Jane Harman: “my phones are ringing off the hook, and my e-mail accounts are full. By the hundreds and hundreds, my constituents are…”

“my phones are ringing off the hook, and my e-mail accounts are full. By the hundreds and hundreds, my constituents are saying, ``don't cave in,'' ``don't toss due process out the window,'' ``no compromise on our civil liberties'' and ``all surveillance of Americans should require a warrant.'' One of the most powerful, ``The U.S. Constitution has been `marked up.' Don't shred it.'' I agree, now and always. The hard part is deciding whether the FISA compromise before us meets my constituents' requirements and my own. After reading every word of it, and after many, many hours working to develop and revise portions of it, I conclude that the compromise replaces bad law, the Protect America Act, with law that actually improves many of the provisions of the underlying FISA law which has served our country well for three decades. Let me highlight three issues. First, this bill makes clear that no president can ignore it ever again. FISA is the exclusive means by which our government can conduct surveillance. In short, no more warrantless surveillance. Second, it expands the circumstances for which individual warrants are required, by including Americans outside the U.S., and it protects Americans from so-called reverse targeting. Third, it requires Federal court review to determine whether communications firms, which assisted in post-9/11 activities, get civil liability protection.”