Extension of Authorities of Title VII of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978

Floor Speech

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Mr. HIMES. Mr. Speaker, I thank my friend, the gentleman from Maryland for yielding. I rise very sadly tonight in opposition to this legislation.

I have spent hundreds of hours negotiating this, including with the ranking member of the Judiciary Committee, my friends on the Republican side, reauthorization after reauthorization. I have the scars to show for how much work has been done.

Here we are on the verge of a great deal. The Senate has a bill that reauthorizes FISA and puts in stronger safeguards than the bill that we passed here in the House. We are all ready to go, and we move on, and then the President of the United States decides that Bill Pulte, a man who has never held a security clearance, a man who I am not sure 2 days ago could have told you what the initials DNI stand for, a man who has distinguished himself in the role he currently has as an attack dog to go after the political enemies, that gets thrown in, and we are asked for yet more indulgence at that moment in time.

There is a simple way out of this conundrum. The President can follow the law and allow the Principal Deputy DNI, a Senate-confirmed appointee of the President, to assume the role of acting DNI until a suitable nominee can be confirmed by the Senate. That is all that needs to happen, and none of us needs to swallow what has just happened.

This is a funny moment because I have lots of Republican friends, and in person they have told me what a catastrophic appointment this is. We are not going to hear that on the floor or in public, but we all know that this is the path. It did not need to be this way. There is still time, though very little, to choose a new and responsible path consistent with our obligations to national security.

When this vote fails, and it will, I hope that the President sees the writing on the wall and puts national security first.

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