Democrats Allow FISA to Expire -- Pelosi's Shameful Pandering

Republican Party of Arkansas: Last week, Democratic members of Arkansas' Congressional Delegation joined in lockstep with their liberal leadership and left Washington without renewing the Protect America Act, which expired at midnight on Saturday. This important national security legislation gave our intelligence professionals the tools they needed to monitor threats to America's security, specifically terrorists' communicating and plotting abroad. The Senate was able to reach a bipartisan agreement, the President said he was willing to postpone his trip to Africa, and yet Democrats in the House . . . thought it was more important to go on vacation than to renew the Protect America Act. These Democrats claim to be representing the people of Arkansas, yet they continually vote with the left wing of their party.

The Congressional Democrats' inaction leaves the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence unable to authorize new certifications against foreign intelligence targets, including international terrorists, abroad. Private companies assisting the United States in the surveillance of terrorists will now be exposed to legal liability, and our intelligence community will be stripped of the power to compel the assistance of private companies that are not already helping monitor terrorist communications. It is time for Congressmen Snyder, Berry, and Ross to reject the political games being played by the Democratic leadership and their candidates for President. Some things are more important than politics. I call on Arkansas Democrats to do the right thing and give our intelligence community the tools they need to keep our nation safe.

See also: Pelosi's shameful pandering: "21 relatively moderate Blue Dog Democrats led by Rep. Mike Ross of Arkansas have signed a letter to Mrs. Pelosi urging her to yield on FISA, the speaker realized that she was in danger of suffering yet another humiliating political defeat on the issue. So she pulled the bill from the floor and sent the House on vacation. . . . The most critical question now is whether Mr. Ross and his fellow Blue Dogs can somehow persuade Mrs. Pelosi that pandering to the kook fringe on national security will damage her politically."

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