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Bush urges intelligence act updates in weekly address

July 28, 2007 10:08 AM

ABC News' Jennifer Duck and Jason Ryan report: In his weekly radio address, President Bush urged Congress to reform the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in order to give law enforcement officials "the best possible information about who the terrorists are, where they are, and what they are planning."

"The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, also known as FISA, provides a critical legal foundation that allows our intelligence community to collect this information while protecting the civil liberties of Americans," Bush said. "This law is badly out of date and Congress must act to modernize it."

The Bush Administration has proposed four major revisions to FISA. The revisions seek to bring FISA up to date with the latest communication technology, bypass court approval to collect foreign intelligence, increase the efficiency of the government's partnership with the private sector and streamline administrative processes in order to effectively gather intelligence.

The address comes days after Attorney General Alberto Gonzales faced tough questions from the Senate Judiciary Committee for his possible misleading of Congress over the National Security Administration's Terrorist Surveillance Program, which operates under authority of FISA.

Bush urged the Congress to pass these updates before the summer recess. "Every day that Congress puts off these reforms increases the danger to our Nation. Congress needs to act immediately to pass this bill, so that our national security professionals can close intelligence gaps and provide critical warning time for our country."

The House Intelligence Committee is currently debating these proposed changes.

July 28, 2007 | Permalink | User Comments (0)

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