[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 106 (Wednesday, June 25, 2008)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1344]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                      FISA AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2008

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                          HON. LYNN C. WOOLSEY

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Friday, June 20, 2008

  Ms. WOOLSEY. Madam Speaker, today Congress is yet again faced with 
the choice of approving the Bush administration's unconstitutional 
expansion of executive branch authority in the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act, FISA, or defending the Constitution and protecting 
the civil liberties of Americans. The choice could not be more clear 
and consequences more grave.
  Passing this legislation today will be the enduring legacy of the 
Bush administration. It will provide the Congressional seal of approval 
for years of the White House's stonewalling on Congressional oversight, 
eroding Congress's authority, and violating the Constitution. A vote in 
favor of H.R. 6304, the FISA Amendments Act, is a vote for the Bush 
administration's expansive interpretation of executive power and 
against the Constitution. That's why I must oppose this legislation.
  H.R. 6304 permits mass, untargeted surveillance of all phone and 
email conversations entering or leaving the U.S. without basic, let 
alone adequate, protections for Americans' civil liberties. 
Communications of millions of Americans will be swept up because of 
reduced reverse targeting protections and minimized court oversight. 
This bill enables the Government to walk through an enormous loophole 
by suspending prior court review of intelligence surveillance 
applications at their discretion. Additionally, there are no safeguards 
to protect Americans whose information is unintentionally obtained. 
H.R. 6304 dispenses with real oversight by the court, a requirement 
fundamental to upholding the Constitution.
  Furthermore, this legislation provides nothing less than de facto 
immunity for telecommunications companies that broke the law. District 
courts will be forced to dismiss pending cases if they receive a 
certification from the Attorney General that telecommunication 
companies were asked to turn over their customers' records. There is no 
determination if the request was legal. No due process. No penalty. No 
accountability. Exactly what the Bush administration wanted all along.
  We should never sacrifice commitment to the rule of law and our 
system of checks and balances for broad, unbridled power to suspend 
Americans' civil liberties at will. Unfortunately, this new FISA bill 
does just that. Elected officials have a solemn responsibility to 
defend our country, and, like my colleagues, I support a modernization 
of our intelligence laws. But being asked to support either our 
intelligence community or protecting civil liberties is a false and 
dangerous dichotomy. Benjamin Franklin once wrote that, ``those who 
would trade liberty for some temporary security, deserve neither 
liberty nor security.'' With this bill, I believe we have proven him 
right.

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