Usa Freedom Reauthorization Act of 2020
Floor Speech
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Mr. STEWART. Madam Speaker, let me state a fact. FISA has been abused by those who are trusted with authority, and we can't let it happen again.
This is what we know are also facts: An opposing campaign paid a foreign citizen to dig up dirt on President Trump and his campaign associates. These allegations--produced, by the way, by a foreign citizen--came to be known as the Steele dossier. The campaign then fed these bogus allegations through the administration, to include leadership at the FBI, the CIA, the Department of Justice, and even the State Department. Then, the FBI shamefully used these bogus allegations as the basis for a secret wiretap, of course, on the famous Mr. Carter Page.
The FBI deliberately hid the fact that these allegations were both known to be bogus and the fact that the campaign had paid for them. The application on Mr. Page cited a news article corroborating these allegations, but the FBI hid from the court the fact that they knew the source of these articles was the author of the dossier.
We discovered that the FBI and DOJ investigators in this case demonstrated enormous bias against the Trump campaign with such words as: we will stop him; he won't become President; viva la resistance.
Finally, the inspector general revealed that an FBI attorney altered a document to deceive the court regarding Mr. Page's relationship with another agency.
These are shocking abuses of power, and the reforms in this bill will stop them from ever happening again.
I am proud to have been the author of the bill that is the basis for some of these reforms.
It requires an amicus review for applications against U.S. citizens when their First Amendment rights are in question.
It requires the court to maintain a transcript. I have read this FISA application. It begs for questions to be asked. We don't know if the judges were curious or asked obvious questions because we don't have a transcript.
It requires the government to keep a log.
It enhances penalties for up to 8 years for those who improperly surveil or deceive the court. It allows agencies to take immediate action, including termination, of those who do.
Madam Speaker, it is incumbent on us, as an institution, to ensure these abuses simply don't happen again. The USA FREEDOM Reauthorization Act will accomplish this.
Let me end by saying this: To those who oppose this bill, if you vote against this bill, you keep the status quo. FISA remains in place. The ability to abuse FISA doesn't change.
Vote ``yes'' on this bill or accept future abuse. That is the choice we have before us. I hope that we don't do that.
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