Bart Stupak: “today the House will put the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court back in business after being shut down for the past…”

“today the House will put the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court back in business after being shut down for the past 6 years. House Democrats know that our highest duty is to defend this Nation and protect our citizens. And we also know we can keep this Nation safe without our own government trampling the civil rights of our citizens and the principles upon which this country was founded. Before 2001, the FISA Court served as a check and balance to the administration to ensure that critical individual rights were not trampled. Such checks and balances have not been in place for the last 6 years. Today, by passing the RESTORE Act, we restore the true role of the FISA Court by addressing the concerns we have with the Bush administration ignoring the FISA Court, jeopardizing our rights, violating our Constitution, and our core principles. Mr. Speaker, the RESTORE Act is a bill that all Members should be able to support. It provides a proper balance of giving our government the legal tools to go after terrorists without trampling our American beliefs and values.”