[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 96 (Tuesday, June 6, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S3296]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS

      By Mr. COTTON (for himself, Mr. Burr, Mr. Risch, Mr. Rubio, Ms. 
        Collins, Mr. Blunt, Mr. Lankford, Mr. Cornyn, Mr. McCain, Mr. 
        Tillis, Mr. Roberts, Mr. Graham, Mr. Thune, and Mr. Perdue):
  S. 1297. A bill to make title VII of the Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act of 1978 permanent, and for other purposes; to the 
Committee on the Judiciary.
  Mr. COTTON. Mr. President, the attacks in London last weekend exposed 
in a matter of minutes just how vulnerable free societies truly are. 
All it takes is a van or a knife and an unsuspecting bystander to turn 
a fun night out on the town into a horrific nightmare.
  Of course, we shouldn't need any reminders, but let me give one yet 
again: We are at war with Islamic extremists. We have been for years, 
and I am sorry to say that there is no end in sight. It is easy to 
forget this as we go about our daily lives, but our enemies have not, 
and they will not. They have never taken their eyes off the ultimate 
target, either--the United States.
  Yes, we are at war with a vicious and unyielding foe, and just as our 
enemy can attack us with the simplest of everyday tools, the strongest 
shield we have in our defense is just as basic: It is the 
intelligence--information--of knowing who is talking to whom about 
what, where, when, and why.
  After the 9/11 attacks, our national security agencies developed 
cutting-edge programs that allow us to figure out what the bad guys are 
up to and stop them before they can perpetrate such heinous attacks. 
Very often, the intelligence they have collected has made the 
difference between life and death for American citizens. But one of 
those programs is going to sunset later this year. I am talking about 
section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This is a 
program that collects information about foreign persons on foreign soil 
and, as a result, saves American lives.
  Unfortunately, this and other programs were distorted in the public 
debate by a traitor, a disgruntled ex-NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, 
who now sits in the warm embrace of Russian intelligence services. Ever 
since his very damaging leak of classified material many years back, 
many Americans have grown doubtful about these programs and about 
section 702 in particular, which is why it bears repeating just what 
section 702 does. It allows our national security agencies to collect 
internet or phone communications from a source within the United 
States, like an internet service provider, but only under a very 
specific set of conditions. It cannot target American citizens--not 
even lawful permanent residents. It can't even target foreigners 
communicating on U.S. soil. It can target only people discussing a 
specific list of topics preapproved by the FISA court, which is made up 
of Federal judges with life tenure. We are not talking about what they 
are picking up at the grocery store or when they are checking in on the 
kids. We are talking about things like weapons of mass destruction.
  It is true that this program occasionally does collect information 
about American citizens. That will be true of any attempt to stop any 
kind of homegrown terrorism. But if you are concerned about protecting 
Americans' privacy rights, then you should support extending 702. It 
puts in place a host of privacy protections to scrub raw intelligence 
of any unnecessary identifying information. To allow this program to 
expire on December 31 would hurt both our national security and our 
privacy rights.
  That is why today I am introducing a bill that would reauthorize 
section 702 permanently, as is, with no changes. We can't tie the hands 
of our national security officials at the precise moment that our 
enemies are taking the gloves off around the world. Terrorists don't 
plan to sunset their threats to our way of life, so why should our 
important counterterrorism tools sunset?
  I am glad to say that my legislation has the support of every 
Republican Senator on the Intelligence Committee, and I look forward to 
earning the support of my colleagues in the weeks ahead because we 
can't afford to let this program expire. It is not too much and it is 
not an exaggeration to say that American lives depend on section 702.

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