Date: 2011-02-14
Speaker: DANIEL E. LUNGREN (republican)
Chamber: H
State: Cali

fornia. I thank the gentleman for yielding. Mr. Speaker. lets be reminded of what the 9/11 Commission report observed. That report said the choice between security and liberty is a false choice. as nothing is more likely to endanger Americas liberties than the success of a terrorist attack at home. In this case. freedom presupposes security. Thats what were talking about here. The distinguished former chairman of the Judiciary Committee basically has called into question the lone wolf terrorist provision. He says its never been used. I heard this same argument on the floor last year before we had the domestic lone wolf known as Major Hasan. I heard the same argument on this floor last year before we saw the consequence of a loan wolf action in Times Square. I heard the same argument last year before we saw the lone wolf action of the Christmas Day bomber. I heard the same argument 2 years ago before we heard that. The fact of the matter is and the greater concern that we have today. as expressed just this last week by the Secretary of Homeland Security. is that the level of the threat is as high today as it has ever been since 9/11. When asked about it. she explained. as did the cochairs of the 9/11 Commission. that it is the less consequential attacks done by those who are not directly associated with al Qaeda or with affiliate organizations. i.e.. lone wolves. that cause them to be of greater concern today. CIA Director Leon Panetta. who is of this administration. has warned that it is the lone wolf strategy that I think we have to pay attention to as the main threat to this country. The gentleman from Michigan would have us wait until that threat is carried out before we then say. well. maybe now we have a reason to have the lone wolf provision. Professor Robert Turner of the Center for National Security Law has written as to how the absence of authority to conduct surveillance of a lone wolf terrorist undermined the FBIs effort to gain access to the content of Zacarias Moussaouis laptop computer and how it materially impeded a critically important investigation that in the absence of FISA might well have helped prevent the attacks on September 11. 2001. Now. the distinguished former chairman of the committee has said this allows us to use this provision against anybody. Not true. It has to be someone who is not a citizen or a permanent resident of the United States who is engaged in international terrorism but who may not be linked to a foreign power or terrorist organization. Today. in the age of the Internet. when someone is incited or inspired by one of these individuals from a foreign country and then carries out a terrorist act. that is the definition of a "lone wolf." The gentleman from Michigan would have us shackle ourselves so as not to be able to deal with this. as was explained by the gentleman from Michigan . a former agent of the FBI. These are antiterrorism cases. not criminal investigations. What we are trying to do is not collect the body parts after a successful attack and then try and find those who caused it and try and bring them to justice. No. we are trying to stop the attack in the first place and protect Americans. Thats why you have the FISA court. Thats why you have some of these different definitions. What we have done within the ambit of those definitions is try and protect the civil liberties of Americans while at the same time allowing us to take reasonable. responsible and. yes. proactive actions against those who would murder Americans. There is a difference between a criminal investigation and a counterterrorism effort. It is the difference between trying to prosecute someone for a crime that has already been committed as opposed to trying to prevent the death and destruction that would be rained upon the United States by these terrorists. I am the author of the sunset provisions. I brought this because I thought it required us to look at these three provisions because. yes. they were the most controversial. but I am convinced after looking at it in these years that these provisions have not been abused. At the same time. I am going to be working with the gentleman from Wisconsin and others to have rapid. intensive. active oversight of these provisions to ensure that we do not have some deprivation of civil liberties as we carry out these necessary functions.