WASHINGTON — This morning, Speaker Johnson delivered remarks after House Democrats overwhelmingly voted against a clean, three-week extension of FISA Section 702, a critical national security tool that protects Americans against foreign terror attacks, used solely to spy on foreign adversaries in foreign territories. FISA 702 authorities are responsible for nearly two-thirds of the President’s daily intelligence brief. After they voted to make FISA Section 702 go dark, House Democrats shamelessly applauded on the House floor.
“We did everything within our power to try to ensure that this statute does not expire, and the Democrats are using it as a political hostage now. This is their custom in the 119th Congress. This is what Democrats do now,” Speaker Johnson said. “That is what the current Democrat Party stands for in Washington. They are willing to jeopardize the safety and the security of the American people to make a cheap political point.”
Watch Speaker Johnson’s remarks here.
Below are Speaker Johnson’s full remarks as delivered:
I don’t know if the American people just saw what happened on the floor, but it is shameful and it is very, very dangerous. Let me just tell you what’s happened here today. We just offered a simple, clean, three-week extension of the FISA national security law. The Democrats, 199 of them, voted against a clean three-week extension for political purposes. And when the bill went down, they applauded. They applauded it. That record and that video is going to live in infamy. I pray that we do not have a serious calamity on our shores.
Over the past few weeks, we have done everything we possibly can. House Republicans are trying to govern. We’re trying to keep the American people safe. On April 29, we passed a three-year extension of the FISA national security law. It has been sitting over in the Senate, and because the Democrats and the Senate are playing political games as well, they’re unable to pass it. So, we did everything within our power to try to ensure that this statute does not expire, and the Democrats are using it as a political hostage now.
This is their custom and the 119th Congress. This is what Democrats do right now. You will remember that earlier this year, they took the Department of Homeland Security – two of its most important agencies – and turned those into hostages. They shut down the government. They shut down TSA agents and border security and cybersecurity capabilities and the Coast Guard. Why? Because they were insistent that we no longer secure the national border. They wanted to give $0 to that, and they were insistent that we do not continue to remove criminal, illegal aliens from American communities to keep the American people safe. That is what the current Democrat Party stands for in Washington. They are willing to jeopardize the safety and the security of the American people to make a cheap political point.
We all know what’s going on around the country right now. We’re hosting the FIFA World Cup. We have big soccer matches all around the country, – 11 cities around America. We have the America 250, Freedom 250 events going on here in the Capitol and all around the country. There are large sporting events, local communities – those things are in jeopardy right now because the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act is exactly what the name implies. It is how we monitor terrorists who are plotting and planning dangerous events in the country in our homeland. The reason we have not had a mass casualty event like 9/11 since that great tragedy is because we have this statute. And today, the Democrats in the House just voted it down. 199 of them voted against it, and they applaud it. They applauded when the statue went down. I think that speaks for itself.
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