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National Security Should Not Have An Expiration Date

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By GLENN SULMASY

Published: February 15, 2008

Once again, politics is rearing its ugly and menacing head in the arena of national security.

Congress is in the midst of debating continuation of the temporary legislation known as the Protect America Act of 2007 (PAA).The intention of this legislation - pleaded for by leading members of the intelligence community - was to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978, to fill gaps and loopholes in the original, dated legislation.

But the PAA is set to expire next week.

While the Protect America Act has only been in effect for just over six months, the impact of the legislation has been considerable. The PAA has allowed the United States to close a significant intelligence gap by enabling intelligence professionals to collect, without a court order, foreign intelligence on targets located overseas - known as "foreign-to-foreign contacts" - regardless of how the information is moved.

The communications collections in question have no impact on U.S. citizens or their constitutional rights. This legislation is focused on foreign-to-foreign communications only. However, the global technologies of cell phones, computers, the internet, and other such means of communication - which were not, and could not have been, envisioned by the drafters of FISA in the 1970s - have changed the way information moves around the world. Herein lie the gaps meant to be filled by the PAA.

Glenn Sulmasy is an expert on national security law and a fellow at Harvard University.

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