[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 5]
[House]
[Page 6514]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                                  FISA

  (Mr. PITTS asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. PITTS. Today marks the 66th day since this House allowed the 
Protect America Act that affects foreign intelligence surveillance to 
expire. For over 2 months now, we have needlessly hampered our 
intelligence agencies' ability to conduct surveillance on foreign 
terrorists because some in this Chamber would rather allow the trial 
lawyers to have an opportunity to sue telecommunications companies that 
assisted the government following the September 11 terrorist attack in 
some 50 frivolous lawsuits in the San Francisco courts.
  Sixty-six days have passed while the House considers bills such as 
the Beach Protection Act, National Landscape Conservation System Act, 
Arts Require Timely Service Act, and the National Integrated Coastal 
and Ocean Observation Act. This body is failing in its responsibility 
to protect the American people by continuing to delay passage of a 
foreign intelligence surveillance bill that will provide our 
intelligence community with the tools they need to listen in on 
international phone calls from terrorists plotting to attack the United 
States.
  No matter what my friends on the other side of the aisle say, this is 
an urgent matter.

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