[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 43, Number 31 (Monday, August 6, 2007)]
[Pages 1027-1028]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
The President's Radio Address

July 28, 2007

    Good morning. This week, I visited with troops at Charleston Air 
Force Base. These fine men and women are serving courageously to protect 
our country against dangerous enemies. The terrorist network that struck 
America on September the 11th wants to strike our country again. To stop 
them, our military, law enforcement, and intelligence professionals need 
the best possible information about who the terrorists are, where they 
are, and what they are planning.
    One of the most important ways we can gather that information is by 
monitoring terrorist communications. The Foreign Intelligence 
Surveillance Act, also known as FISA, provides a critical legal 
foundation that allows our intelligence community to collect this 
information while protecting the civil liberties of Americans. But this 
important law was written in 1978, and it addressed the technologies of 
that era. This law is badly out of date, and Congress must act to 
modernize it.
    Today, we face sophisticated terrorists who use disposable cell 
phones and the Internet to communicate with each other, recruit 
operatives, and plan attacks on our country. Technologies like these 
were not available when FISA was passed nearly 30 years ago, and FISA 
has not kept up with new technological developments. As a result, our 
Nation is hampered in its ability to gain the vital intelligence we need 
to keep the American people safe. In his testimony to Congress in May, 
Mike McConnell, the Director of National Intelligence, put it this way: 
We are, quote, ``significantly burdened in capturing overseas 
communications of foreign terrorists planning to conduct attacks inside 
the United States.''
    To fix this problem, my administration has proposed a bill that 
would modernize the FISA statute. This legislation is the product of 
months of discussion with members of both parties in the House and the 
Senate, and it includes four key reforms. First, it brings FISA up to 
date with the changes in communications technology that have taken place 
over the past three decades. Second, it seeks to restore FISA to its 
original focus on protecting the privacy interests of people inside the 
United States, so we don't have to obtain court orders to effectively 
collect foreign intelligence about foreign targets located in foreign 
locations. Third, it allows the government to work more efficiently with 
private sector entities like communications providers, whose help is 
essential. And fourth, it will streamline administrative processes so 
our intelligence community can gather foreign intelligence more quickly 
and more effectively while protecting civil liberties.
    Our intelligence community warns that under the current statute, we 
are missing a significant amount of foreign intelligence that we should 
be collecting to protect our country. Congress needs to act immediately 
to pass this bill, so that our national security professionals can close 
intelligence gaps and provide critical warning time for our country.
    As the recent National Intelligence Estimate reported, America is in 
a heightened-threat environment. Reforming FISA will help our 
intelligence professionals address those threats, and they should not 
have to wait any longer. Congress will soon be leaving for its August 
recess. I ask Republicans and Democrats to work together to pass FISA 
modernization now, before they leave town. Our national security depends 
on it.
    Thank you for listening.

Note: The address was recorded at 7 a.m. on July 27 in the Cabinet Room 
at the White House for broadcast at 10:06 a.m. on July 28. The 
transcript was made available by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
the morning of July 28 but was embargoed for release until the 
broadcast.

[[Page 1028]]

The Office of the Press Secretary also released a Spanish language 
transcript of this address.