Representative Heather Wilson: “I think there are two points that haven't been made tonight that I do think are worth making concerning the Protect…”

“I think there are two points that haven't been made tonight that I do think are worth making concerning the Protect America Act, which we hope to make permanent in the bill that's come over here from the Senate to fix the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. But one of the points that hasn't been made is that the Senate bill that has passed, that's pending on this floor, actually has stronger civil liberties protections for Americans than in the original 1978 law. In fact, Admiral McConnell and Attorney General Mukasey said in a letter on the 22nd of February, 'We note that the privacy protections for Americans in the Senate bill exceed the protections contained in both the Protect America Act and the House bill.' So, in fact, one of the things that has changed under this new piece of Senate legislation is that if you are an American, wherever you are in the world, if you're known to be an American, you have the protections of the American Constitution.”