Political Quotes

“I support Senator Feingold's amendment to provide Congress with additional materials from the FISA Court to enable Congress to conduct more effective oversight. This amendment is one of the many improvements to the Senate Intelligence bill adopted by the Judiciary Committee and included in the Judiciary Committee's substitute amendment. Regrettably, that substitute was tabled by the full Senate earlier today. But I urge Senators to reconsider their votes with respect to this simple but critically important reporting requirement. Under current law, semi-annual reporting requirements allow the government to wait up to a year before informing the Congress about important interpretations of law made by the FISA Court. The Senate Intelligence bill took a step in the right direction by requiring that Congress be provided with the orders, decisions and opinions of the FISA Court that include significant interpretation of law within 45 days after they are issued. Senator Feingold's amendment would go a step further to ensure sound oversight by Congress of the activities of the FISA Court. It would require that, when the FISA Court issues an opinion containing a significant legal interpretation, the government must provide Congress with the government's pleadings related to the case.”