U. S. A. Rights act, the government can still use section 702 for its purpose of surveiling foreigners overseas. And the government can continue to store, share, and access that data to investigate National Security threats. The key difference is in u. S. A. Rights have to do with the collection and use of innocent americans data, not foreign intelligence. This means the amendment cannot harm section 702 programs if, as the government says, they are designed solely for foreign intelligence rather than domestic surveillance on americans. We all want the Intelligence Community to be able to do its job, and i have offered the u. S. A. Rights amendment to give them tools to collect foreign intelligence while also protecting the Fourth Amendment. With that i reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. For what purpose does the gentleman from virginia seek recognition . Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, i claim time in opposition to the amendment. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, this amendment i yield myself such time as i may consume. This amendment plain and simple would disable 702, our most important National Security tool. If passed, any chance of reform through the underlying bill is dead on arrival in the United States senate. We cannot risk 702 collection ending. This chamber cannot be complicit in allowing terrorists to fly under the radar if this amendment kills 702. And i sincerely urge you to oppose the amash amendment and lose the and not lose the opportunity to successfully balance National Security and Civil Liberties which is what the underlying bill does. We definitely need to have a move toward more protection of our Fourth Amendment rights, and a warrant requirement in domestic criminal cases and a requirement that if youre doing a National Security investigation and you find that the information is useful in a criminal case and its precluded from court are two major improvements to our 702 law that protect americans Civil Liberties. This bill must be passed. It is absolutely essential to our protection. It surveillance people outside the United States who are not United States citizens. The fact it collects incidental information about u. S. Citizens should not be a prohibition on this effort, but if you apply this amendment, youre going to be able youre not going to be able to have our National Intelligence officials looking at this information carefully. And theyre going to have to in many instances get a warrant when they need to act because they think its a National Security concern, a warrant will be unobtainable or will be in a circumstance where its too late. And in both instances we cannot allow that. This bill provides balance. That bill goes too far. The amendment goes too far. I urge my colleagues to oppose it and reserve the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash mr. Speaker, i yield one minute to the gentlewoman from california, ms. Lofgren. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady is recognized. Ms. Lofgren mr. Speaker, its important we pass this amendment. The government conducts 702 searches and broadly defined foreign intelligence investigations that may have no nexus to National Security, and we are using this database for just criminal investigations that are domestic. When you say incidental collection, it sounds like its not much. Well, the fact its a huge amount of data in its content. What this amendment says is, if you are going to search for the information of an american that has been collected in that database and its not terrorism but domestic criminal investigation, get a warrant. Get a warrant. Thats what the Fourth Amendment requires. 702 would go dark. We know there is existing fisa order goes through april. The 702 program is not going dark. We have time to do this right. We have time to make sure that the Fourth Amendment is adhered to in the reauthorization of 702. Put the foreign back in the fisa bill. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash mr. Speaker, i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from virginia is recognized. Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, at this time im pleased to yield two minutes to the gentleman from utah, mr. Stewart. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Stewart mr. Speaker, before i begin i want to emphasize how dismayed i am by the amount of disinformation being propagated by opponents of section 702. I heard some things over the last couple days and i just wonder how in the world could someone believe that. Let me tell you why this amendment must be opposed. Under the u. S. Rights act, Intelligence Community would not be able to query the name of a suspected terrorist supported in the United States to see if hes in direct contact with recruiters. It would not be able to query a name in the United States who is approaching people with security clearances to see if that person is part of a Foreign Espionage network. We would not be able to query the name of a registered owner of a suspicious vehicle in front of the National Monument to see if hes in contact with operatives oversees. And query someone after a casualty attack in the United States to see if he has terrorist connections. Or to follow on its poe potential to follow on if attacks are imminent, we would not be able to query a name of learns how t that to fly but not how to land. They know they have an opportunity to do that with their vote but they would be putting troops and american lives at risk. In thats ok with you, then go ahead and vote for the u. S. Rights act amendment. But i promise, youll regret it when someday in this dangerous world we live, we have to answer to our constituents for our votes here today. And with that, mr. Chairman, i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash mr. Speaker, my amendment protects the rights of americans consistent with the constitution. I yield one minute to the gentleman from texas, mr. Poe. