WASHINGTON, March 11 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- House Republican Whip Roy Blunt (Mo.) issued the following statement today after House Democrats unveiled their latest attempt to hamstring our nation's intelligence community rather than allowing it the latitude necessary to intercept foreign terrorist communications:
"House Democrats demonstrated their alleged commitment to our nation's security today by unveiling another sham of an intelligence bill -- instead of taking up a responsible, bipartisan bill that the Senate overwhelmingly passed more than three weeks ago.
"This legislation is so unsure of its merits that the majority allows it to sunset after two years -- hardly the long-term fix we need. And it doesn't even attempt to solve the main issue this Congress must address -- making sure the third-party firms that aided our intelligence agents after September 11th aren't rewarded with a lawsuit. Instead, Democrats chose to bring forth a bill allowing an unelected judge to determine if these companies deserve protection -- putting the needs of trial lawyers above the safety of our nation.
"But the majority didn't stop there. By including a bipartisan commission to investigate the program, Democrats have admitted they cannot adequately do the job of overseeing our intelligence.
"We are long past the three weeks Democrats said they needed to pass a long-term fix to our FISA laws. But here they are about to go out on yet another long recess without confronting this problem in a serious way. Despite their claims to the contrary, there is a serious risk if we fail to act on the bipartisan FISA reform bill. The longer we wait, the less access our intelligence community will have to vital information we need to protect America."
SOURCE House Republican Whip Roy Blunt
