[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 153 (2007), Part 19]
[House]
[Page 27263]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       RESTORE ACT WILL HAMPER EFFORTS OF INTELLIGENCE COMMUNITY

  (Ms. GRANGER asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. GRANGER. Madam Speaker, our intelligence community and military 
officials should have every tool available to them as we continue to 
fight the global war on terror.
  While we all agree that proper oversight is necessary, oversight does 
not equate to needless red tape, and it should never prohibit our men 
and women in uniform from doing their jobs, especially when it comes to 
rescuing American lives.
  The article in yesterday's New York Post is a startling depiction of 
how the current system has failed our men and women. After a young 
American soldier was captured by al Qaeda insurgents last May, lawyers 
in Washington debated the legalities of electronic eavesdropping 
connected to his rescue for over 10 hours. That is completely 
unacceptable. Unfortunately, the RESTORE Act that the Democrat 
leadership is bringing to the floor this week will only continue to 
hamper the efforts of our intelligence community and place our men and 
women at risk.
  I urge my Democratic colleagues to reconsider the RESTORE Act. We 
should focus our efforts on a bipartisan approach to our national 
security, not on legislating defeat. We should fight for the right to 
listen to al Qaeda and stop these plots.

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