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. R. Poe mr. Speaker, were not talking about terrorism. Were talking about the protection of americans and their information. All of the rhetoric, the fear tactics that this will destroy our ability to go after terrorists is wrong. The u. S. A. Rights act is important to protect americans. The other side talks about protecting americans. Lets protect their Fourth Amendment right. We could protect them against terrorists if we amend this legislation with the u. S. A. Rights act and protect their rights under the Fourth Amendment. Every americans data is being seized by the justice department, the c. I. A. , n. S. A. Weve asked them how many times thats been queried. They will not tell us because the information is massive. And all were saying under the u. S. A. Rights act, if you want to go into that information on americans, get a warrant from a judge, not a query. Cant go search it. Get a warrant under the Fourth Amendment or stay out of that information and still go after terrorists under 702 and under fisa. We need to have this amendment to make the bill better to protect americans overseas and at home. And thats just the way it is. I yield back, mr. Speaker. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from michigan is recognized. I referee . The speaker pro tempore the is eman from virginia recognized. Mr. Goodlatte is recognized. Mr. Goodlatte its my pleasure to yield two minutes to the gentleman from california, mr. Schiff. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Schiff i thank. Rise in opposition to the amendment. I respect and share the sponsors commitment to privacy and Civil Liberties, but this amendment would go vastly beyond the legislation advanced by either the intelligence or judiciary committees. It will prevent the Intelligence Community from accruing lawfully collected 702 information even in situations directly related to counterterrorism and National Security. It would make section 702 a far less effective tool at a significant cost to the National Security of the United States. The amendment would require a probable cause warrant or its equivalent before the government can query lawfully collected 702 data in an effort to find Communications Concerning someone who may be a u. S. Person or foreign person located in the United States, even when such person is communicating with Foreign Terrorists or intelligence targets. Probable cause will be lacking in many if not most intelligence and counterterrorism contexts. U. S. A. Ituations, the rights act would prevent the government from detecting and disrupting plots against americans or identifying and preventing Foreign Espionage on our soil. It would also require publication u. S. A. Rights act would prevent the government from of information related to 702 certifications that would disclose the sources and methods of intelligence gathering, imperiling our ability to obtain foreign intelligence information. That to me is a high risk. Instead the underlying bill strikes a far better compromise. In the underlying bill, a warrant would be required in most nonNational Security, nonterrorism cases when there is an open investigation. In the absence of such a warrant, the bill provides that evidence that would be obtained would be excluded from use in court. That seems to me a very sensible balance. Requiring a warrant in most nonNational Security, nonterrorism cases and providing in the absence of such a warrant and open investigation that information or evidence would be barred from use in court. That addresses the graph min of the concern over this gravamen in the concern of this program that would be used for fishing expeditions against ordinary americans. This amendment, on the other hand, would largely cripple the program and for that reason i urge opposition to the amendment and support for the underlying bill. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. I yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from new york, mr. Nadlemplet the speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Nadler mr. Speaker, any responsible effort toe authorize section 702 must pass three tests. Must include a meaningful warrant requirement, must end the about collection until congress is otherwise and must not restrict the governments ability to collect against intelligence on valid targets operating outside the unes t does not include a meaningful warrant requirement and does not end the about collection. The amashlofgren amendment passes all three tests. It leaves the core functionality of 702 perfectly intact. It would be harder to use this authority to spy on United States citizens, but the governments ability to gather intelligence and suspected terrorists will not be affected. I urge my colleagues to adopt this amendment and make meaningful change to section 70 t i thank the many sponsors of this amendment for their leadership of this important fight. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentleman from michigan is ecognized. Mr. Amash i mr. Amash i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from virginia is recognized plcht goodlatte im pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from maryland, mr. Ruppersberger. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Ruppersberger i thank you for yielding. Mr. Speaker, i rise in opposition to the amendment being offered and in support of the underlying bill and increased oversight and transparency it provides to the body, the Intelligence Community, and American Public that it protects. I thank the Ranking Member and also chairman goodlatte for your allowing me to have this time. First thing, i want americans at home to know that this what this program is not. It is not a dragnet surveillance program. It is not a program that can ever be used to target americans. It is not an unchecked intelligence tool. In fact, it may be one of the programs y overseen we have. This bill strengthens that accountability. As former Ranking Member on the Intelligence Committee and representative of the district that is home to n. S. A. , i have taken many of my colleagues in this chamber to trips to n. S. A. So they can see firsthand progr we have. How these programs work to protect americans and also to protect our freedom and Civil Liberties. This is not a debate on constitutionality. The federal courts have affirmed this programs current authorization and opopration are legal and consist and operation are legal and consistent with the Fourth Amendment. This body has voted several times with bipartisan majorities to reauthorize it. