Wexler Opposes FISA Compromise

Legislation Threatens Constitutional System of Checks and Balances

Today, Congressman Wexler (D-FL) issued the following statement regarding H.R. 6304, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008:

"I am strongly opposed to H.R. 6304. There is simply no way to get around three simple facts about this bill. One, it creates a path for surveillance requests to avoid court review, and it is naïve to assume that if court review is optional, that courts would ever be a meaningful part of the process. Two, with minimal protections for over-broad searches outside the US, we are virtually guaranteed that Americans citizens in the US – with no connection to terrorism whatsoever – will be included in the surveillance. And three, the judicial review of lawsuits telephone and Internet companies is written to create no possibility of a legitimate review and ensure that the immunity sought by the President is a predetermined outcome.

"I greatly respect the earnest efforts of Members to find common ground on this most critical issue, but I respectfully believe that Congress is better off not acting if the only way to find common ground is by digging the grave of our Constitution.

"The March 14th House bill preserved court review without bogging down surveillance requests or somehow hampering our nation’s intelligence operations.

"We need to remember that under FISA, surveillance requests go to a specially designed court (FISC) with over 30 years of experience. The FISC should be allowed to keep full and appropriate review of the particular circumstances in each case as it has since 1978. I do not understand how a court could make any meaningful determination for a whole surveillance programs and the minimization procedures without considering who, what or where will be tapped – as H.R. 6304 would allow.

"It is perfectly possible for a court to examine surveillance requests in a timely manner, and there have always been allowances made for urgent surveillance. There is no need to allow the Administration to skip that by unilaterally declaring that “without immediate implementation of an authorization, intelligence important to the national security of the United States may be lost or not timely acquired.”

"Essentially, H.R. 6304 restores the oversight that has been missing in the President’s illegal wiretapping program -- and with the same pen destroys it completely."

Congressman Wexler is Chairman of the Subcommittee on Europe and a senior member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the House Judiciary Committee.