The Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence today blasted a Democratic House bill to revise the way U.S. intelligence officials use surveillance to track possible terrorists.
Sen. Kit Bond said the bill would "impede the ability of law enforcement and intelligence operators to discover terror plans and prevent U.S. attacks." He added that it would distract the attention of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) charged with protecting U.S. citizens by requiring the Court to approve surveillance of foreign targets.
"Despite a very real terror threat, the House Democrats’ proposal hand-cuffs our terror fighters trying to protect American families at home and troops overseas,” Bond said.
Bond said the Democratic proposed "RESTORE Act" would require prior-court approval to acquire the foreign communications of foreign targets overseas. Bond said the judges of the FISC should not have to spend so much of their time and caseload on applications that focus on foreign targets and do not involve privacy interests of Americans.
“Today’s terrorists take full advantage of technology to stay one step ahead of law enforcement and intelligence services," Bond concluded in a statement. "It is critical that we pass permanent legislation that allows us to capture timely foreign intelligence about terrorists plotting to attack our homeland,” said Bond.
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