Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, said that typically has been the process, but former FBI Director James Comey did not do so when the agency began the probe into an associate of the campaign of then-candidate Donald Trump.

“Director Comey chose not to brief congressional leadership in a timely manner. I think it needs to be formalized and I think that needs to be written in law that it’s a requirement that he do that,” Stefanik said Friday after a tour of the Washington County Communications Center.

The bill is sponsored by all the Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee.

Republicans in Congress have been critical of some of the FBI’s actions to launch investigations into Trump associates leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Attorney General William Barr testified this week he would be looking into whether the Trump campaign was “spied on,” as some have claimed.

Stefanik said she supports that inquiry.

“I think there are a lot of questions that need to be asked, regarding the surveillance of individuals who are associated with the Trump campaign and the approval process in the FISA courts,” she said.

“I think we can also strengthen the FISA process to make sure we are strengthening individuals’ constitutional liberties,” she said. “I am concerned about what happened and I would define it as surveillance.”

Barr is in the process of preparing a redacted version of the report by special counsel Robert Mueller, who concluded that there was no collusion between the Trump campaign and Russians to meddle in the 2016 election. Mueller did not reach a conclusion one way or the other as to whether Trump obstructed justice in the investigation.

Stefanik said she supports the release of the full report.

“I think that’s important for the American public to have the opportunity to see the findings in the Mueller report,” she said.

Barr has said he plans to go through the report and redact grand jury testimony and other information. Stefanik said she supports as much transparency as possible.

“I think it needs to go through a declassification process, but I would call for it to be reported as much as possible, 100 percent public,” she said.

Stefanik stopped by the Washington County Communications Center to thank the dispatchers, because next week is National Public Safety Telecommunications Week.

Tim Hardy, deputy director of public safety, said the center is staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week and dispatches calls from 36 fire departments, 10 EMS agencies and nine law enforcement agencies. Last year, it responded to 126,000 calls.

“It’s a busy center for a small county,” he said.

Stefanik highlighted some of the legislation she has been working on to help dispatchers.

She joined the EMS Caucus in Congress. She also sponsored the SIREN Act, which stands for Supporting and Improving Rural EMS Needs, to provide funding to rural EMS agencies for recruitment and training of personnel and purchase of equipment, including drugs to reverse an opioid overdose, ambulances and first aid kits, according to the Govtrack.us website.

She said she has also backed the Hero Act, which would improve detection and prevention of mental health issues facing public safety officers, including post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Stefanik is also supporting the 911 Saves Act, which would reclassify dispatchers from being clerical workers in the civil service system to public safety workers.

Stefanik said she enjoyed meeting the staff.

“It was an opportunity for me to learn about their jobs and learn about the types of calls they’re getting and what they can do to help make sure they have the resources we need,” she said. “Every family has called 911 unfortunately, at some point in their life, and there are people who are hardworking and dedicated answering those phone calls.”