Pittenger: Tools to Fight Terrorists

Press Release

The U.S. House of Representatives today passed bipartisan national security legislation to renew the authority of Intelligence agencies to track the U.S. contacts of known terrorists.

Congressman Robert Pittenger (NC-09), Chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism, supported the renewal.

"If a known terrorist makes contact with someone in the United States, I think most freedom-loving Americans would agree we should know what that call was about," said Congressman Pittenger. "Before 9-11, our Intelligence agencies didn't have this tool. We blocked them from connecting the dots. We pretended like calls from a terrorist were just routine.

"As Chairman of the Congressional Task Force on Terrorism, I have read classified reports of over fifty terrorist attacks that were prevented with this important tool. Today's legislation is consistent with the Constitution and our full commitment to privacy and civil liberties."

This morning, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the FISA Amendments Reauthorization Act (S. 139) by a bipartisan vote of 256-164.

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