Fallen Servicemembers Religious Heritage Restoration Act
Floor Speech
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Mr. JORDAN. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 1224, I call up the bill (S. 1318) to direct the American Battle Monuments Commission to establish a program to identify American-Jewish servicemembers buried in United States military cemeteries overseas under markers that incorrectly represent their religion and heritage, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration in the House.
The Clerk read the title of the bill.
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Mr. JORDAN. 1318.
Mr. Speaker, it ain't the same FISA. When we were in this Chamber 2 years ago debating a reauthorization of FISA 702, the program was significantly different than it is today.
In 2021, the FBI reported conducting nearly 3 million U.S. person queries. An audit of those queries found that 278,000 times, they did not comply with the rules, didn't follow the rules. FBI agents ran queries on protesters, donors to congressional campaigns, public officials, journalists, colleagues, and even ex-girlfriends.
In response to those abuses, Congress enacted the Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act. The House Judiciary Committee, the House Intelligence Committee, all of Congress, put together that law that contained 56 different reforms, things like new training and approval requirements before a U.S. person query could even take place, audit requirements, accountability measures for those who misused the program, and enhanced reporting and transparency requirements such as allowing certain Members of Congress and staff to attend FISA court proceedings.
We are beginning to see the effect of those reforms. In the year after RISAA was passed, the FBI reported conducting 9,089 U.S. person queries. Of those roughly 9,000 queries, just 127 did not comply with the rules.
Think about it: from 278,000 to 127. That is real improvement. That is a different program. Most of those 127 were due to errors like typos, clerical errors.
Due to the improved reporting and transparency required by RISAA, Congress has more insight than ever into the program's operation.
Today, every single U.S. person query conducted by the FBI is audited to ensure compliance with applicable requirements and legal standards. The results of those audits and other information are provided to Congress on an annual, semiannual, and quarterly basis.
The Foreign Intelligence Accountability Act would add to those reforms. The legislation in front of us, for example, adds the Civil Liberties Protection Officer within the Office of the Director of National Intelligence who will conduct a monthly review of FBI U.S. person queries.
I think this is the best thing we put in the reauthorization bill, this 30-day look back on how the queries are going, are they following the rules, and what took place in those actual searches.
Queries that violate the rules would be referred to the inspector general of the intelligence community for further investigation. That is, again, a couple more layers of accountability.
This bill would also impose criminal penalties for those who knowingly conduct improper queries and those who lie about conducting improper queries.
Finally, the bill would require that an FBI attorney, rather than just some other agent or supervisor, approve any U.S. person search before they are conducted.
The 702 program is incredibly important for protecting our national security and advancing our interests abroad.
In light of the progress that has been made and the threats that we face, we think the bill before us today makes sense right now.
That does not mean our job is over. The Judiciary Committee will continue to conduct aggressive oversight of FISA, and we will continue to work on some things that we think can be helpful in the future.
Again, today is not 2024.
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Mr. JORDAN.
Mr. Speaker, I would just point out that I think one of the reasons they attack Mr. Patel so darned much is because crime is down in the country. He is actually doing his job.
I think another reason they like to attack the Director of the FBI is because he is the guy who uncovered what they were doing 10 years ago when he was a staffer here on the House Intelligence Committee. It was Kash Patel who told us that the dossier, paid for by the Clinton campaign, was a bunch of garbage. Yet that is exactly what Mr. Comey used for the other part of FISA, title 1, to go get a warrant to spy on the other party's campaign.
Maybe that is why they like to attack Director Patel so much. But I think he is bringing down crime in our country, and I applaud him for that.
Mr. Speaker, FISA, as we all know, is a critical program. It is important for our government to understand what bad guys are planning to do to our citizens and to our Nation and to have this program in place. That is why it is critical we reauthorize it.
We have made major changes over the last several years, not just 2 years ago, but over the last several years. The Judiciary Committee has been involved in the oversight in making sure this program is done the way it should be done and protecting Americans' liberties. There are 56 different reforms we have put in the last reauthorization bill that, as I said in my opening statement, we know have made a difference.
Today's program is different. It is different. We should reauthorize it because FISA is critical. Today, there is training and checks on the front end before a search can be done of a U.S. person. There is transparency for the whole process in how it all works. There is accountability on the back end if you don't do it right. Mr. Speaker, this bill now says that accountability includes criminal penalties if you don't do it right.
So this is the kind of legislation we need to pass, and we need to pass it soon because they have been shutting down the government, the Department of Homeland Security, for what, 74 days now?
By the way, we do also happen to be in the middle of a military operation in Iran.
Let's get this done.
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