[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 125 (Friday, September 29, 2006)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1969]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE MODERNIZATION ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                         HON. JAMES R. LANGEVIN

                            of rhode island

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 28, 2006

  Mr. LANGEVIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise in strong opposition to H.R. 5825, 
the Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act. Since the President's 
illegal domestic wiretapping program became public, I have called for 
greater oversight and Congressional involvement to ensure that we can 
provide our intelligence agencies with the tools needed to fight 
terrorism while protecting essential civil liberties of Americans. The 
bill before us today does not meet those standards.
  As a member of the House Armed Services and Homeland Security 
Committees, I am fully aware of the dangers posed by those who wish to 
harm Americans, and I have strongly supported efforts to make our 
nation safer. However, the Bush Administration has not explained to my 
satisfaction why powers available under existing law cannot meet the 
needs of the war on terrorism. For example, the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act (FISA) already permits the warrantless surveillance of 
communications under certain limited circumstances. Nevertheless, the 
Bush Administration did not use those emergency powers and instead 
chose to expand the authority of the National Security Agency (NSA). 
The President's decision to expand domestic surveillance, while 
notifying only a handful of legislators, does not constitute 
Congressional consent and is a danger to our established Constitutional 
system of checks and balances.
  I would have been receptive to modifications to FISA that preserved 
the vital oversight through the creation of the FISA court system. I am 
a cosponsor of H.R. 5381, the Lawful Intelligence and Surveillance of 
Terrorists in an Emergency by NSA (LISTEN) Act, introduced by the 
ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, the gentlewoman from 
California, Mrs. Harman. This legislation would mandate that all 
monitoring of calls, email records and phone records be carried out in 
accordance with FISA and further asserts that the 2002 authorization 
for the NSA domestic surveillance program outside of FISA was not 
within the Bush Administration's authority.
  Instead, this legislation gives the President broad authority to 
continue his domestic surveillance program without approval from the 
FISA court. It uses judicial and Congressional notification as a 
substitute for legitimate oversight, and it establishes such broad 
justifications for surveillance that the Administration will have 
almost unlimited ability to continue its past practices with little to 
no changes. Disturbingly, it also removes an important protection of 
current law that requires the government to certify that its 
warrantless surveillance of foreign agents would not intercept the 
communications of U.S. citizens.
  Once again, the President has sought to expand his own authority at 
the expense of Americans' civil liberties, and Congress has willingly 
abdicated its oversight authority. I urge my colleagues to vote against 
this measure so that we can find a better way to crack down on 
terrorist who would do us harm while safeguarding the rights of 
Americans.

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