FOREIGN Intelligence Surveillance Act
US Senate passes wiretap bill, bowing to White House pressureWASHINGTON — The Senate on Tuesday gave in to pressure from the Bush administration and passed a controversial measure authorizing security agencies to tap
foreign telephone calls and emails while fighting terrorism.
By a vote of 68 to 29, the Senate passed the bill,
offering blanket immunity to telecommunications companies, moving it to the House of Representatives where it faces stiff opposition from some Democrats.
After heated debate, the Senate authorized the security measure, which offers blanket amnesty to the telecoms for potential violations of US laws requiring warrants to spy on US citizens -- a notion some lawmakers in the House deplore.
The House version, which Bush is threatening to veto,
offers no protection for the telecommunications industry and has more restrictions on the government's power.
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jF4GNiY9TNBjECFrD-XCJY-LM6MQ In House hearings, Micheal Chertoff says that FISA is like RADAR and the most important tool in the US arsenal for detecting terrorism.FISA has been around for nearly three decades and its earlier form does not essentially threaten the 4th Amendment.
In passing its version of the intelligence surveillance legislation on Tuesday by a vote of 68 to 29, the U.S. Senate, included a provision President Bush and Republicans seek. That provision provides immunity from prosecution to telecommunications companies that gave the U.S. government information on
American Citizens without FISA or any other court warrants.
After
a series of procedural delaying tactics by Republicans, the House finally began debating a Democrat bill to extend the existing law past the February 16 expiration date, which would be the second extension approved.
Earlier, President Bush challenged House Democrats to debate and approve the Senate-passed bill, saying the security of Americans is at stake. After a meeting with the president, House and Senate Republican leaders urged House Democrats to bring the Senate legislation to a vote. There is sufficient bipartisan majority in the House to pass the Senate bill.
Democratic House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer renewed allegations that
Senate Republicans "slow walked" progress of the legislation through chamber, to put the House in a position of having no alternative but to pass the unacceptable provisions, which protect telecommunications companies that violated the privacy of millions of US citizens.
There has also been a great deal of discussion on the lack of funding for port and border security during the House debates.
When did Bush build a fence along the Mexican border that he promised to erect years ago?
When do lawmakers begin the more serious debate to repeal USA Patriot Acts I and II? Right after 9/11 USA Patriot Act I was touted as a "temporary measure" in combating terrorism. These two acts seriously curtail freedoms guaranteed by the 4th Amendment.