White House: Retroactive Liability Protection Is Critical to Our National Security

Congress should act quickly to pass the crucial long-term FISA modernization bill to keep our Nation safe. The strong bipartisan legislation passed in the House provides the Intelligence Community with the tools it needs to secure our Nation while protecting the liberties of Americans. This bill also provides the necessary legal protections for those companies sued in the aftermath of 9/11. Liability protection is a fair and just result and is necessary to ensure the continued assistance of the private sector. Three possible amendments to the FISA update threaten the bill's liability protection: 1) The Dodd/Feingold/Leahy amendment proposes to entirely eliminate retroactive liability protection from the bipartisan House intelligence legislation. 2) The Specter Amendment would continue to leave companies vulnerable to unwarranted and unfair lawsuits. 3) The Bingaman amendment would unnecessarily postpone a decision on whether to provide liability protection to telecommunications companies.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/07/20080708-7.html