Barbara Boxer: “I believe we need a short-term and long-term fix for FISA. It is important to extend the program now and then finish the…”

“I believe we need a short-term and long-term fix for FISA. It is important to extend the program now and then finish the job in the weeks and months ahead. Updating FISA has to be done in a meticulous way. The real work will come in the near future when there is time to debate how to update this important tool that we need to protect the American people. Today, Senate Democrats offered the Bush administration the tools needed to fight international terrorism while upholding the very liberties that our enemies seek to destroy. That is why I support S. 2011, the Rockefeller-Levin Protect America Act. The Rockefeller-Levin bill strengthens our ability to protect Americans, while ensuring this authority doesn't undermine our freedoms. To simply legitimize the Bush administration's warrantless wiretap program and provide unchecked authority to invade the personal privacy of all Americans is the wrong message to send to our citizens and the world.”