The purpose of this bill is, and always has been, to enable the intelligence community to act to target foreign terrorists and spies overseas. To answer many of the contentions made, you cannot get a certification to begin the process…

I rise in opposition to another amendment that has been argued very strongly on the other side but which would impose additional operational burdens and limit the ability of our collective agencies in the intelligence community to get the…

Nobody has shown any damage done by the Protect America Act. What it has done is given our intelligence community the ability to intercept foreign terrorist electronic communications. It has kept the world and our allies and our own people…

I thank my colleagues for agreeing on a way forward on this bill. This is a very important bill, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the FISA Act, of 2008. It gives the intelligence community the tools it needs right now and over…

But let's be clear: When this issue came before the Intelligence Committee, we worked on a bipartisan basis to compromise. I think we had, as I have said before, a very good compromise. Everybody gave. I did not want any sunset. I felt…

I extend my most sincere thanks to my colleague from Alabama, who is a very valuable member of the Judiciary Committee. He does not let the fact that he was a lawyer and a prosecutor interfere with the exercise of good judgment. I…

Unfortunately, my colleague from Alabama is right. I know we both don't want to engage in finger-pointing, but some of my colleagues have been making statements about our efforts on the bill, which leave me no choice but to correct the…

First, I am not a big fan of sunsets. If the Intelligence Committee does its job--and with Chairman Rockefeller leading and my role in it, I can assure you that we are looking at all of these laws, all of these practices, and authorizing…

In April of 2007, the Director of National Intelligence, or the DNI, submitted a request to update FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance, law to Congress. The draft legislation that he sent to Congress was not a political or partisan…

as I indicated, the dangers to the providers would be as great under substitution as if they were sued directly. While the providers might not be parties to the litigation, under the amendment offered by Senators Specter and Whitehouse…

I say through the Chair, the distinguished Senator from Virginia deserves far more credit than he is ever given. I was trying to sneak in a little bit to say how much we appreciate his service. When he needs to correct me, I always stand…

I am certainly glad the Senator brought that up. The court did issue a published opinion this past December where it noted that the FISA Court judges are: Not expected or desired to become experts in . . . foreign intelligence activities…

Well, it sounds like a reasonable proposal on the surface, but when you look at the law and the structure that is set up, it does not work. The FISC was created in 1978 simply to issue orders for domestic surveillance on particular…

That is correct. Now I understand why Admiral McConnell is doing such a good job because he obviously had very good early training. I did not know he had been through the Warner course in intelligence, but that ties up the loose ends, and…

that is a very serious question because if those lawsuits should continue, either directly against carriers alleged to have participated or substitution or indemnification, No. 1, the identities of the providers could be revealed which…

This is where the Intelligence Committee bill goes much farther than any other law we have had in our history in protecting U.S. persons; that is, U.S. citizens and others here in the United States. The bill includes express prohibitions…

This provision came about as a result of discussions by members on both sides of the committee who wanted to provide protections for Americans overseas. To do that required a significant expansion and clarification, which is included in…

I say to my friend from Virginia, in April of 2007, the DNI submitted his request to modernize FISA to Congress, to our committee, and it included a request for full liability for all persons, including Government officials who had…

As the DNI explained to Congress in a closed-door briefing for all Senators in July of 2007, the FISC ruling came at a time of heightened concern in our intelligence agencies that terrorist attacks against the homelands of our allies might…

The answer is no--a flat no. Our committee bill only allows the targeting of persons outside the United States to obtain foreign intelligence information. It is not dragnet surveillance. The targets of acquisition must be foreign targets…

I would say there is a letter from the DNI, a classified letter, which is available in our Intelligence Committee offices or in S-407 for Senators to read that says what the intelligence community was able to accomplish after the Protect…

I wish to say what a pleasure it is to serve with the distinguished representative of Virginia, who served his country in the Department of Defense, who pushed through the landmark decision to have a volunteer military, which I might say…

I would tell my good friend from North Carolina that the bill we reported out of our committee provides a mechanism for the Government to compel a provider to comply with a directive. If the court finds that the directive was issued…

I thought maybe, if anybody is still listening, we would talk a little bit about the intent of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. I hope maybe we can clarify some of the misunderstandings. First, I believe that when the…

I would ask the Senator from Georgia further why it is so important to have the intelligence community operatives and lawyers involved in drafting the measure. We had several good ideas offered in the committee that turned out not to be…