quoted just a moment ago--a
Private named Richard DeWine. To him, I will simply say:
Thanks, Dad.
Mr. President, I yield the floor. I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Bunning). The clerk will call the roll.
The legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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