Dan Goldman: Why I'll Only Vote For FISA If Warrant Requirement Amendment Fails

5 months ago

On the House floor, Rep. Dan Goldman (D-NY) slammed the warrant requirement amendment to FISA.

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Transcript

00:00To the gentleman from New York, Dan Goldman.

00:03Thank you very much, Ranking Member.

00:04Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

00:06I rise today in support of this bill that includes an absolutely essential national

00:11security program.

00:13But I will support this bill only if the amendment that would impose a warrant requirement on

00:19queries regarding American citizens fails.

00:22First, a warrant is simply not needed because the query in question is not a new search.

00:31It simply identifies any contacts or communications with Americans from within the universe of

00:39information that was already lawfully obtained from the original search.

00:44And that original search can only be of foreign nationals on foreign soil.

00:51I spent 10 years as a federal prosecutor and obtained hundreds of search warrants.

00:56And based on that experience, I can say with confidence that requiring a warrant would

01:02render this program unusable and entirely worthless.

01:08Based on the information available to law enforcement, it would be impossible to get

01:13probable cause to obtain a search warrant from a judge in a timely manner.

01:19And even if it were possible, the time required to obtain a search warrant from a judge would

01:25frequently fail to meet the urgency of a terrorist or other national security threat.

01:32A warrant requirement is unnecessary and unworkable, and I therefore urge my colleagues to oppose

01:39the Biggs Amendment.

01:40I yield back.

Dan Goldman: Why I'll Only Vote For FISA If Warrant Requirement Amendment Fails

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