Showdown Over FISA Expected Monday
One week from today, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) will expire unless Congress passes a new version that President Bush is willing to sign. If it expires, our intelligence gatherers here and abroad will be rendered blind and deaf because the legality of their operations will be put in limbo.
Here is what the President said about the FISA bill yesterday:
Last August, Congress passed the Protect America Act, which updated our foreign intelligence surveillance law to adapt to today’s technology and to meet today’s threats. This bipartisan legislation has aided our efforts to monitor the communications of terrorists and other foreign intelligence targets.
Unfortunately, Congress set this legislation to expire on February 1st. That is just 8 days from today - yet the threat from al Qaeda will not expire in 8 days.
If Congress does not act quickly, our national security professionals will not be able to count on critical tools they need to protect our Nation, and our ability to respond quickly to new threats and circumstances will be weakened. That means it will become harder to figure out what our enemies are doing to recruit terrorists and infiltrate them into our country.
Last fall, the Senate Intelligence Committee completed its work on a bipartisan bill to modernize our foreign intelligence surveillance law. I commend Senators Rockefeller and Bond, the Committee’s Chairman and Vice Chairman, for leading the effort to complete work on this bill.
The Senate Intelligence Committee’s bill contains many provisions that our intelligence officials say they need to protect our country. The bill would maintain the vital flow of intelligence on terrorist threats. It would protect the freedoms of Americans while making sure we do not extend those same protections to terrorists overseas. And it would provide liability protection to companies now facing billion dollar lawsuits only because they are believed to have assisted in efforts to defend our Nation following the Nine-Eleven attacks.
This bill still needs some changes, but I am optimistic that with goodwill on both sides we can make those changes quickly. So I ask Congressional leaders to follow the course set by their colleagues on the Senate Intelligence Committee, bring this legislation to a prompt vote in both houses, and send me a bill that I can sign before the Protect America Act expires on February 1st.
Congress’ action - or lack of action - on this important issue will directly affect our ability to keep Americans safe.
Here’s where we stand as of this morning on the FISA legislation:
The Senate granted at least a temporary victory to the White House on Thursday, turning back an attempt to increase court oversight of the government’s surveillance of phone calls and e-mails that involve people inside the United States.
The 60-36 vote to reject increased powers for the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court came as senators worked against a Feb. 1 deadline to extend the law governing how U.S. intelligence agencies carry out electronic eavesdropping.
Further action on the legislation was delayed until Monday, pushing Congress closer to the deadline, and leaving unresolved the most contentious issue in the bill: whether to grant legal immunity to telecommunications companies that helped the government conduct warrantless surveillance.
The Bush administration is insisting that any new law protect from potentially crippling civil lawsuits those telecom companies that helped the government eavesdrop on Americans after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
So Monday this whole thing is gonna come to a head. The left-wing nuts are hell bent on preventing the immunity for the telecom companies from being included in the bill.
The President has promised to veto any FISA bill that doesn’t include immunity for the telecom companies and I hope he sticks to his promise.
After 9/11 the Justice Department met with major telecom companies and asked them to participate in a secret program that would allow the NSA to intercept terrorist phone calls. Normally, a FISA warrant is required to legally conduct this type of surveillance.
However, the President used his power to go around the FISA courts and promised the telecom companies that if they agreed to help, they would not be put in any legal jeopardy if the secret program ever came to light.
As with everything in this country the program was eventually leaked to the NY Times and predictably the Democrats began foaming at the mouth and holding endless hearings.
Also predictably, the ACLU thugs filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the major telecoms for “illegally spying on Americans” which is total bullsh*t.
So many months later a bill that amends the FISA legislation and allows the NSA to wiretap without having to go around the FISA courts is in the Senate.
The only sticking point in the bill is the retroactive immunity for the telecom companies. President Bush believes that the companies who agreed to help the government after 9/11 in good faith, should be protected for the help they have already given.
Democrats who don’t really give a rip about fighting the war on terror would love to see the telecom companies be sued into financial ruin because they dared to help the Bush Administration.
Furthermore, the crazy left-wing/America Hating websites encourage people to flood the Senate with emails and phone calls to resist the bill.
The Hot Joints would like to urge everyone to use the numbers below to make your voice heard on this issue. Tell the Congress to do what’s right for America and support cloture on the FISA bill.
-Chris Jones
Toll free numbers for Congress:
1 (800) 828-0498
1 (800) 459-1887
1 (800) 614-2803
1 (866) 340-9281
1 (866) 338-1015
1 (877) 851-6437
Senate switchboard: 202-224-3121
Here are a couple of good articles worth reading about this issue:
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