[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 44, Number 27 (Monday, July 14, 2008)]
[Pages 975-976]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Remarks on Signing the FISA Amendments Act of 2008

July 10, 2008

    Thank you all. Please be seated. Thank you. Welcome to the Rose 
Garden. Today I'm pleased to sign landmark legislation that is vital to 
the security of our people. The bill will allow our intelligence 
professionals to quickly and effectively monitor the communications of 
terrorists abroad, while respecting the liberties of Americans here at 
home. The bill I sign today will help us meet our most solemn 
responsibility: to stop new attacks and to protect our people.
    Members of my administration have made a vigorous case for this 
important law. I want to thank them, and I also want to thank the 
Members of the House and the Senate who've worked incredibly hard to get 
this legislation done. Mr. Vice President, welcome.
    Respect the Members of the Senate and the House who've joined us--
Senate Republican Whip Jon Kyl; John Boehner, House Republican leader; 
Roy Blunt, House Republican whip. I do want to pay special tribute to 
Congressman Steny Hoyer, House majority leader, for his hard work on 
this bill. I thank so very much Senator Jay Rockefeller, chairman of the 
Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, and Senator Kit Bond, vice 
chairman, for joining us. I appreciate the hard work of Congressman 
Silvestre Reyes, chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on 
Intelligence, and Congressman Pete Hoekstra, ranking member. I also 
welcome Congressman Lamar Smith, ranking member of the House Judiciary. 
I thank all the other Members of the House and Senate who've joined us; 
appreciate your very good work.
    I welcome Attorney General Michael Mukasey, as well as Admiral Mike 
McConnell, Director of National Intelligence. Appreciate other members 
of the administration who have joined us. I want to thank the 
congressional staff who are here and all the supporters of this piece of 
legislation.

[[Page 976]]

    Almost 7 years have passed since that September morning when nearly 
3,000 men, women, and children were murdered in our midst. The attack 
changed our country forever. We realized America was at--a nation at war 
against a ruthless and persistent enemy. We realized that these violent 
extremists would spare no effort to kill again. And in the aftermath of 
9/11, few would have imagined that we would be standing here 7 years 
later without another attack on American soil.
    The fact that the terrorists have failed to strike our shores again 
does not mean that our enemies have given up. To the contrary, since 9/
11, they've plotted a number of attacks on our homeland. Like Members 
standing up here, I receive briefings on the very real and very 
dangerous threats that America continues to face.
    One of the important lessons learned after 9/11 was that America's 
intelligence professionals lacked some of the tools they needed to 
monitor the communications of terrorists abroad. It's essential that our 
intelligence community know who our enemies are talking to, what they're 
saying, and what they're planning. Last year, Congress passed temporary 
legislation that helped our intelligence community monitor these 
communications.
    The legislation I am signing today will ensure that our intelligence 
community professionals have the tools they need to protect our country 
in the years to come. The DNI and the Attorney General both report that, 
once enacted, this law will provide vital assistance to our intelligence 
officials in their work to thwart terrorist plots. This law will ensure 
that those companies whose assistance is necessary to protect the 
country will themselves be protected from lawsuits from past or future 
cooperation with the government. This law will protect the liberties of 
our citizens while maintaining the vital flow of intelligence. This law 
will play a critical role in helping to prevent another attack on our 
soil.
    Protecting America from another attack is the most important 
responsibility of the Federal Government, the most solemn obligation 
that a President undertakes. When I first addressed the Congress after 
9/11, I carried a badge by the mother of a police officer who died in 
the World Trade Center. I pledged to her, to the families of the 
victims, and to the American people that I would never forget the wound 
that was inflicted on our country. I vowed to do everything in my power 
to prevent another attack on our Nation. I believe this legislation is 
going to help keep that promise. And I thank the Members who have joined 
us. And now it's my honor to sign the bill.

Note: The President spoke at 1:17 p.m. in the Rose Garden at the White 
House. H.R. 6304, approved July 10, was assigned Public Law No. 110-261.