Julian Bond: “I respectfully say that my good friend, with whom I have worked on many measures and intend to work with on many more…”

“I respectfully say that my good friend, with whom I have worked on many measures and intend to work with on many more, is dead wrong. He is correct that the FISA law was passed in 1978, but the problem is it has been superseded by technological changes. The technology of transmission of signals changed significantly. When the terrorists struck on 9/11, there was a question of how we could prevent further attacks that were planned and some of them were under way. The appropriate intelligence community officials recommended electronic surveillance and noted that since the laws had not changed, but technology had changed, it was quite likely that FISA, as it existed from 1978, even with minor tweaks, would not accommodate the collection that was needed.”