Jay Rockefeller: “this Senator supports the amendment of the Senator from Maryland to revise the sunset provision of the bill so that the…”

“this Senator supports the amendment of the Senator from Maryland to revise the sunset provision of the bill so that the new authority established under this act will expire after 4 years. This Senator had originally started out supporting a 4-year sunset because it seemed to make sense because it comes during the next President's term in office. This is supremely important legislation. There is no one--with the exception of the administration--who has objected, no committee which has objected to the idea of considering a sunset review. The reason is very clear: One wants to make sure, when you are balancing foreign intelligence collection, intelligence collection in general, and civil liberties, that one has the right balance. The question before us today is what date in the future makes the most sense for a sunset. There are a number of new initiatives which are either proposed to be started in this legislation or which will be started in this legislation, and none of them are entirely predictable. I think a 4-year sunset makes a lot of sense because it is so important that we know what we are doing, that we know we are doing it right, and that we know the intelligence community knows it is doing its work correctly--I do not mean badly or superbly but simply that they are getting it the way they want to do it and it is compatible with the spirit of the law, that the Congress and the administration are in sync on it.”