[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 1]
[House]
[Page 1049]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




               EXTENDING PROTECT AMERICA ACT UNNECESSARY

  (Mr. HOLT asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. HOLT. Mr. Speaker, the House made a serious mistake last August 
when it passed the Protect America Act. I opposed the legislation at 
the time because it authorized a massive, unregulated electronic 
fishing expedition, an approach guaranteed to ensnare innocent 
Americans and a sloppy, inefficient way to collect intelligence. It 
lacks the basic standard of court review of the government's actions.
  If we have learned anything, it is when officials must establish 
before an independent court that they know what they are doing when 
they collect communications, we get better intelligence than we do 
through indiscriminate collection and fishing expeditions.
  Extending the PAA is unnecessary because existing orders issued under 
it will continue for a year and are broad enough in scope to deal with 
any contingencies that may arise.
  In November we passed in this body a good bill to replace the PAA. 
Congress should never pass legislation under duress brought on by 
propaganda, misinformation, and fear-mongering. I urge my colleagues to 
remember this when we debate the topic today.

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