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash mr. Speaker, i yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from california, mr. Lieu. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Lieu thank you, mr. Speaker. Make this issue really simple for the American People. Spying on foreigners without following the constitution, that is ok. Spying on americans without following the constitution, that is not ok. The Fourth Amendment does not have an as terrific that says our intelligence agencies dont have to follow it. Is not ok. It applies to all of government. Thats why i support the u. S. A. Rights amendment. Support this bill. Thank you. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from virginia is recognized. Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, at this time i yield one minute to the gentleman from california, mr. Costa. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Costa thank you very much, mr. Speaker. I rise to oppose this amendment. I think its in the wrong direction. To support the underlying bill. The bill i think strikes a balance. Americans cherish and strongly want to us protect their privacy. We agree on that. I think this bill threads the needle. The underlying bill protects our Fourth Amendment through the fisa process, through this improved effort. We know we live in a dangerous americans cherish and strongly want world. Terrorism is a constant threat that we all clearly understand. When we take our oath of office, we swear to protect and defend our nation from all enemies, foreign and domestic. I believe this underlying bill does that with increased transparency. Clearly its not perfect. We never vote on any perfect legislation. But this is an improved piece of legislation. The amendment is an overreach and wrong direction. I urge my colleagues to support the underlying bill. I yield back the balance of my time. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentleman from virginia is recognized. The gentleman reserves. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash mr. Speaker, i yield two minutes to the gentleman from wisconsin, mr. Sensenbrenner. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Sensenbrenner thank you, mr. Speaker. When James Madison wrote the constitution and the bill of rights, one of his overriding concerns was to prevent any branch of the three in government from becoming too powerful. And thats why he put the checks and balances in the constitution so that the other branches could oversee and make sure that a branch that was trying to push the edge of the envelope would not be able to succeed in that. The warrant amendment thats been talked about quite a bit today during the debate really is not effective. It is nothing at all. It ends up putting James Madisons legacy into the trash bin of history and it does not deserve to go there. Yesterday the Washington Post reported that f. B. I. Officials told aids of mr. Nadler that ides of mr. Nadler, that under the proposed bill, meaning the underlying bill, they anticipate rarely if ever needing permission from the f. S. C. To review yeary results. So query results. So this requirement that the supporters of the bill and opponents of the amendment basically doesnt mean anything at all. Because the f. B. I. Told mr. Nadlers aides that that was the case. Now, we have a debate here today on whether to put the f. Back into the foreign Intelligence Surveillance act. The f. Means foreign. And that is why the amendment should be adopted or if it fails then the underlying bill should be defeated. This is a time to stand up for the oath of office that every one of us took a year ago to protect and defend the constitution of the United States against all enemies foreign and domestic. The only way we can do that today is by supporting amash and defeating the underlying bill. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash may i inquire how much time each side has remaining . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from michigan has 3s 3 4 minutes. 3s 3 4 minutes. S 3 4 minutes. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from virginia is recognized. Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, at this time i am pleased to yield one minute to the gentleman from ohio, mr. Wenstrup. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Wenstrup thank you, mr. Speaker. I oppose the amount and support the underlying bill. I served a year in iraq. Every day we got foreign intelligence information to us. Why . Because it helped us prepare t helped us plan. It helped us deter. It helped us save american lives. Not only the lives of our troops in theater, but the lives of people at home. Im all in favor of protecting american citizens and their privacy. Do not get me wrong. I hope in the information that we collected in theater that there were no americans involved. Guess what this amendment will do, it will virtually guarantee terrorist also make sure they have an american complicit or otherwise involved with every one of their Communications Email or phone call. Why . Because that protects them. That will protect terrorists. Thats what this amendment would do. That is why i oppose the amendment and stand in favor of the underlying bill. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash mr. Speaker, my amendment protects the right of americans consistent with the constitution. At this time i yield 30 seconds to the gentleman from ohio, mr. Davidson. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Davidson thank you, mr. Speaker. I rise in support of the amash amendment and in strong opposition to the underlying bill. As a former army ranger i know the importance of section 702 and defeating the enemies of our country. The foreign enemies of our country are not subject to the protections of our constitution. American citizens, however, are. The supporters of the underlying bill would have you believe the only way to secure america is by ignoring the Fourth Amendment. I strongly disagree. It is for american citizens, it is your data that is that subject here. The Fourth Amendment does not change when Communications Shift from postal service, also in the hands of the government, to a database. It should be protected by the Fourth Amendment. I strongly urge support of the amash amendment. The speaker pro tempore the entleman yields. