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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 14, 2008
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Contact: Zach Goldberg
202-225-5801 (office) |
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HOLT STATEMENT ON HOUSE PASSAGE OF FISA MODERNIZATION LEGISLATION
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(Washington, DC) – Rep. Rush Holt (NJ-12) today issued the following statement on Friday’s passage of legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The bill would grant new authority for conducting electronic surveillance against foreign targets, while preserving the requirement that the government obtain an individualized FISA court order - based on probable cause - when targeting Americans at home or abroad. The bill would also enhance oversight of the Administration’s surveillance activities. While the bill would not provide retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies it would provide telecom companies a way to present their defenses in secure proceedings. The bill now needs Senate approval.
“I’m pleased to say that we have a very good, well-structured bill in front of us. It is an important role of the federal government to look after the safety and the security of the American people. This bill does that. It is a bill that gives telecom companies the opportunity they have asked for to defend themselves in court. It provides for a Congressional Commission that will look at how electronic surveillance has been conducted. It includes a reasonable expiration date to keep Congress involved in oversight. Most importantly, this legislation provides prior involvement of the court in all intercepts of communications of Americans.
Here are the facts: the underlying bill gives our intelligence community the flexibility it needs to collect information on our enemies while still protecting the American people in every aspect. It also mandates extensive reviews and reporting requirements on the electronic surveillance programs in question. It rejects the President’s efforts to redefine the relationship between the people and their government.
I commend the Speaker, the Majority Leader, the Chair of the Judiciary Committee, and the Chair of the Intelligence Committee for negotiating with a firm tone and a principled approach to give us very good legislation, despite the fact that they have had to work with the relentless drumbeat of propaganda and disinformation orchestrated by the Administration. I commend them for producing such good legislation in such difficult circumstances.
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