Terrorist Surveillance Program Expires
Last year Congress enacted the Protect America Act to update the law regarding the electronic surveillance of terrorists located overseas. The Senate recently passed bipartisan legislation (S. 2248) which would extend the Protect America Act for another six years by a margin of 68-29. Because this legislation was not allowed to be considered in the House, however, the Protect America Act expired on February 16, 2008.
The Protect America Act was enacted in response to changes in technology that have blurred the distinction between foreign surveillance, which does not require a warrant, and domestic surveillance, which does. For example, even though two terrorists may both be located overseas, their e-mail to each other may be routed through a U.S.-based server. The Protect America Act clarified that a warrant is not necessary when the targets of any surveillance are located outside the United States.
In addition to extending the Protect America Act, S. 2248 would also provide protection from lawsuits to telecommunications companies that cooperated in good-faith with the electronic surveillance program after 9-11. Proponents of S. 2248 argue that this protection from frivolous lawsuits is important to ensuring continued cooperation with legitimate intelligence gathering activities.
Attempts to procedurally force a vote on S. 2248 have unfortunately failed. Congressman Platts called on House leaders to allow a straight up-or-down vote on S. 2248.
“The issue is not about spying on Americans here at home. The civil liberties of Americans are protected by the Fourth Amendment of the United States Constitution,” Congressman Platts stated. “The issue is about ensuring our intelligence agencies have the tools they need to do their jobs effectively at gathering intelligence related to foreign terrorists overseas. We should not be giving terrorists overseas the same privacy rights as Americans here at home.”
Congressman Platts to Not Seek Earmarks This Year
Congressman Todd Russell Platts issued the following statement regarding earmarks:
“I will not be requesting earmarks as part of this year’s federal budget. As is well understood by the general public, the earmarking process in Washington D.C. is broken. The number of earmarks has skyrocketed. Billions in taxpayer dollars have been wasted. The system has been abused on both sides of the aisle. Last year’s 3,500-page omnibus appropriations bill, which I opposed, contained more than 9,000 earmarks costing taxpayers an estimated $12 billion.
I have long been an advocate for reforming the earmarking process. In my first term as a Member of Congress, I cosponsored legislation to establish a line-item veto for the President to eliminate ‘pork-barrel’ earmarks in larger spending measures. I later introduced my own version of this legislation. Under both Republican and Democratic Congresses, I have supported legislation intended to make the earmarking process more open and accountable. More recently, I have joined with many of my Republican colleagues in pushing for legislation which would impose an immediate moratorium on earmarks while a Joint Committee on Earmark Reform works to recommend changes to the appropriations process.
Earmarks can fund worthy endeavors. For example, for my own Congressional District, I have pursued and received earmarks for a number of local transportation and community projects supported by local officials. The process for considering these projects was open and transparent. At the same time, too many earmarked projects nationally have not been appropriate recipients of taxpayer dollars and received little or no scrutiny prior to passage.
By not requesting earmarks this year, I will be joining with a number of Members of both parties who have decided to adopt their own moratorium while pushing for much needed reforms. If Congress does not reform the process itself, I plan to further strengthen my office’s own process for selecting projects in the 19th Congressional District in future years.”
Web Page Highlights (www.house.gov/platts)
Congressional Arts Competition Open for Area High School Students
Congressman Todd Platts is inviting high school students throughout the 19th Congressional District to participate in the annual Congressional High School Art Competition. The competition is open to all students in grades 9-12 who reside in the 19th Congressional District.
(http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/pa19_platts/artscomp2008.shtml)
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