[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1955-E1956]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE MODERNIZATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                       HON. JANICE D. SCHAKOWSKY

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 28, 2006

  Ms. SCHAKOWSKY. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 
5825, the Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act.
  I believe that President Bush's secret warrantless wiretapping 
program was a violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act 
(FISA) and violated the civil rights that make this country so strong 
and respected. Once this program was unveiled, the Administration's 
response was not to change the program to comply with American law but 
to change American law to comply with this program. As a result, we 
have the bill before us--legislation that would make truly far-reaching 
changes to FISA and will have alarming consequences for democracy and 
civil liberties.
  H.R. 5825 expands the definition of ``electronic surveillance'' to 
include Americans' international emails and phone calls. It authorizes 
the warrantless electronic surveillance and physical searches of 
Americans' emails and phone calls for 60-days after an ``armed attack'' 
or 60 days before and after an ``imminent attack'' against the United 
States. Those

[[Page E1956]]

60-day periods can be indefinitely renewed. Moreover, ``imminent 
attack'' is defined as an ``attack likely to cause death, serious 
injury, or substantial economic damage.'' What is ``substantial 
economic damage?'' This definition is so sweeping that hacking into a 
computer could fit. This bill also strips all courts of jurisdiction 
over surveillance cases, preventing anyone from seeking redress for 
illegal or unconstitutional electronic surveillance.
  All of us want to be protected from terrorists, but we can protect 
our Nation without expanding the FISA law so broadly that innocent 
people can be spied on by their own government without reasonable 
justification, trampling on our civil liberties. The FISA law already 
has measures that take into account the need for emergency 
surveillance, and the need for urgency cannot be used as a rationale 
for going around America's law. FISA allows wiretapping without a court 
order in an emergency; the court must simply be notified within 72 
hours. The government is aware of this emergency power and has used it 
repeatedly.
  Mr. Speaker, the United States is a Nation built upon its adherence 
to the laws. And no one--not even a U.S. president--is above the law. 
Our system of checks and balances must be maintained if American 
democracy is to be preserved. I urge all of my colleagues to vote 
``no'' to H.R. 5825.

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