[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 10 (Tuesday, January 25, 2011)]
[Senate]
[Pages S223-S224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. REID (for Mrs. Feinstein):
  S. 149. A bill to extend the expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT 
Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005, the Intelligence Reform 
and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, and the FISA Amendments Act of 
2008 until December 31, 2013, and for other purposes; to the Committee 
on the Judiciary.
  Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, today I am introducing the FISA 
Sunsets Extension Act of 2011 to extend the three expiring provisions 
of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act--the authority to conduct, 
subject to court order, so-called ``roving wiretaps,'' ``lone wolf'' 
surveillance, and collection of business records. This legislation will 
extend these three authorities, otherwise set to expire on February 28, 
to December 31, 2013.
  The bill will also change the expiration date of the intelligence 
collection authorities provided in the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 so 
they, too, last until the end of 2013.
  I firmly believe that the United States Government needs these 
authorities to help prevent against future terrorist attacks against 
our nation and to collect vital intelligence insights into the 
capabilities and intentions of our adversaries. We remain a nation 
under threat and need to remain vigilant in our defense.
  Let me briefly describe the three expiring provisions.
  First, court-ordered roving authority is directed against foreign 
intelligence targets who attempt to thwart FISA surveillance by such 
actions as rapidly changing cell phones. In a September 2009 letter, 
the Department of Justice reported to Congress that this authority 
``has proven an important intelligence-gathering tool in a small but 
significant subset of FISA electronic surveillance orders.''
  Second, lone wolf authority allows for court-ordered collection 
against non-U.S. persons who engage in international terrorism but for 
whom an association with a specific international terrorist group has 
not yet been identified. In the last Congress, when the Department of 
Justice advised that it had not yet been necessary for the Government 
to use this authority, the Department stated that it could foresee 
circumstances in which a terrorist target had not actually contacted a 
terrorist group or was known to have severed his association from a 
terrorist group.
  From the events of the last several years, we have all become aware 
that we may be attacked by a lone, unaffiliated terrorist--or one whose 
links to

[[Page S224]]

terrorist groups are only clear after an individual is apprehended.
  Third, the collection of business records pursuant to court orders. 
This provision allows the Government to require the production of 
``tangible things'' in order to obtain foreign intelligence information 
as part of an investigation. In the September 2009 letter, the 
Department of Justice urged reauthorization of that authority because 
``[t]he absence of such authority could force the FBI to sacrifice key 
intelligence opportunities.''
  I cannot elaborate into the use of these authorities in this 
unclassified context. I can say, however, that as the Chairman of the 
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and as one who reviews the 
intelligence on the threats we face, we remain a nation under attack. 
Providing the authorities to collect intelligence to identify and 
prevent terrorist attacks on the homeland remains necessary.
  It is also important to allow Congress, in the future, to conduct a 
complete review of FISA provisions. By synchronizing the dates when 
different pieces of the law expire, Congress can consider changes to 
FISA at once, prior to the end of 2013.
  In closing, l would like to assure all Members of the Senate and the 
American public that extending these sunsets does not shield them from 
oversight. There is a system of review and oversight in place that 
consists of the FISA Court, Inspectors General in the Department of 
Justice and in the intelligence community, regular oversight reviews by 
the National Security Division at the Department of Justice, a new 
Director of Compliance at the National Security Agency, and reporting 
to the Senate and House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees. As 
Chairman of the Senate Select Committee and as a member of the 
Judiciary Committee, I can assure colleagues that the Senate has 
placed, and will continue to place, oversight of the Government's 
surveillance authorities as a major priority.
  I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.
                                 ______