Pete Hoekstra

Mr. HOEKSTRA

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Unbelievable. But now 5 weeks ago, when we started into this process one more time, we said exactly what my colleague was highlighting, both my colleagues, the terrorists have not stopped. They continue their attacks in Pakistan. Five weeks ago is when they had some major bombings in Pakistan just before the elections. They had the major bombing in Afghanistan. But we also then started hearing from al Qaeda in Iraq saying they wanted to use Iraq to do what? Do you remember? Al Qaeda in Iraq said, we want to use it as a base to attack Jerusalem. And then a major terrorist died in Lebanon. We're not sure exactly what the circumstances were. Some think it's Israel, some others say it might have been Hezbollah itself. But one of the key leaders of Hezbollah passed away, and the statement from Hezbollah then was, ``we're going to hold Israel accountable.'' And what happened today? Martyr Mughniyah, within the last hour, a TV station affiliated with Hezbollah, said this group may not be affiliated with Hezbollah, but the group, Martyr Mughniyah, as far as we can tell, a new terrorist group, along with the Gaza Martyrs' Group, which may also be a new terrorist group, claim responsibility for the Jerusalem operation. So, with the events of the last 5 weeks, some new identified terrorist groups have popped up. And most likely, if there is any intelligence that our allies, because we said, who is going to be vulnerable by our diminished capabilities? It's going to be America's homeland. It's going to be our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is our embassies around the world, and potentially our allies. With what al Qaeda in Iraq and what the various organizations have now said after the death of Mughniyah, these are new terrorist groups.

Mr. HOEKSTRA

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I object to the vote on the ground that a quorum is not present and make the point of order that a quorum is not present.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Under the rule, the text of H.R. 493, as passed by the House, is added at the end of this bill. H.R. 493 deals with genetic information discrimination. The title of the bill is ``genetic information'' and not mental health. Mr. Speaker, how is it that a genetic information discrimination bill can be added to a mental health bill but the FISA bill to protect us from terrorist attack cannot?

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I appeal the ruling of the Chair.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, further parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Yes, I do. Mr. Speaker, I have a parliamentary inquiry.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. If I understand the Speaker and if you have just answered my question correctly, the majority has the tools at its disposal to include the FISA bill in any legislation that passes the House but is refusing to do so?

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, this bill is intended to ensure the mental health of Americans; yet, no American's health can be fully secured if they are under attack by a terrorist or facing the potential threat of terrorist attack. It has now been 18 days since the Protect America Act expired, taking with it the full array of enhanced tools for the intelligence community to aggressively investigate potential attacks and detect and prevent potential terrorist attacks. This motion to recommit would ensure the health of Americans by inserting the text of the Senate bill to modernize FISA. Eighteen days is long enough; yet, the leadership of the House still has done nothing to appoint conferees on the Senate bill to modernize FISA.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. May I continue?

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. As I said, as we deal with this bill, 18 days is a long time, yet the leadership of this House still has done nothing to appoint conferees on the Senate bill to modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which passed the Senate with overwhelming bipartisan support and is supported by a majority of the House. The Democratic leadership continues to block this bill, even though a number of responsible Democrats support it and the bill will pass if brought to the floor. It was 18 days ago, it was 3 weeks ago that it was brought to the floor to have a 3-week extension, on top of a 2-week extension, on top of a 6-month extension. It is time to move this bill forward and to again give our intelligence community the tools that they need, the enhanced tools that many recognized after 9/11 that the intelligence community needed to keep America safe. It is time to bring up the Senate-passed FISA bill. In the 18 days since the expiration of the Protect America Act, we have already seen multiple examples where our country's ability to follow up on potential threats has been significantly impaired. In Tampa, the Transportation Security Administration stopped a man trying to board a plane with a box cutter in his backpack. Officers also found books in the backpack titled ``Muhammad in the Bible,'' ``The Prophet's Prayer,'' and ``The Noble Qur'an.'' There may be instances in that situation where there may be intelligence clues that we would want to follow up. We want to know whether there are any connections to foreign terrorists and whether at that very moment there may be other people in other airports trying to board planes with box cutters. We don't want our intelligence officials to have to wait for lawyers to fill out voluminous paperwork in order to obtain permission from a Federal judge to follow up on those leads. Precious time could have been lost while an attack was in progress. Last Friday, authorities found toxic ricin, or perhaps toxic ricin, in a hotel room in Las Vegas. Absent any evidence in the hotel room to prove probable cause that the ricin was tied to international terrorists, it may have been impossible for the intelligence community to follow up on any evidence that may have pointed to a suspected tie with foreign terrorists. These are the things that happen in the United States. When you take a look at other things that are happening around the world, our troops in harm's way in both Iraq and Afghanistan, our brave men and women who are serving in the embassies in the Foreign Service around the world today, it is important that our intelligence community be given the tools and the techniques to keep Americans, our servicemen, our embassies, and our foreign personnel safe. It has now been 18 days. The majority promised us that they could deal with this issue, first they said in 6 months, then they said in 2 weeks, then they said in 3 weeks. It has clearly been much more time than that, and every day that we delay, we lose a little bit of our capability to track the threats that face this country. The chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee has said the same thing. The Director of National Intelligence has said the same thing. So now for 18 days our capabilities have slowly been eroding, but each day piles on to the loss that we had from the day before. There are real threats out there. There are real threats to Americans, to our troops, and to other individuals serving overseas. It is time to make sure that our intelligence community has all of the tools that it needs to keep America safe. We need to join with the Senate. We need to join with the 68 in the other body who overwhelmingly passed a bipartisan FISA modernization bill that gives the intelligence community the tools that they need to keep America safe. I call on my colleagues and the leadership on the other side of the aisle to support this motion to recommit, to send a clear signal, and then to move forward on an overall bill. Because if this passes today, what it will do is send a clear signal. point of order

