Hoekstra Dismissive Of Democrats FISA Measure

Michigan Rep. Peter Hoekstra, the ranking Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, attacked legislation Democrats unveiled Tuesday to update the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

“The bill introduced by the Democrats prevents the U.S. intelligence community from focusing on its core mission of conducting surveillance on radical jihadists and other foreign threats to prevent the next attack," Hoekstra said in a statement released by his office.

Democrats are re-writing stopgap legislation Congress approved over the summer largely craftedThe Michigan Republican also voiced concern that the legislation does not include liability protection for banks and telecommunications companies that shared their information with federal investigators, a potential divide going forward in this debate.

“Also, by not including retroactive liability protection, Democrats are trying to resolve their differences with the administration on the backs of patriotic American companies that only wanted, and continue to want, to help keep our nation safe," Hoekstra said.

The intelligence panel is expected to mark the bill up during a committee meeting on Wednesday. In anticipation of that session, Hoekstra said, “We intend to review the bill throughout the night so that we can offer amendments on Wednesday that protect civil liberties for Americans and better allow for the men and women in the U.S. intelligence community to conduct terrorist surveillance on threats to our way of life.”