Posted by D. Cupples | President Bush talks about how important the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is to our nation's security. His actions show that Telecom Amnesty is far more important to him, which is why he repeatedly threatened to veto any FISA bill that didn't include immunity for Telecom companies that illegally helped his Administration tap Americans' phone calls and emails.
In January, the truly Democrat-controlled House passed a FISA bill that didn't include Telecom Amnesty. Mr. Bush persuaded Republicans (and some Democrats) in the evenly divided Senate to pass a FISA bill with Telecom Amnesty -- instead of encouraging them to pass a temporary extension of FISA. The House Speaker commented:
"All Members of Congress fully understand and support our responsibility to protect the American people and the need for the President, the Congress, and policymakers to have the best possible intelligence to fight terrorism.
"On Friday, a surveillance law insisted upon by the President last August will expire. Today, an overwhelming majority of House Democrats voted to extend that law for three weeks so that agreement could be reached with the Senate on a better version of that law. The President and House Republicans refused to support the extension and therefore will bear the responsibility should any adverse national consequences result.
"However, even if the Protect America Act expires later this week, the American people can be confident that our country remains safe and strong. Every order entered under the law can remain in effect for 12 months from the date it was issued.
"Furthermore, the underlying Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which provides for the surveillance of terrorists and provides that in emergencies surveillance can begin without warrant, remains intact and available to our intelligence agencies. Unlike last August, the FISA court has no backlog of cases, and thus can issue necessary court orders for surveillance immediately. (Speaker's blog)
Memeorandum has other bloggers' commentary: Eschaton, Daily Kos and AMERICAblog
Other BN-Politics Posts:
* Domestic Spying Started Before 9/11 & Money Changed Hands
* U.S. Intel Chief Made False Statements re: Domestic Spying
* FBI Made Hundreds of Data-Mining Errors
* What Would Nixon Have Done with this Technology?
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