Gingrey Appalled at House Leaders for Failing to Bring Up Critical FISA Legislation
Statement
Gingrey Appalled at House Leaders for Failing to Bring Up Critical FISA Legislation
U.S. Congressman Phil Gingrey (R-GA) today blasted the House Democratic Majority for failing to extend the Protect America Act, which is set to expire on Saturday. Rep. Gingrey joined House Republicans in walking off the floor in protest of the Democrats' refusal to bring to the floor a vote on the permanent extension of the Protect America Act passed yesterday by the Senate, which provides our intelligence community with the tools it needs to target the electronic communications of suspected terrorists.
"I am absolutely disgusted that the House Democratic leadership could even think of skipping town for a week-long recess, while allowing this critical provision in our national security to expire," said Gingrey. "Yesterday, the House made it clear that we would not accept yet another short-term extension of the Protect America Act. Our Senate counterparts have shown their commitment to putting a long-term seal on this loophole in our national security, while the House leaders aren't even willing to stay in town on a Friday to debate the legislation. We are now at a crossroads - it is either approve this legislation immediately, or lose a vital asset in our fight against the threat of terrorism."
NOTE: The Protect America Act was approved this past August as an amendment to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). Because of the cumbersome nature of the 1978 FISA law, the government often needed to obtain a court order before vital intelligence collection could begin against a terrorist or other foreign intelligence targets located in a foreign country. The FISA legislation also needed to be updated to keep pace with the advances in technology which have taken place since 1970s.
Accordingly, the Protect American Act empowers our intelligence professionals to conduct surveillance on suspected terrorists operating in foreign lands, without first receiving court approval. Although passing this legislation was a major step toward protecting Americans from the threat of terrorism, it was only a temporary fix and is set to expire this Saturday.
Here is a link to a previous press release on the Protect America Act: http://gingrey.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=83858
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