Dodd's Filibuster Threat Scuttles Telcom Immunity In Senate, For Now

[Purveyor]

After nearly 10 hours of discussion Monday, the Senate decided to delay a final vote on a controversial domestic spying bill until the new year, under the threat of a protracted filibuster from Sen. Chris Dodd.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid spent the afternoon Monday huddling with Senate leaders and fellow Democrats to try to work out a deal over an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. As the FISA update was written, it included a provision for legal immunity to telecommunications companies that facilitated a warrantless wiretapping scheme that Dodd and other Democrats said was illegal.

"We have tried to work through this process, and it appears quite clear that on this bill we are not going to be able to do that," Reid said around 7:30 p.m. Monday, after Senators had spent the day debating propositions of the FISA update.

Dodd, a dark-horse presidential candidate, canceled campaign events in Iowa and spent the day urging his colleagues to block a proposal to shield phone and Internet companies that gave the National Security Agency private call and e-mail records from an unknown number of Americans under the program President Bush authorized after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The 64-year-old Connecticut senator indicated he would have been willing to keep the floor all night if needed to prevent the immunity provision from moving through the senate.

"I rarely come to the floor with this much anger," Dodd said. "I've never seen contempt of the rule of law such as this."

---EOE---

http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Dodds_filibuster_threat_scuttles_immunity_in_1217.html

[The Magistrate]

1. Good Work By Sen. Dodd, Sir!

[Patsy Stone]

2. Hear, Hear!

:toast:

[old guy]

3. Hope this is the first of many stands against * tyranny.

[TahitiNut]

4. "The 64-year-old Connecticut senator..."??? Since he was born May 27, 1944, he's 63, not 64.

:shrug: A mere child.