Mark Kirk: “when our foreign wiretap law was enacted in 1978, telephones were plugged into a wall, cell phones did not exist, and no…”

“when our foreign wiretap law was enacted in 1978, telephones were plugged into a wall, cell phones did not exist, and no one had heard of e-mail. Bin Laden was in college and Zawahiri was in medical school. Today, these men are now responsible for the murder of 3,000 Americans. They attacked the embassies in Kenya and Tanzania and nearly sunk the USS Cole. They talk to each other now with cell phones, satellite phones, e-mail and Internet chat. While they have changed their communications, our law has not. As a currently serving Naval intelligence officer, I am not just a Congressman, I am also a customer of these programs. Serving on the House Foreign Operations Subcommittee, we watch foreign matters closely. And look at the issues we will deal with just in August: A reactor shutdown in North Korea; the Hamas takeover of Gaza; Venezuelan arms purchases from Iran; a war in Iraq; a war in Afghanistan, the rise of the Taliban in Pakistan; narcotraffickers in Colombia; genocide in Darfur. That is just this month's list. The bipartisan bill passed by over 60 votes in the Senate. It will help us learn more about dangers. It doesn't just protect the rights of Americans. It will protect the lives of Americans.”