• 8 months ago
On the House floor, Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) put forward an amendment to FISA to increase FBI oversight.

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Transcript
00:00For what purposes does the gentleman from Texas seek recognition?
00:03Mr. Speaker, I have an amendment at the desk.
00:05The clerk will designate the amendment.
00:07Amendment number two, printed in House Report number 118-456, offered by Mr. Roy of Texas.
00:15Pursuant to the House Resolution 1137, the gentleman from Texas, Mr. Roy, and a member
00:19opposed will each control five minutes. The chair recognizes the gentleman from Texas.
00:26Thank you. The amendment that I've put forward here
00:30requires the FBI to report to Congress on a quarterly basis rather than an annual basis
00:35the number of U.S. person queries conducted. We simply want to have more information. We simply
00:40want to have the ability to look at this and understand whether the FBI is actually conducting
00:45these the proper way. We think quarterly is more efficient, more effective. And by the way,
00:50we extended it. It doesn't kick in for a year. The FBI was complaining it was too burdensome.
00:54The FBI couldn't get this done. They've got a $200 million new headquarters, but they couldn't
00:58figure out how to get this done. So we gave them a year. Great. So you got a year, quarterly
01:03reporting. But it also grants the chairs and ranking members of the committees on judiciary
01:08and intel in the House and the Senate the ability to go to the FISC. Now, the problem is the
01:14chairman's going to say they oppose this. I know this because they put out their propaganda last
01:18night saying the quote, this amendment will result in an unprecedented expansion of access
01:23to details on the most sensitive and highly classified current intelligence operations
01:28being undertaken by the government to numerous congressional staff,
01:32which raises significant counterintelligence concerns. We can't have congressional staff in
01:38the FISC. No, no, no. That would be terrible. We don't want to have Article 1 be able to go over
01:45and get in front of the FISC and be able to see what's happening to protect the American citizens.
01:49We would rather the intel community, in all of its infinite wisdom, be able to make all of the
01:54determinations about the security and safety of the American people. And by the way, we have all
01:59the provisions in the language to say that it's up to the intel world and the FBI and all the
02:03security people to set the circumstances and all of the requirements under what the congressional
02:08staff would have to have in terms of clearances. But to say that we can't have congressional staff
02:15be able to observe the FISC, to be able to understand what is happening there and be able
02:19to come back here so Congress can know what is happening to protect the American people
02:23is facially absurd. I reserve.

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