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Yes, in its present form.

Mr. HOEKSTRA

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, today is day 12, day 12 of diminished capabilities of the U.S. intelligence community to go out and get the information that they need to collect to keep America safe. Our National Director of Intelligence, the chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee all have said that with the failure of the House to act on restoring and approving a FISA modernization bill America's capabilities erode each and every day. So what is the House going to do today? S. 2478, naming a post office; S. 2272, naming a post office. The third bill we'll consider today, naming a post office. The fourth bill, naming a post office. We'll do four other noncontroversial bills. And then what we will do? Will we take up FISA modernization? No, we will do the same thing we did 2 weeks ago: we will go home. The schedule for Friday? On Friday, no votes are expected. Our capabilities will diminish for 4 more days. ``House Democrats In a Perilous Game,'' is what The Republican of Springfield, Massachusetts, said. ``The House let a crucial deadline come and go without even taking a vote on this matter.'' America's at greater risk because this House continues to fail to act.

Mr. HOEKSTRA

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Thank you. Again, getting back to the point, the chairman has talked about energy security being tied to national security. This motion to recommit will do more to secure our energy independence and will do more to protect our energy security and national security than many of the other provisions in the bill because it specifically gives the tools to our intelligence community to protect not only our domestic sources of energy, but also enables us to protect the sources of energy that come from overseas.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I appeal the ruling of the Chair.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. I would like to continue.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I would like to be heard. Mr. Speaker, as the distinguished chairman talked about in his closing remarks, and as the majority leader discussed in his closing remarks, the energy security of the United States is directly tied to the national security of the United States. It is beyond me to understand how the proponents of this bill can claim that the legislation before us this afternoon protects the energy independence and energy security of the United States when our critical foreign intelligence capabilities, designed specifically to protect the national security of the United States, continue to degrade. This, of course, happened 11 days ago with the expiration of the Protect America Act. Again the proponents of the bill say the energy security of the United States is directly tied to the national security of the United States. And that is why this motion to recommit should be considered in order. The national security of the United States is directly tied to the effectiveness of the tools that we give to the intelligence community. The same radical jihadist groups who attacked the United States on September 11, 2001 are continuing their plans to attack the United States and its citizens. You don't have to take my word for it. Read the declassified excerpts of the National Intelligence Estimate released by Director McConnell. The majority leader and others who are proponents of this bill have pointed out America's vulnerability on energy issues.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Thank you. That is exactly what I am talking about. I thank my colleague for pointing that out. And as we have said, your words were that this is a national security issue and it is imperative that we deal with it. The majority leader's words, we are talking about the threats to our oil supply and our energy supply, whether it was from Venezuela, whether it was from the Middle East or other parts of the world. We significantly enhance and increase our vulnerability on an energy standpoint when we let the tools of the intelligence community erode and when we no longer have good insight into what radical jihadists may be doing in Pakistan or what they may be doing in the Middle East or what they may be doing in South America when specifically these are the home bases of radical jihadists. You also have to take a look specifically at radical jihadists and take a look at where they are saying they want to act. They want to destabilize many of the governments that provide us with the oil and energy supplies that this country is so dependent on.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, I offer a motion to recommit.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Yes, I am in its current form.

Mr. HOEKSTRA. I object.

