[Congressional Record: February 3, 2011 (Senate)]
[Page S549-S551]
STATEMENTS ON INTRODUCED BILLS AND JOINT RESOLUTIONS
By Mrs. FEINSTEIN:
S. 289. A bill to extend expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT
Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005, the Intelligence Reform
and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, and the FISA Amendments Act of
2008 until December 31, 2013, and for other purposes; read the first
time.
Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, on January 25, I introduced S. 149,
the FISA Sunsets Extension Act of 2011 to extend the three expiring
provisions of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act--the authority
to conduct, subject to court order, so-called ``roving wiretaps,''
``lone wolf'' surveillance, and collection of business records. S. 149
was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary.
Today, I am reintroducing that legislation with a new, identical
bill. This new bill, just as S. 149 would do, will extend these three
authorities, otherwise set to expire on February 28, to December 31,
2013. The bill will also change the expiration date of the intelligence
collection authorities provided in the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 so
they, too, last until the end of 2013.
The sole purpose of reintroducing the measure is to begin the process
under Senate rule XIV to place the reintroduced extension bill on the
Senate calendar. The three provisions of FISA
[[Page S550]]
will sunset in a little more than 3 weeks. One of those weeks is a
congressional recess. By placing the extension bill on the Senate
calendar, we will, at least, be one procedural step closer to acting.
On January 28, Attorney General Eric Holder and Director of National
Intelligence James Clapper wrote to urge Congress to grant a
reauthorization of sufficient duration to provide intelligence and law
enforcement agencies with reasonable certainty and predictability
concerning the tools available to them.
The FISA sunsets have most recently been the subject of two short-
term extensions: a 2-month extension from December 31, 2009 to February
28, 2010, and then a 1-year extension from that date to February 28,
2011.
In their January 28 letter, the DNI and the Attorney General
expressed their concern about the devolution of FISA sunsets ``into a
series of short-term extensions that increase the uncertainties borne
by our intelligence and law enforcement agencies in carrying out their
missions.''
The letter states that ``S. 149, the FISA Sunsets Extension Act of
2011, would avoid these difficulties by reauthorizing the three
expiring provisions until December 2013, together with the provisions
of Title VII of FISA that are currently scheduled to sunset next year.
We look forward to working with you to ensure the prompt enactment of
this or similar legislation.''
Yesterday, the House and Senate Intelligence Committees also received
a classified report from the Attorney General and the DNI on the
important intelligence collection made possible by authority that is
subject to the approaching sunset. The Department of Justice and the
Office of the DNI have asked for our assistance in making this
classified report available, in a secure setting, directly and
personally to any Member of the Senate. We did so for a similar report
a year ago when Congress considered the last sunset extension.
Each Senator is invited to read this classified report in the
Intelligence Committee's offices in 211 Hart Senate Office Building.
The Attorney General and DNI have offered to make Justice Department
and intelligence community personnel available to meet with any Member
who has questions. Our Intelligence Committee staff is also prepared to
meet with Members. Vice Chairman Chambliss and I are sending a Dear
Colleague letter to each Senator conveying this invitation.
In concluding, I call upon my colleagues in the Senate and House to
heed the Attorney General's and DNI's concern about the uncertainty
created by short-term extensions. The 3-year extension that my
legislation proposes will give our law enforcement and intelligence
officials the tools and certainty they need in protecting the Nation.
It will align the several sunsets so that Congress can review FISA more
comprehensively in 2013. In setting that date Congress will wisely be
separating that review of FISA from the debates of a presidential
election.
Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that a letter of support be
printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
Hon. John Boehner,
Speaker, U.S. House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Harry Reid,
Majority Leader, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Nancy Pelosi,
Democratic Leader, U.S. House of Representatives,
Washington, DC.
Hon. Mitch McConnell,
Republican Leader, U.S. Senate,
Washington, DC.
Dear Speaker Boehner and Leaders Reid, Pelosi, and
McConnell:
In the current threat environment, it is imperative that
our intelligence and law enforcement agencies have the tools
they need to protect our national security. The Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (``FISA'') is a critical tool
that has been used in numerous highly sensitive intelligence
collection operations. Three vital provisions of FISA are
scheduled to expire on February 28, 2011: section 206 of the
USA PATRIOT Act, which provides authority for roving
surveillance of targets who take steps that may thwart FISA
surveillance; section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act, which
provides expanded authority to compel production of business
records and other tangible things with the approval of the
FISA court; and section 6001 of the Intelligence Reform and
Terrorism Prevention Act, which provides the authority under
FISA to target non-United States persons who engage in
international terrorism or activities in preparation
therefor, but are not necessarily associated with an
identified terrorist group (the so-called ``lone wolf''
amendment).
It is essential that these intelligence tools be
reauthorized before they expire, and we are committed to
working with Congress to ensure the speedy enactment of
legislation to achieve this result.
We also urge Congress to grant a reauthorization of
sufficient duration to provide those charged with protecting
our nation with reasonable certainty and predictability. When
Congress enacted the PATRIOT Act, it included a three-year
sunset on these authorities. While we welcome Congressional
oversight into the use of these tools, Congress did not
contemplate that this sunset would devolve into a series of
short-term extensions that increase the uncertainties borne
by our intelligence and law enforcement agencies in carrying
out their missions.
S. 149, the FISA Sunsets Extension Act of 2011, would avoid
these difficulties by reauthorizing the three expiring
provisions until December 2013, together with the provisions
of Title VII of FISA that are currently scheduled to sunset
next year. We look forward to working with you to ensure the
prompt enactment of this or similar legislation.
The Administration also remains open to proposals that
enhance protections for civil liberties and privacy while
maintaining the effectiveness of these and other intelligence
collection tools.
Finally, we are prepared to provide additional information
to Members concerning these critical authorities in a
classified setting, as we did in connection with the previous
reauthorization of the expiring provisions.
The Office of Management and Budget has advised us that
there is no objection to this letter from the perspective of
the Administration's program.
Sincerely,
James R. Clapper,
Director of National Intelligence.
Eric H. Holder, Jr.,
Attorney General.
______
