[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 11]
[House]
[Page 16361]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                    NSA AND THE SNOOP AND SPY CAUCUS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Texas (Mr. Poe) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. POE of Texas. Mr. Speaker:

       The administration puts forward a false choice between the 
     liberties we cherish and the security we provide. No more 
     illegal wiretapping of citizens, no more ignoring the law 
     when it is convenient--that is not who we are. That is not 
     what is necessary to defeat the terrorists. We will again set 
     an example for the world that the law is not subject to the 
     whims of stubborn rulers and that justice is not arbitrary. 
     This administration acts like violating civil liberties is 
     the way to enhance our own security. It is not.

  Mr. Speaker, those were the words of Senator Barack Obama in 2007.
  That was then. This is now.
  The NSA, the National Spy Agency, as I call it, is continuing its 
stealth intrusion into the lives of not only Americans but of foreign 
leaders as well, whom Senator Obama once talked about. The NSA has been 
caught eavesdropping on the Germans, the French, and now new reports 
say 60 million phone calls in Spain were monitored by the NSA.
  A bit more history about the NSA and its spying:
  The Department of Justice stealthily seized information from 20 
different Associated Press phone lines, including some in the U.S. 
Capitol--right up there. The Department of Justice stealthily seized 
phone records of Fox News reporter James Rosen, of his parents and of 
several Fox News phone lines. In the month of January of 2013 alone, 
125 billion phone calls were monitored worldwide, and at least 3 
billion of them were phone calls in America.
  The NSA stealthily seized from Verizon Business Network Services 
millions of telephone records, including the locations, numbers and 
times of domestic calls. A secret government program called PRISM 
allowed the NSA to search photos, emails and documents from computers 
at Apple, Google and Microsoft, among many other Internet sources.
  NSA and the Snoop and Spy Caucus say this spying on Americans and our 
allies is necessary to catch the terrorists. They even claim terrorist 
attacks have been prevented. If this is true, show the evidence. Prove 
it. Where are the terrorists who supposedly have been thwarted by these 
surveillance tendencies?
  Even if it is true, which I doubt, it still violates the law. In my 
opinion, it violates the PATRIOT Act. The PATRIOT Act doesn't allow for 
this nonsense. It violates the constitutional right of privacy, Mr. 
Speaker. It violates the Fourth Amendment and the right of persons to 
be secure in their homes, papers and effects without government 
intrusion. Government cannot use the old Soviet-style, dragnet 
approach, hoping to catch a big fish while also catching the endangered 
species of freedom.
  Those who argue otherwise say they must seize the whole haystack to 
find the needle in the haystack. Mr. Speaker, that is exactly what is 
prevented in the Fourth Amendment. I would like to quote the Fourth 
Amendment:

       The right of the people to be secure in their persons, 
     houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and 
     seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue 
     but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, 
     and particularly describing the place to be searched and the 
     persons or things to be seized.

  The Fourth Amendment specifically prohibits government from seizing 
the whole haystack to find the one needle.
  Mr. Speaker, the American people have lost trust in government. It is 
time for Congress to intervene to prevent the invasion of privacy by 
government against the citizens. The Federal Government must stop 
redlining the Fourth Amendment.
  According to an administration official, the President did not sign 
off on this stuff, and was unaware of the depth of the surveillance of 
foreign leaders.
  Who did sign off?
  Mr. Speaker, is there a shadow government in America that operates 
outside the law, outside the knowledge of the administration?
  Sort of spooky, isn't it, Mr. Speaker?
  Technology may change, but the Constitution does not. We can have 
security but not at the cost of losing individual freedom because, to 
quote the constitutional law professor:

       There should be no choice between the liberties we cherish 
     and the security we provide.

  And that's just the way it is.

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