Representative Heather Wilson: “I thank my colleague. In fact, one of the reasons that attorney generals and the Fraternal Order of Police are so…”

“I thank my colleague. In fact, one of the reasons that attorney generals and the Fraternal Order of Police are so strongly in support of this legislation is that they worry that what's happening to our telecommunication companies because of their cooperation with the government on terrorism will also extend and poison the relationship between law enforcement and our telephone companies. There are at least 15 States where we have over 25 lawsuits, some of them against telephone companies that weren't even involved, and those who are involved can't defend themselves in civil court without revealing to the terrorists how we're collecting intelligence on them and compromising our national security. I'm convinced, having looked at this, that they actually have immunity. They just can't prove it. And it is up to this Congress to clarify that companies that cooperated with the U.S. Government in helping us prevent terrorism through electronic surveillance are immune from civil liability lawsuits. I think the law is clear. It's up to the Congress to step up and reaffirm it quite clearly. My colleague from Georgia says, and he's right, that this is kind of a difficult-to-understand technical subject in some respects. But there are some things that aren't difficult to understand. I mean, we all remember where we were the morning of 9/11. We remember who we were with, what we had for breakfast, what we were wearing, who we called first to check to see if they were okay.”