Porter Goss: “I do not think this country realizes how lucky we are to have people like the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), the…”

“I do not think this country realizes how lucky we are to have people like the gentleman from California (Mr. Lewis), the gentleman from Florida (Mr. Young), the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Murtha), and the gentleman from Wisconsin (Mr. Obey), who understand the sensitivity and the necessity of the business that we deal with. I think as Members of the House are aware, the National Security Act requires a specific authorization for each dollar spent by the United States Government on intelligence and intelligence-related activities. This is a safeguard for Americans. In cases such as this, when an emergency spending bill is passed by Congress that includes funds for intelligence, it is customary to include a provisional authorization in the bill for those intelligence dollars.”