WASHINGTON, DC – Vice Chairman of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. Senator Kit Bond, today urged his colleagues to reform one of law enforcement’s most critical anti-terrorism tools before August recess.

Bond issued the following statement stressing the need to pass a legislative fix to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which governs terrorist surveillance:

“The Director of National Intelligence (DNI) McConnell delivered his FISA modernization proposal to the Senate Intelligence Committee back in April. The issues we are currently negotiating are not new, and there is no reason we can’t come to an agreement in time to pass a bill before recess.

“There are several proposals and counteroffers currently being discussed, and I am still examining them all. I can say, however, that I have full faith and confidence in DNI McConnell, and I will not settle for legislation that does not get his stamp of approval. We must send the DNI a proposal that gives him the flexibility to collect the information he needs to protect us from terrorist attacks while ensuring that civil liberties of American citizens are protected.

“Given the increased threat, we no longer have time to kick the can – Congress must take action this week. Lives are literally at stake. Congress isn’t famous for holding itself accountable for failures. I caution some of my colleagues, however, that if we blow this one, I believe accountability will rightly be unavoidable.”

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