Collins statement on FISA oversight hearing

". . . it is critical that tools to defeat terrorism remain available to our national security and intelligence community who work tirelessly to protect our country and secure the freedoms we cherish. "Several of those tools are set to expire on December 15th. It is our duty to reauthorize these authorities. Otherwise, the authorities revert back to our national security posture before 9/11, and I don’t think anyone wants that."

WASHINGTON — Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.), Ranking Member of the House Judiciary Committee, made the following opening statement at today’s oversight hearing on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Below are the remarks as prepared. Ranking Member Collins: Last week, we once again commemorated the lives of all the innocent victims lost on 9/11, including the brave first responders and dedicated recovery workers. The 9/11 anniversary reminds us each year of the shock, sadness and anger we all felt that morning. Our unity and strength following the attacks were palpable and encouraging — nothing the terrorists inflicted could defeat our nation as a worldwide beacon of liberty. As part of our resolve, it is critical that tools to defeat terrorism remain available to our national security and intelligence community who work tirelessly to protect our country and secure the freedoms we cherish. Several of those tools are set to expire on December 15th. It is our duty to reauthorize these authorities. Otherwise, the authorities revert back to our national security posture before 9/11, and I don’t think anyone wants that. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was originally passed to protect Americans from surveillance abuses. Our national security apparatus’s surveillance regime offers access to critical foreign intelligence that we need, but we must ensure we balance protecting both our security and our civil liberties. FISA was created to do just that. During and after the 2016 presidential election, this balance appears to have broken down. While Democrats accused Republicans of simply trying to divert attention for political purposes, it is now clear those at the pinnacle of our national security community lost the objectivity they are required by law to exercise. A necessary component for Americans’ trust in the intelligence community is the perception of fairness, particularly when implementing surveillance of Americans. Like many Americans, I await Inspector General Horowitz’s report on potential FISA abuse during the 2016 presidential election period. However, it is a fact that multiple individuals at the top of the FBI have been fired, terminated and even referred for and reported to be under criminal investigation. Oversight and deterrence is clearly needed when top-level officials in our intelligence and law enforcement community are officially criticized — and potentially even indicted — for divulging sensitive information and lying. That said, today we face reauthorization of authorities passed in 2015 as part of the USA FREEDOM Act focused on battling terrorism. We must reauthorize three provisions – section 215 business records, lone wolf and roving wiretap authorities. It is admittedly difficult to separate our concerns on FISA abuse from the reauthorization facing us, but we need to protect valuable tools in combatting violent extremists and their evil goals. Two of the authorities are fairly straightforward: the lone wolf and roving wiretap provisions. The lone wolf provision essentially permits surveillance of terrorists seeking to harm us even if there is no proof the terrorist is being directed by ISIS or al-Qaeda. We know this has been the trajectory of terrorist attacks where the perpetrators are not card-carrying members of particular terrorist groups but are inspired by their medieval ideologies. The roving wiretaps provision allows the intelligence community to follow terrorists and spies who attempt to evade surveillance by dumping and switching phones. If we can do this for drug dealers, we should be able to do it for suspected terrorists. Regarding section 215, I look forward to hearing more from the FBI on their use of this authority. The ability to obtain business records in terrorist and foreign intelligence investigations, and also of suspected spies, is not an authority we can afford to let expire. Section 215’s use for collecting “call detail records”, however, has seen significant and seemingly insurmountable technical problems in its implementation. We’d like to hear NSA's thoughts on the continuing validity of 215 for collecting call detail records. Thank you to each of our agency witnesses for testifying today. The spirit of 9/11 and countless other senseless terrorist attacks illustrates the need for our nation to always be vigilant. The authorities set to expire in December, despite the apparent misuse and abuse of other FISA authorities, are not ones we can afford to remove from our counter-terrorism tool belt.