The Congressional Record is a unique source of public documentation. It started in 1873, documenting nearly all the major and minor policies being discussed and debated.
“FISA AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2008” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Justice was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1379 on June 26, 2008.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
FISA AMENDMENTS ACT OF 2008
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speech of
HON. STENY H. HOYER
of maryland
in the house of representatives
Friday, June 20, 2008
Mr. HOYER. Madam Speaker, this bill provides mechanisms to ensure that FISA's longstanding exclusivity is crystal clear. It states that only a new statute directly addressing the Executive branch's foreign intelligence surveillance authority can modify FISA. It provides clarity for the public and for telecommunications carriers by requiring requests for assistance to cite the statutory authority uuder which they are issued.
In a January 19, 2006 White Paper on NSA Legal Authorities, the Justice Department made public a legal justification for the President's Terrorist Surveillance Program, TSP. It claimed that the President had an extra-statutory legal basis for foreign intelligence surveillance outside of FISA, both implicitly through an Authorization for the Use of Military Force or through a broad reading of Article II of the Constitution. Those arguments fly in the face of the longstanding doctrine of FISA exclusivity and are contrary to the plain language of the FISA statute. To be clear, the inclusion of these additional exclusivity mechanisms in this measure does not ratify the Administration's arguments with respect to the TSP. Nor does the bill's treatment of liability issues in Title II stand for a Congressional ratification of the Administration's actions under the TSP.
In conclusion, I would like to extend my thanks to a few additional staff who worked tirelessly over the past few months on this FISA compromise, including Margaret Cantrell of the Whip's staff, Ted Kalo and Mark Dubester of the Judiciary Committee, Wyndee Parker of the Intelligence Committee, and Chris Healey of Senator Rockefeller's Intelligence Committee staff.
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