CQ TODAY PRINT EDITION
Corrected June 23, 2008 – 6:05 a.m.
FISA Overhaul Set to Clear Senate
By Tim Starks, CQ Staff
Despite a deep divide among Democrats, the Senate is expected to clear legislation this week overhauling electronic surveillance rules that would grant President Bush much of what he has sought in a lengthy struggle with Congress.
With no senators threatening to hold up the bill (
The bill to rewrite the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA, PL95-511) would almost certainly lead to the dismissal of lawsuits against telecommunications companies accused of aiding the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program. In the House, the measure passed with the support of 105 Democrats and 188 Republicans.
Senators agreed to take up the measure quickly and could clear it as early as Monday.
If the Senate clears the bill, it will give Bush much of what he wants in terms of spying powers and protection for the telecommunications companies.
“My director of national intelligence and the attorney general tells me that this is a good bill,” Bush said on June 20, shortly before the House passed the measure. “It will help our intelligence professionals learn our enemies’ plans for new attacks. It ensures that those companies whose assistance is necessary to protect the country will themselves be protected from liability for past or future cooperation with the government.”
Opponents Counted on Obama
With Congress on the verge of delivering the bill to Bush’s desk, some opponents had sought out Obama to take a stand.
“I would call on Senator Obama to be as vocal as possible in the coming days and weeks and lead his party on this issue,” Kevin Bankston, a senior staff attorney with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said prior to Obama’s announcement that he would support the bill. The foundation has filed one of the lawsuits against the telecoms.
Obama voted against the White House-backed bill that passed the Senate in February (
While a statement released by his campaign acknowledged that the new legislation would probably result in immunity for the companies, Obama indicated he would support the measure but monitor its results.
“It is not all that I would want,” Obama said. “But given the legitimate threats that we face, providing effective intelligence collection tools with appropriate safeguards is too important to delay.”
Obama said he would try to get the immunity provision stripped, but previous votes to do so in the Senate have failed.
House members who voted against the bill said its expansion of the president’s surveillance powers would gut Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable searches and seizures.
“This bill scares me to death,” said Rep. Barbara Lee , D-Calif.
But supporters said the measure was an improvement over the earlier Senate bill, which contained less court and congressional oversight. Some conservative Democrats have been pressing House leaders to take up that legislation all year long, and House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer , a Maryland Democrat, said their support for that bill forced Democratic negotiators into a reluctant compromise.
“It’s not a happy occasion, but it’s the work we have to do,” said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi , D-Calif. She said the debate on the legislation was “valuable for making the bill better, if not good enough, but certainly preferable to the alternative we have.”
Immunity for Telecoms Assured
Under the bill, a federal district court would rule that all existing lawsuits against third parties that assisted Bush’s warrantless surveillance program would be waived if there was “substantial evidence” they received written assurances that the program was legal and authorized by the president. A Senate Intelligence Committee report on an earlier version of the legislation detailed how the companies had received such assurances from the Justice Department and the White House. Aides and lawmakers consider the court’s dismissal of the lawsuits a virtual certainty.
The legislation also would allow warrantless surveillance of foreigners who may be communicating with people in the United States. Before any such surveillance could begin, the secret FISA court would review the executive branch’s targeting and “minimization” procedures. “Minimization” is a term describing how the government reduces retention and dissemination of information on U.S. citizens.
The administration could begin its surveillance before the FISA court review under a declaration of “exigent,” or urgent, circumstances.
The prior court reviews of the lawsuits and surveillance procedures were concessions that Republicans resisted during negotiations with Democrats but are among provisions that they later accepted.
First posted June 20, 2008 5:25 p.m.
Correction
Corrects bill number in second paragraph.
Comments
Barack Obama is moving to the center, and House Democrats CANNOT deliver on ANY promises they made to their voters in order to win back Congress!
"We The People" know that 24% of the electorate are die-hard suicide voters for the Fascists in charge of the government, but we never expected that so many Democrats would commit political suicide by voting for the FISA bill. The Fascists are snickering and laughing at those Democrats and now know they have a better chance in the General Election. Voting by the Democrats has put themselves in this trap, which they cannot escape from. The Democrats that voted for this unjust bill will lose their jobs because their Democratic constituents will not vote for them. Obama may win the general election but the Democrats just lost the House and maybe the Senate. Gawd!, what were they thinking? Where is their intelligence?
Ghostcommander - I couldn't agree more. I thought it MIGHT have been time for the democrats to stand-up and protect our civil liberties and to fulfill their constitutional duty of congressional oversight. We need to hold our Democratic leaders accountable. I wrote Mr. Chaka Fattah, my representative in PA, applauding him for his vote against the bill. I also urged Mr. Fattah to fire Nancy Pelosi, who is weak and spineless. Unfortunately, I know Mr. Casey (PA) in the Senate will vote for it. His record on past surveillance bills has been abysmal.
Between us, my partner and I have sent nearly $2,500 to Sen. Obama for his campaign and planned to send as much for the general election. Now I don't think we will. We will certainly vote for him in November, but his recent statements and decisions are betraying an uncomfortable (for us) shift from progressive pragmatic to purely political decisions. My disappointment is not enough to take down the signs in front of our house but I fear that day is coming soon.
H.R. 6304 which revises FISA is revolting to read. It allows our Government to spy on U.S. citizens without a warrant for up to 60 days. It gives the telecom companies immunity by allowing them to have lawsuits dismissed upon submitting a document to the Court saying the Government told them it was OK to conduct surveillance on millions of Americans. The legislation would also require Inspectors General of the various agencies spying on Americans to conduct a review of their policies and report back to Congress. The only problem is that these reports will be whitewashed if they are ever even created. This is a direct assault on the 4th Amendment and for the life of me I cannot understand why Dems are so willing to go along with it?!!
This is not government--this is predation. You can't just blame the Bush regime anymore, the whole system is corrupt. It has been corrupt for a long time. Voting is naive ritual...it's just a TV show.Until you wake up to that obvious reality you are just day dreaming.
Internal surveilence had had but one purpose: to keep tabs on all electronic traffic that might contain INSIDER IN- FORMATION about who pulled off 9/11; i.e., to stop any INSIDER WHO MIGHT WISH TO SPILL THE BEANS ABOUT HOW THOSE ATTACKS WERE CARRIED OUT IN THE FACE OF A 30-BILLION DOLLAR SPY NETWORK IN THE U.S., --FOR PROTECTING AMERICANS FROM SUCH AN ATTACK. That's why Bush & Company wished to spy on American citizens, and why why wish to continue spying.
BOTH parties forget who voted them into office. I think we do not need Big Brother on this grand scale when Granny gets searched at the airport and Middle Eastern types get the VIP treatment. I'm voting for a third party candidate, so many of our elected officals have sold their soul and their country for money, power and votes ! It's time for a change aright, OUT with almost all of you !
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