OFFICIALS LEGISLATION INTEREST GROUPS PUBLIC STATEMENTS COMMITTEES VETOES

FISA Amendments Act of 2008

Floor Speech

Date: March 14, 2008
Location: Washington, DC
Issues: National Security Civil Liberties and Civil Rights


FISA Amendments Act of 2008

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT

Ms. MATSUI. Mr. Speaker, liberty and security are not mutually exclusive. Quite the opposite; they go hand in hand.

The FISA Amendments Act recognizes this reality. This legislation is a balanced compromise that protects our country and ensures that our basic American freedoms remain intact.

Our great country is founded on civil liberties, and secured by our intelligence community.

Much of what keeps us safe is our commitment to upholding the values of freedom and liberty.

All the security in the world is meaningless if we fail to protect the values that make our country worth defending in the first place.

If we surrender the basic principles that make us who we are, we will forever change what it means to be American.

Mr. Speaker, I know what can happen when we abandon our core American values. I was born in an internment camp, and my own family suffered the consequences when our country succumbed to the rhetoric of fear.

That was a dark time in our Nation's history--one we cannot afford to repeat.

That is why the legislation before us today is so important.

It protects the liberties that we cherish, liberties that are the birthright of every American citizen.

At the same time, it recognizes the need for the surveillance of our enemies.

It gives our intelligence agencies the tools necessary to keep us safe, and provides strong legal clarity for the intelligence community.

The compromise solution we have negotiated also allows telecommunications companies to defend themselves in a court of law.

It takes Congress out of the equation and puts legal decisions back where they belong: in the court system.

I am confident that this process will result in a fair solution to the civil cases that have been brought against these companies.

That is why this balanced legislation deserves the support of every Member of this House.

This bill will keep us safe, and it will keep us free.

I urge passage of the FISA Amendments Act of 2008.

BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT


Source
arrow_upward