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from virginia is recognized. Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, i reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash mr. Speaker, i recognize the gentleman from oregon, mr. Blumenauer, for 30 seconds. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman the gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash i is recognized. Mr. Speaker, congress has sometimes made the difficult job the intelligence ommunity harder by not providing adequate controls and oversight. We have created a vast department of homeland security, vast securing, sprawling intelligence providing adequate controls and oversight. We have created a network, resun the collection of data my friend, mr. Poe, talked about. Yes, warrants can sometimes be inconvenient but we have judged it as a small price to pay to protect americans from government overreach. I strongly support this amendment. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentleman from virginia is recognized. Mr. Goodlatte i continue to reserve. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman reserves. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash mr. Speaker, i recognize the gentleman from pennsylvania, mr. Perry, for 45 seconds. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Perry thank you, mr. Speaker. Service members in the combat zone depend on 702 to keep them safe. 702 must continue to gather information on Foreign Terrorists to keep us and Service Members safe. However, americans in uniform serve to preserve an ideal that the constitution protects the rights of americans. The bill unamended enshrines in law the abuse of the fourment amendment rights of american citizens and it just cannot happen. This is not only about criminal prosecution, but about political persecution. Mr. Speaker, that abuse and the associated persecution is unfolding on the front pages and on tv right before us today. Dont lower the bar any further. Vote to preserve the rights of american citizens. Vote for this amendment. I yield. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash mr. Speaker, may i inquire how much time each side has remaining . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from michigan has 1 and 3 4 minutes remaining. Mr. Amash mr. Speaker, at this time i yield 15 seconds to the gentleman from virginia, mr. Garrett. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Garrett thank you, mr. Speaker. Ladies and gentlemen, we have covered many things in the past year to include tax policy, health care, helping eviscerate isis. I argue this is the most important moment in the time i have been in this building. Not only is the Fourth Amendment is at stake, so, too, our due process under the fourth and 14th. We must stand strong for individual liberty and privacy. If we do not put the f back in fisa it becomes isa and all eyes are on you. Mr. Amash i yield 20 seconds to the gentlelady from texas, ms. Jackson lee. Ms. Jackson lee mr. Speaker, this body could not be afraid of the constitution. It has been our guiding moral force for this nation, for all our beginnings and our nows. This amendment is truly an amendment that will protect and provide for the f. B. I. To do its work and to protect our men and women around the world who are wearing the uniform unselfishly. But let me be very clear. All this amendment does, frankly, is to provide a road map for the f. B. I. To utilize when it is surveying and it is using the private data of americans. And all the amendment does is to ask the f. B. I. And the attorney general where theres probable cause that such communications provides evidence of a crime and as well if there is a foreign power or Foreign Agent to be able to utilize a warrant. And that is the protection of the Fourth Amendment. Uphold the constitution. Vote for this the amashlofgren amendment, and lets move forward on this legislation. I yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentlelady yields. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash mr. Speaker, may i inquire as to whether the gentleman has additional speakers . Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, may i inquire as to how much time is remaining on each side . The speaker pro tempore the gentleman from virginia has a minute and a half. The gentleman from michigan has ne minute. Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, i yield myself 30 seconds. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, let me pose a hypothetical about the amash amendment. In the criminal world, if an f. B. I. Agent is told through a tip that someone has just purchased unusual amounts of fertilizer that could be used to make a bomb, the amash amendment would prevent that f. B. I. Agent from looking at the f. B. I. s databases to determine if the suspicious individuals email address or other identifier not the content of the email just the email address or identifier is located in the 702 database. What would the American People say if we hampered Law Enforcement . What if we had another murrah building blowup and the f. B. I. Couldnt look at an email address . I urge you to vote against this amendment. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentleman from michigan is recognized. Mr. Amash mr. Speaker, may i inquire as to how much time each side has remaining . The speaker pro tempore seach side has one each side has one minute remaining. Mr. Amash mr. Speaker, i am prepared to close. