Kirk is on right side of FISA bill

Right now there is legislation pending in Congress that is known as FISA. Its focus is U.S. government surveillance of phone calls between suspected terrorists. Dan Seals, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Democrats in the U.S. House are against this legislation. However, a bi-partisan majority in the U.S. Senate has already passed this bill.

Here's why. This legislation targets phone calls and internet activity between suspected terrorist organizations and individuals in countries such as Pakistan and Afghanistan. Due to the way the Internet is configured and the global phone systems are connected, many of these calls and e-mails get routed through the U.S. telecom systems. These are the communications that the FISA bill is aimed at. So, if Terrorist A in Pakistan is calling Terrorist B in Afghanistan and the call gets routed through New York City, the U.S. intelligence and military services want to be able to plug into those calls.

This is not about government eavesdropping on phone calls or e-mails between us and our families or friends.

That is why the Democrats and Republicans in the Senate joined together to pass this important legislation.

It's about tracking suspected terror activity that may be happening halfway around the world but the communications are passing through the U.S. systems.

Seems to me that Dan Seals, Nancy Pelosi and the House Democrats are wrong on this issue.

Congressman Mark Kirk agrees with the bi-partisan majority in the Senate and supports this legislation.

I am glad he does. It's a matter of national security.

Michael Morgan | Deerfield