Saxby Chambliss: “I rise in opposition to the legislation we are going to be voting on today. I want to refer to the Leahy amendment just…”

“I rise in opposition to the legislation we are going to be voting on today. I want to refer to the Leahy amendment just referred to by the Senator from Illinois. Senator Leahy's amendment will act as a complete substitute to the bill that is on the floor and, if passed, it will require a conference with the House of Representatives. It is December 27, and the House is not coming back until the December 30. There simply is not time, even if the amendment was substantive enough that it ought to be considered for passage, to get that conferenced with the House and get this bill on the desk of President by December 31, which is when these provisions expire. The first change the Leahy amendment makes is to reduce the extension sunset from December 31, 2017, back to December 1, 2015. That date coincides with the expiration of certain other FISA provisions; namely, the roving wiretap authority, the business records court orders, and the lone wolf. It may seem like it ought to make sense that we have all of these expiring at that time but, frankly--having been involved in the intelligence community for the last 12 years--it actually works in reverse from that and it would have a negative influence on the community itself. If we match the FAA sunset with the PATRIOT Act and IRPTA sunsets, it provides no real benefit to congressional oversight and could actually increase the risk that all these authorities will expire at the same time.…”