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. Mr. Amash the underlying bill and u. S. A. Rights amendment has a stark choice it allows the government to warrantlessly attack an astounding volume of americans communications, makes no material reforms to the collection and use of that data against americans, and explicitly allows even more surveillance than the law currently permits. In contrast, u. S. A. Rights allows the government to conduct broad Foreign Surveillance and share intelligence throughout the relevant agencies. But it also adds protections to prevent the erosion of americans Fourth Amendment rights. These are two very different options, mr. Chairman. But for all of us who care about Civil Liberties, who believe the United States can protect itself without retiring the Fourth Amendment, and if you believe congress has an independent obligation to protect the constitution, the choice is clear. Support the u. S. A. Rights amendment. Thank you, mr. Speaker. With that i yield back. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman yields. The gentleman from virginia is recognized. Mr. Goodlatte mr. Speaker, to close debate i am pleased to yield one minute to the speaker of the house. The speaker pro tempore the gentleman is recognized. The speaker i thank the speaker. First, i just want to say to all my colleagues, i respect the passionate views that are on display here. I think this has been a very passionate and interesting debate. What i would like to do is try and bring a little clarity to this debate. I want to thank the minority leader for coming up and speaking against the amash amendment and in favor of the underlying bipartisan amendment. Weve been working with we, on a bipartisan basis, have been working with the senate and the white house to get this right. To add even more privacy protections to the law even more than the status quo. To add the warrant requirement that the underlying bill has. Let me try and clear up some of the confusion. Theres been wide reporting and discussion here in the house about parts of the fisa statute that effects citizens. Its a big law, big statute, lots of pieces. Title 1 of the fisa law is what you see in the news that applies to u. S. Citizens. Thats not what were talking about here. This is title 7. Section 702. This is about Foreign Terrorists on foreign soil. Thats what this is about. So lets clear up some of the confusion here. Let me give you two examples. Two examples of what this program has done to keep our people safe. Two declassified damplescompaverples. In march of 2016 gave us the intelligence we needed to kill isis finance minister. Because of the intelligence collected under this program, a foreign terrorist on a foreign soil, number two man at isis who was in line to become the next lired. Leader. This program helped us get the information to stop him. I came here before 9 11. I remember hearing upon hearing in the 9 11 commission about the old firewall. We were seeing what was going on overseas, terrorists like Osama Bin Laden in afghanistan were doing all these things and we couldnt pass that information on to our authorities here in america. We had this firewall that prevented us from connecting the dots. That was the big phrased we he used back then in the early 2000s. You pass the amash amendment, you bring that firewall right back up. You pass the amash amendment and defeat this underlying bill, we go back to those days when we are flying blind on protecting our country from terrorism. Let me give you an example. This program has not only stopped many attacks, let me tell you about one. A plot in 2009 to blow up new yorks subway system. This was used to understand what people were planning overseas and what they were trying to do here in america so we can connect the dots and stop that particular terrorist attack. That is why this has to be renewed. That is why among many other reasons why 702, a Program Designed to go after Foreign Terrorists on foreign soil is so essential. If this amash amendment passes, it kills the program. If this underlying bill fails, theres one of two things that will happen. The status quo will be continued, meaning no additional privacy protections, no warranty requirement, status quo. That doesnt do anything to advance the concerns that have been voiced on the floor or even worse, we go dark. 702 goes down. We dont know what the terrorists are up to. We cant send that information to our authorities to prevent terrorist attacks. The consequences are really high. One of the most important things we are placed in charge to do is make decisions, not based on tv, not based on internet, based on facts, based on reality. And were supposed to make those decisions to keep our country safe. This strikes the balance that we must have between honoring and protecting privacy rights of u. S. Citizens, honoring Civil Liberties and making sure that we have the tools we need in this day and age of 21st century terrorism to keep our people safe. Thats what this does. That is why i ask everyone on a bipartisan basis to vote no on the amash amendment and representative paul ryan talks about tax reform. It will discuss the possibility of democrats retaking the house they will discuss the possibility of democrats retaking the house. Paul ryan people pay donations, they can deduct them. I cant imagine the treasury letting that happen. I think it is beyond reason to think that tax regulation would allow that to happen. I think the environment is such that the American People are looking for stability, some focus on the issues that they care about in terms of jobs and education, health care, the environment, and in terms of our National Security. Ashink they view democrats being able to provide some stability to our country and to a proper check and balance in our system, when we see a president who has trouble creating stability within the white house, much less within our government. Watched cspans interview with Speaker Paul Ryan during friday morning washington journals, and watch newsmakers sunday at 10 00 eastern. Whipnday, House Minority and a senator will hold a town hall meeting talking about the tax reform law. You can watch live coverage starting at 9 00 a. M. Eastern starting on cspan2, follow live on cspan. Org, or listen on the cspan radio app. Treasury secretary Steve Mnuchin talked to reporters during the daily briefing. He talked about the rollout of the impact on u. S. Workers. This is about 20 minutes. [captions Copyright National cable satellite corp. 2016] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. Visit ncicap. Org] thank you very much. Let me comment and say that i am pleased that i will be leading