Representative Heather Wilson: “Absolute prohibition. And I think we need to get back to some basics here, which is, number one, the current law…”

“Absolute prohibition. And I think we need to get back to some basics here, which is, number one, the current law requires that you need a warrant to wiretap a U.S. person for the purposes of collection of foreign intelligence. That's what the whole Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was about. But it also makes clear under the law that we passed in the first week of August that you do not need a warrant to listen to foreigners reasonably believed to be in a foreign country. America spies. We try to discover the secrets of people who are not our friends, some of whom are trying to kill large numbers of Americans. We do everything we can to find out what their plans and capabilities and intentions are so we can prevent another terrorist attack. That is what our intelligence community does. And to somehow tie this up in red tape with a bunch of lawyers and judges makes no sense to me at all when we are trying to find out the secrets they are desperately trying to protect from us. I have to say, there is a question, how many lawyers should it take to be allowed to listen to Osama bin Laden? The answer should be zero. That's what the answer should be. We shouldn't involve lawyers and judges in trying to intercept his communications, even if he is talking to an American.”