Permanently Protecting America
In August, Congress acted in a bipartisan fashion to pass a temporary law called the Protect America Act. This policy amended a number of out-of-date intelligence laws and gave our country's intelligence officials the legal ability to use advanced information-gathering techniques to monitor the communications of dangerous foreign enemies. The Protect America Act expires soon and at this point in time there are few things being done to make this vital intelligence legislation permanent.
Today's intelligence officials need the appropriate legal protections to use innovative surveillance methods when monitoring suspected terrorists. Letting the Protect America Act lapse would reverse important advances that have been made since August, when overseas surveillance officials were acting under the outdated Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). The Protect America Act updated FISA provisions and enabled the intelligence community to collect critical information about potential threats against the American people. We can not afford to take a step backwards by letting these security advances expire. It is time to permanently close the terrorist loophole once and for all.
In reality, the Protect America Act has worked well over the past few months. It has allowed intelligence officials to quickly and efficiently monitor communications of terrorists overseas by eliminating the need to obtain a warrant first. It made common sense adjustments to intelligence laws and gave our government the ability to use every tool at its disposal when doing surveillance on suspected foreign terrorists. The law allowed our men and women in the intelligence community to obtain critical information about Al Qaeda, Osama bin Laden and other international terrorists. The Protect America Act also provided security advances without harming any civil liberties or legal rights that are given to Americans.
Our intelligence officials cannot afford the gap in the flow of information that could result because of the procrastination of agenda-driven politicians responding to pressure from liberal interest groups. Our focus should be to make the Protect America Act permanent, not to merely punt the issue and deal with it on a month-to-month basis. In truth, Congress has a responsibility to the American people to give our security officials overseas the legal backing they need to monitor potential enemies of our nation. Their efforts have saved countless American lives and they deserve the opportunity to continue their important work with access to the best information possible.