[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 19 (Monday, January 29, 2018)]
[House]
[Pages H631-H632]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                             1984 IS 2018?

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker, recorded conversations, warrantless 
surveillance of citizens, and government invasion of privacy--it sounds 
like a page out of George Orwell's novel ``1984.'' I don't know if you 
read this in high school or not, but my generation did. We never 
thought that this would ever take place in America. It is a book about 
Big Brother government.
  To quote Orwell, here is what he says about government:

       Always eyes watching you and the voice enveloping you. 
     Asleep or awake, indoors or out of doors, in the bath or 
     bed--no escape.

  It talks about government eyes watching America. But it is happening 
here in America, Mr. Speaker, behind the closed doors of government 
intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
  Big Brother, in my opinion, is watching. How? Through a piece of 
legislation called the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA. 
FISA allows our government to spy on foreign agents, including 
terrorists, primarily overseas. The government collects all of this 
information and puts it into a database. If government wants to use or 
search the database, they go to a secret FISA court, and that court 
issues a secret warrant to search the database.
  As chairman of the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and 
Trade and a former judge and a prosecutor, I want government to go 
after terrorists overseas who seek to harm Americans; nab them, lock 
them up, and get rid of them.
  What is of disturbing concern, Mr. Speaker, is government uses these 
database communications, texts, and emails of Americans to gain 
information on them and spy on them without a real probable cause 
warrant. That is one reason I did not vote to reauthorize FISA. This is 
a direct violation of Americans' Fourth Amendment rights.
  For years, I have worked to rein in FISA's abuse of Americans' 
constitutional rights, and now we are learning more about FISA. And it 
is not good news.
  Recently, Members of Congress were given access to a top secret memo 
by the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence regarding the 
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The memo outlines improper 
conduct of government, and its contents are extremely disturbing.
  The Justice Department and the FBI oppose the release of this memo 
without their permission. The Justice Department wants to black out, or 
redact, portions of it even though they haven't even seen the memo. 
They don't want the public to know what is in it. They think that the 
American people ``can't handle the truth,'' to give a quote from Jack 
Nicholson.
  The reality is these agencies would prefer to continue operating in 
secret, behind the closed, locked doors of intrigue and surveillance. 
Mr. Speaker, this is exactly why the memo should be released.
  A transparent government, Mr. Speaker, is a good thing. That 
revolutionary idea sounds to me like something our Founders envisioned 
when they drafted the Fourth Amendment. Remember, the Bill of Rights 
was intended to protect us from government.
  Despite the protests of those who wish to offer up our privacy on the 
altar of national security, keeping this memo secret does not make us 
any safer.
  It is clear, Mr. Speaker: Release the memo to the press and to the 
public. Let the public and the media know what is happening by our 
government behind the dingy, dark rooms of secrecy. The memo is proof 
evident that government cannot be trusted.
  Ironically, the new FISA bill signed into law attempts to protect 
Americans from foreign terrorists but denies Americans the right to 
have their privacy protected in our homeland. This is not the America 
our Founders envisioned.
  The memo speaks for itself. Let the American people see the memo. 
Government has been watching America's conduct. Now it is time we 
watched the conduct of government.
  As George Orwell said in his book ``1984,'' in the eyes of Big 
Brother government, ``Ignorance is strength.''
  Well, government may think so, but, Mr. Speaker, ignorance of the 
people is not a strength; it is a weakness. The

[[Page H632]]

spying eyes and improper acts of Big Brother need to be revealed.
  And that is just the way it is.

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