John Kline: “the Protect America Act expired on February 16. It has been almost a full month since the majority allowed this…”

“the Protect America Act expired on February 16. It has been almost a full month since the majority allowed this important element of our national security to lapse. President Lincoln once told this Nation, ``A house divided against itself cannot stand.'' Madam Speaker, for this past month, Democratic leadership has needlessly attempted to divide this Congress on a national security matter. A bipartisan majority of this House wants to adopt the Senate version of the bill to restore our intelligence teams' ability to protect us, but we have been denied a chance to even vote on the Senate measure. The leadership has kept this House divided, and for what reason? This morning the newspapers are full of reports that we are jeopardizing our national security in order to benefit the trial lawyers, who stand to gain billions of dollars in suits against the telecommunications companies. These are the companies that reportedly responded to pleas from our government for help, and now they are subject to potentially crippling lawsuits. A house divided against itself cannot stand. The people of this great Nation expect bipartisan action, and the time is long overdue to come together.”