[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 13 (Monday, January 28, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H459]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




           MODERNIZING FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT

  (Mr. HOLT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, later this week Congress will return to the 
issue of how best to modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance 
Act. In November in this House of Representatives, we passed a very 
good bill. We would do well to observe the principles established in 
that bill.
  Any final review of domestic surveillance passed by Congress should 
include court review of executive branch actions. The reason for this 
requirement is quite simple. Having a legal standard of review provides 
us both better intelligence and better civil liberty protections for 
our people. It is simple. It has been demonstrated that when officials 
must establish before an independent court that they know what they are 
doing, that they have reason to intercept communications, we get better 
intelligence. And, of course, that's the point, to have the 
intelligence to protect the American people from indiscriminate 
collection and fishing expeditions. Those are not productive.
  In November, we passed a bill that would do this, the RESTORE Act. 
That bill guarantees court review of executive branch actions related 
to surveillance activities. I would commend that bill to this House.

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