Goodlatte Statement on President Obama’s NSA Surveillance Remarks

Washington, D.C. – House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) issued the statement below following President Barack Obama’s remarks and proposed changes to some of the National Security Administration’s (NSA) intelligence-gathering programs. Last week, Chairman Goodlatte and other Members of the House of Representatives and Senate met with President Obama to discuss our nation’s surveillance programs.

Chairman Goodlatte: “When I met with President Obama on this issue last week, I urged him to bring more transparency to our nation’s intelligence-gathering programs in order to gain the trust of the American people. I also informed him about the House Judiciary Committee’s aggressive and ongoing efforts to conduct oversight over these programs. The House Judiciary Committee, which has primary jurisdiction over these programs, has already conducted a hearing to examine the NSA programs. I plan to conduct additional oversight, including a classified hearing likely in September, so that we can thoroughly review the data collection programs used by the NSA, ensure that the laws we have enacted are executed in a manner that complies with the law and that protects Americans’ civil liberties, and determine if changes to current law are necessary.”