[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 43 (Thursday, March 13, 2008)]
[House]
[Page H1624]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       FISA: FACT VERSUS FICTION

  (Ms. SOLIS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SOLIS. Madam Speaker, President Bush and the congressional 
Republicans refuse to face the facts on the expiration of the 
President's Protect America Act, and instead continue their false and 
misleading scare tactics that are not productive and will do nothing to 
protect our Nation.
  Republicans continue to claim that the expiration of the Protect 
America Act has reduced our ability to conduct surveillance. That is 
false, and Republicans know it. They know that the Protect America Act 
gave the intelligence community authorization for one full year, 
meaning that they are all still in effect until August of this year.
  If Republicans really believed that the expiration of the act would 
jeopardize our national security, why did every single Republican 
Member of this body vote against a 21-day extension of the act last 
month?
  Washington Republicans can't have it both ways. Rather than resorting 
to political games, congressional Republicans should have joined 
bicameral negotiations that were conducted for several weeks to develop 
a strong compromise bill. It is time that the Republicans get off the 
sidelines and work with our Congress. Let's see this legislation come 
to the floor today.

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