CAPITOL COMMENTS
Time of essence in intelligence community's fight against terrorism
SEN. KAY BAILEY HUTCHISON

On Dec. 11, 2007, Director of National Intelligence, Admiral Mike McConnell made an arresting plea in the editorial pages of the New York Times: "Help Me Spy on Al-Qaeda." In an urgent op-ed, he implored Congress to provide the resources America's intelligence officials need to safeguard our country against terrorism.

The terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 signaled changes in the kinds of threats posed against the U.S., and, specifically, the tactics these terrorists use to carry out their violent plots.

In today's world, terrorists employ fast-advancing technologies and communications networks to orchestrate and execute attacks. The 9/11 attack on the U.S. depended extensively on wire communications with known terrorist suspects abroad.

During the summer of 2007, Congress passed the Protect America Act, a six-month measure that has temporarily given our national intelligence agencies the tools to quickly detect terrorist activity and other threats to our national security, and to take appropriate measures to thwart these designs.

The Act, in effect, modernized the decades-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. FISA prescribes physical and electronic surveillance of foreign intelligence, but has not been updated to reflect the immeasurable technological progress, such as the proliferation of easily accessible and disposable cell phones, that has been made in the 30 years since the law's 1978 enactment.

Precious time is passing and we've yet to complete comprehensive, permanent legislation to equip our intelligence community with modern and relevant tools to protect America from a smart and agile enemy who harbors no respect for human life.

The Protect America Act allows intelligence officials to more effectively collect foreign intelligence without first having to obtain a court order. The Act stipulates that the court order would not be required for targets involving known terrorist suspects reasonably believed to be located outside the U.S. It allows surveillance of specific people - not their telephone lines. The measure is careful to preserve civil liberties, and lawful, everyday communication between Americans would not be affected. The out-dated and obsolete rules of FISA have mired intelligence officers in writing lengthy legal justifications, calling them away from the critical, time-sensitive task of detecting and tracking terrorist threats.

Furthermore, a cell phone being monitored could be thrown away and replaced with a new one before an agent could get court approval; or a phone card bought at the grocery store could be used and disposed of in a matter of minutes.

It is simply impractical to intercept the near-instantaneous information transmitted over cell phones or the Internet when time-consuming court proceedings are required. Such a mandate precariously delays interception of intelligence, and, in a worst-case scenario, hinders our ability to foil a terrorist plot.

To be effective, our counterterrorism efforts must be on the leading edge of technology. The act extends liability protection to private sector partners, such those in the telecommunications industry, who have assisted intelligence officials in their efforts to detect terrorists.

The Protect America Act enables the intelligence community to detect just the kind of terrorist communication that led to the tragedies of 9/11. But this temporary law will expire on February 1, 2008. The threat of foreign terrorists, however, will not expire with it, which is why permanent legislation must be enacted.

In the Senate, responsible and comprehensive legislation has been drafted to bring FISA into the 21st century. The legislation has broad, bipartisan support and has been poised for Senate passage and approval by President Bush for more than a month. Unfortunately, some in Congress have prevented this from happening. Once again, at the end of December, a small minority of senators blocked this legislation from moving forward. As a result, this vitally important measure will not be taken up again until Congress returns in mid-January, leaving us only seven working days to complete this major legislation before the Protect America Act expires. Further delay could lead to a gap in critical national security policy and tie the hands of our intelligence officials working to protect Americans.

We wouldn't dream of sending our troops into battle without the equipment and supplies to carry out their mission safely and successfully. Similarly, we cannot assign the intelligence community with the task of gathering information on our enemies and using it to help keep our nation safe, while placing unreasonable obstructions in their path.

For the safety of all Americans, we cannot put this off any longer. I join our national intelligence community in urging swift and certain action in Congress as soon as we return in January.