Thank you for the Oct. 2 editorial, "Judicial Pushback," pointing out recent judicial overreaching to curtail the use of national security letters (NSLs) and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).
Allowing disclosure of NSLs each time a records request is made will signal terrorists that we are on their trail and give them a road map to our anti-terrorism techniques. Raising the bar for intelligence-related records requests harks back to the mind-set that traditional law enforcement procedures are sufficient to fight terrorism. Al-Qaeda and Sept. 11, 2001, proved that wrong.
We must guard our civil liberties as vigorously as we fight terrorists, but we also have to balance this important principle with the need to give our intelligence and law enforcement personnel the tools they need to help keep us safe.
Congress has provided our intelligence agencies with the additional authority they need to identify and analyze terrorist threats, and we are working on a comprehensive modernization of the FISA laws to bring the laws in line with modern technology and threats.
I look forward to a serious debate about legitimate concerns while recognizing that the threat of attack remains.
U.S. Senator (R-Mo.)
Washington
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