[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 10 (Monday, March 17, 2008)]
[Pages 373-374]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Intelligence Reform Legislation

March 13, 2008

    Last month, House leaders declared that they needed 21 additional 
days to pass legislation giving our intelligence professionals the tools 
they need to protect America. That deadline passed last Saturday without 
any action from the House.
    This week, House leaders are finally bringing legislation to the 
floor. Unfortunately, instead of holding a vote on the good bipartisan 
bill that passed the United States Senate,

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they introduced a partisan bill that would undermine America's security. 
This bill is unwise. The House leaders know that the Senate will not 
pass it. And even if the Senate did pass it, they know I will veto it.
    Yesterday the Attorney General and the Director of National 
Intelligence sent a leader to the Speaker explaining why the bill is 
dangerous to our national security. They cited a number of serious flaws 
in the bill, including the following.
    First, the House bill could reopen dangerous intelligence gaps by 
putting in place a cumbersome court approval process that would make it 
harder to collect intelligence on foreign terrorists. This is an 
approach that Congress explicitly rejected last August when bipartisan 
majorities in both Houses passed the Protect America Act. And it is an 
approach the Senate rejected last month when it passed a new--new 
legislation to extend and strengthen the Protect America Act by an 
overwhelming vote of 68 to 29.
    Now House leaders are proposing to undermine this consensus. Their 
partisan legislation would extend protections we enjoy as Americans to 
foreign terrorists overseas. It would cause us to lose vital 
intelligence on terrorist threats, and it is a risk that our country 
cannot afford to take.
    Second, the House bill fails to provide liability protection to 
companies believed to have assisted in protecting our Nation after the 
9/11 attacks. Instead, the House bill would make matters even worse by 
allowing litigation to continue for years. In fact, House leaders simply 
adopted the position that class-action trial lawyers are taking in the 
multibillion-dollar lawsuits they have filed. This litigation would 
undermine the private sector's willingness to cooperate with the 
intelligence community, cooperation that is absolutely essential to 
protecting our country from harm. This litigation would require the 
disclosure of state secrets that could lead to the public release of 
highly classified information that our enemies could use against us. And 
this litigation would be unfair because any companies that assisted us 
after 9/11 were assured by our Government that their cooperation was 
legal and necessary.
    Companies that may have helped us save lives should be thanked for 
their patriotic service, not subjected to billion-dollar lawsuits that 
will make them less willing to help in the future. The House bill may be 
good for class-action trial lawyers, but it would be terrible for the 
United States.
    Third, the House bill would establish yet another commission to 
examine past intelligence activities. This would be a redundant and 
partisan exercise that would waste our intelligence officials' time and 
taxpayers' money.
    The bipartisan House and Senate intelligence and judiciary 
committees have already held numerous oversight hearings on the 
Government's intelligence activities. It seems that House leaders are 
more interested in investigating our intelligence professionals than in 
giving them the tools they need to protect us. Congress should stop 
playing politics with the past and focus on helping us prevent terrorist 
attacks in the future.
    Members of the House should not be deceived into thinking that 
voting for this unacceptable legislation would somehow move the process 
along. Voting for this bill does not move the process along. Instead, 
voting for this bill would make our country less safe because it would 
move us further away from passing the good bipartisan Senate bill that 
is needed to protect America.
    The American people understand the stakes in this struggle. They 
want their children to be safe from terror. Congress has done little in 
the 3 weeks since the last recess, and they should not leave for their 
Easter recess without getting the Senate bill to my desk.
    Thank you.

Note: The President spoke at 9:20 a.m. on the South Lawn at the White 
House. In his remarks, he referred to Attorney General Michael B. 
Mukasey. He also referred to H.R. 3773.