USA FREEDOM ACT

Mr. SCOTT of Virginia. Mr. Speaker, I join the author of the bill, the gentleman from Wisconsin and chair of the Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on Crime, Mr. Sensenbrenner; my colleague from Virginia, the chair of the full committee, Mr. Goodlatte; the gentleman from Michigan and ranking member, Mr. Conyers; Mr. Nadler; and my colleague from Virginia (Mr. Forbes) for proposing this amended version of the USA FREEDOM Act. I commend my colleagues for working together to develop a bipartisan approach to addressing some of the shortcomings in our foreign intelligence surveillance statutes.

As recent revelations about the way that some of these statutes have been used have come to light, members of the Judiciary Committee, which has primary jurisdiction over the statutes, studied the issues, proposed solutions, and worked together to find a way forward. We have also worked with our colleagues from the Intelligence Committee to find common ground in order to bring meaningful surveillance reform to the floor today.

The bill, as amended, addresses abuses, enhances privacy protections, provides more rigorous review of critical questions of legal interpretation, and increases transparency so our citizens will know what is being decided and done in their name.

While the administration has already indicated that it will change its procedures, to paraphrase President Reagan, I think the best course is to ``trust but codify.''

While this version of the USA FREEDOM Act does not accomplish all that we had hoped for, it is, in fact, a significant step in the right direction. I therefore urge my colleagues to support the legislation.