[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 41 (Tuesday, March 11, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H1450]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      URGING PASSAGE OF THE SENATE FISA BILL BEFORE EASTER RECESS

  (Ms. GRANGER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. GRANGER. Mr. Speaker, today is day 25 since the Democrat majority 
let the bipartisan Protect America Act expire, leaving our intelligence 
community without the full range of resources necessary to monitor 
foreign targets and leaving our country in danger.
  It's truly disappointing that the strong bipartisan Senate bill might 
not be considered by the House before we go into a 2-week Easter recess 
period. Our intelligence community needs a long-term fix for the gaps 
in our intelligence laws, not short-term Band-Aids or political 
holdups.
  Senator John Rockefeller, chairman of the Senate Intelligence 
Committee, after the bill passed the Senate a few weeks ago, said: 
``This is the right way to go in terms of the security of our Nation.''
  In the House, 21 Democrats have urged the Speaker to support the 
Senate-passed bill, and the House Republican conference supports the 
Senate bill. The support for the bipartisan Senate bill is strong and 
continuing to grow. Now is the time to act to provide our intelligence 
community all the tools necessary and to provide important retroactive 
liability protection that our telecommunications companies deserve when 
we ask for their help.
  I urge the House to pass the Senate FISA bill before we leave this 
week. Anything short of passage is an unfortunate and dangerous risk.

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