Mr. HOEKSTRA

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Today is day 11, day 11 since the Protect America Act expired. The Director of National Intelligence has clearly stated that each and every day that we move past the expiration of the Protect America Act our ability to monitor, to track radical jihadist groups and others, people who want to attack America, would erode. Those comments were reinforced by the chairman of the Intelligence Committee in the other body. The other body did the appropriate thing and passed a long-term FISA, Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, bill, enabling our intelligence community to have the tools that they need to keep America safe. It has been 2 weeks since the other body passed their bill. It has been more than 2 weeks of inaction by this House. I guess this House did have action. We went home for 12 days on an extended vacation. I guess this House did have action, we left late in the afternoon yesterday. We worked until almost 6:00 making sure we did not address this FISA issue, this key component of national security. Each and every day we become more vulnerable. How vulnerable does the other side want us to become? Each and every day the other side fights to give more rights to people who might do America harm. Each and every day we undercut the activities of the men and women in the intelligence community who are doing everything that they can to keep America safe, but who find each and every day the other side tying their hands behind their backs and limiting their capabilities to keep America safe. At a time when we are in a very dangerous world, the efforts by radical jihadists to attack us and our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, they do continue. There is an urgency, as far as our troops are concerned, that this issue needs to be dealt with, even though individuals on the other side repeatedly say there is no urgency to deal with this issue. The other side says there is no urgency. Tell that to our men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan. Tell that to our allies in the Middle East, our allies in Israel who the leader of al Qaeda in Iraq has recently said, Let's use Iraq to be a launching pad to attack Jerusalem. Tell that to our allies, the Israelis, who are under threat from Hezbollah. Tell that to our allies throughout the Middle East where the second goal and objective of radical jihadists is to undermine their regimes and overthrow them and establish the caliphate and impose shariah law. It seems that much of the world believes that there is an urgency, as do the President and the other body. The President and the other body negotiated and reached an agreement. We agree with that direction. House Republicans and many Democrats would vote for it, but Democratic leadership continues to stand in the way and prevent this bill from coming up and being considered by this House. There is an urgency, as much as the other side would like to believe there is not. Vote against the previous question and allow the Senate bill to come up for a vote today.

Mr. HOEKSTRA

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, what is it that my friends on the other side don't understand about the threat that faces our country today? Have they not seen the reports coming from Iraq where al Qaeda in Iraq has now stated that their objective is to use Iraq to launch attacks against Jerusalem and Israel? Have they not read the reports today about a radical Islamist plot to perhaps assassinate the President of the Philippines? Have they not read about the attacks or the arrests in Denmark of radical Islamists perhaps planning an attack in Denmark? What is it that you don't understand about the nature of the threat, that this is a global threat that wants to defeat us in Iraq, that wants to destabilize modern Islamic regimes, wants to eliminate the State of Israel, establish the caliphate and reach for the brass ring, which is to attack the United States? Why are you unwilling to put the Senate FISA bill on the floor and give the intelligence community the tools that they need to keep America safe?

Mr. HOEKSTRA

Mr. HOEKSTRA. Mr. Speaker, we leave today for the President's Day Recess. We leave at a time where we have our troops committed in Iraq, we have our troops committed in Afghanistan, where, in the last 48 hours there have been reports that radical Islamists have perhaps been plotting an attack to assassinate the President of the Philippines, where al Qaeda in Iraq has said that they are going to launch new attacks or additional attacks against Israel, against Jerusalem, where there have been arrests in Denmark of individuals perhaps planning to assassinate, murder the cartoonists, their declaration of war by Hezbollah. And we're going back home without extending the Protect America Act. It's unilateral disarmament. The head of our intelligence community has said that the Protect America Act, that the authorities provided under FISA have been the tip of the spear in keeping America safe. But it is not only about keeping America safe, because the information, the intelligence that we have gathered under the Protect America Act, under FISA, over the last 6 years have kept America safe, but has also enabled us to identify threats and potential attacks against our allies. And what this now does, this unilateral disarmament, means that an important tool in keeping America safe and our allies safe expires on Saturday night. If you take a look at what's happened here, it's the day after September 11. The President, meeting with his national security team, they're looking for ways to identify exactly what the other threats are against the United States, what the capabilities of al Qaeda are. They come back with some suggestions and ideas, one of which is to use our telecommunications folks, perhaps, and others, to get information and insights into al Qaeda and to radical jihadists. Members of Congress are brought in. The current Speaker of the House was briefed four times, I believe, within the first 8 months in terms of what we were going to do, what we expected to collect and how that would keep us safe. And today, these folks are thrown under the bus. This unilateral disarmament makes America less safe. The President has said, I'm willing to stay until Congress completes its work. I'm willing to postpone or delay a trip to Africa that's been in the planning stages for a long time so that Congress can complete its work. I'm willing to work with Congress to make that happen. The Senate did their job. Senator Rockefeller was being briefed at the same time, 6 years ago, that the current Speaker of the House was briefed. He recognizes the responsibility that they have and that the Senate has to making sure that America keeps these tools in the hands of our intelligence community. They did the right thing. Overwhelmingly, the other body passed a bill that keeps America safe, bipartisan, protecting those who helped our government to stay, to put in place the mechanisms to keep us safe over the last 6 years. And now, the House walks away from this for the next 12 days. And each day that we are gone, our ability to monitor radical jihadists and the threats to the United States begins to erode just a little bit each and every day. But every time we identify potentially a new threat to the United States, we need to go back through a cumbersome process, one that ties the hands of our intelligence community. As al Qaeda and radical jihadists have evolved, and they're becoming more coordinated and more effective in planning attacks against the United States, we're moving back and we're degrading and we are unilaterally disarming. It is a disappointment and a disgrace that this House is leaving today without finishing this business.