[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 41 (Tuesday, March 11, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H1452-H1453]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                                  FISA

  (Mr. McCAUL of Texas asked and was given permission to address the 
House for 1 minute.)
  Mr. McCAUL of Texas. Mr. Speaker, nearly 4 weeks have passed since 
the Protect America Act expired, and for 4 weeks our intelligence 
community has gone dark around the world. For 4 weeks, we are missing 
critical intelligence from foreign terrorists to better protect this 
Nation.
  Mr. Speaker, this is a dereliction of duty. The most solemn 
obligation we have in the House is to protect the

[[Page H1453]]

American people; yet we have allowed this act to expire. A bipartisan 
bill has passed in the Senate; yet we in the House are denied democracy 
and the opportunity to have the people vote for this important 
legislation that will protect Americans.
  I applied for FISA warrants in the Justice Department. This statute 
was never intended to apply to foreign terrorists in foreign countries. 
In fact, what we are doing is extending constitutional protections to 
foreign terrorists like Osama bin Laden. This turns the statute on its 
head; yet we have a majority leader who says there's no urgency. The 
chairman of Intelligence says we'll be just fine. It reminds me of an 
FBI agent who warned before 9/11, frustrated about the intelligence 
gap, ``Someday someone will die. The public will not understand why we 
were not more effective at throwing every resource we had at certain 
problems, especially since the biggest threat to us now is Osama bin 
Laden and he is getting the most protection.''
  I urge this Congress, this House, and the Democratic leadership to 
pass the Senate bipartisan bill and make the Protect America Act 
permanent.

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