Joe Pitts: “Today marks the 66th day since this House allowed the Protect America Act that affects foreign intelligence surveillance…”

“Today marks the 66th day since this House allowed the Protect America Act that affects foreign intelligence surveillance to expire. For over 2 months now, we have needlessly hampered our intelligence agencies' ability to conduct surveillance on foreign terrorists because some in this Chamber would rather allow the trial lawyers to have an opportunity to sue telecommunications companies that assisted the government following the September 11 terrorist attack in some 50 frivolous lawsuits in the San Francisco courts. Sixty-six days have passed while the House considers bills such as the Beach Protection Act, National Landscape Conservation System Act, Arts Require Timely Service Act, and the National Integrated Coastal and Ocean Observation Act. This body is failing in its responsibility to protect the American people by continuing to delay passage of a foreign intelligence surveillance bill that will provide our intelligence community with the tools they need to listen in on international phone calls from terrorists plotting to attack the United States. No matter what my friends on the other side of the aisle say, this is an urgent matter.”