House defeats stopgap extension of spy program

House defeats stopgap extension of spy program
Bush plays hardball on FISA legislation
Dueling FISA Commentary

HOUSE DEFEATS STOPGAP EXTENSION OF SPY PROGRAM
[SOURCE: Reuters, AUTHOR: Richard Cowan and Jeremy Pelofsky]
In a victory for President George W. Bush, the House of Representatives on Wednesday defeated a Democratic bid to temporarily extend an expiring spy law instead of replacing it with a new measure that also would immunize telephone companies from lawsuits. Working against a Saturday deadline when the Protect America Act expires, the House voted 229-191 against a 21-day extension. Thirty-four Democrats joined with Republicans to defeat the bill. The chief objection by the majority of House Democrats to the Senate version of the bill has been the immunity it offers to telecommunications companies. About 40 civil lawsuits have been filed accusing AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Sprint Nextel Corp. of violating Americans' privacy rights by helping the warrantless domestic spying program that Bush secretly began shortly after 9/11/01. House Democrats say the courts should decide whether companies violated the law.
http://www.reuters.com/article/politicsNews/idUSN1335251820080213
* Eavesdropping Law Is Likely to Lapse
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/14/washington/14fisa.html?ref=todayspaper
* Republicans scuttle surveillance bill lacking telco immunity
http://www.news.com/8301-13578_3-9871532-38.html?part=rss&subj=news&tag=...
* House Rejects Short Term Extension of Protect America Act
The House of Representatives today rejected a three-week extension of the Protect America Act -- the legislation it passed in August at the request of the President to expand NSA surveillance authorities. Although the Protect America Act expires in just three days, the President had threatened to veto any extension of the law in an effort to pressure the House to accept deeply flawed legislation passed yesterday in the Senate. In a statement released yesterday, CDT criticized the Senate bill because it fails to provide adequate protections for the international communications of Americans, and because it grants immunity to telecoms that assisted with illegal warrantless surveillance.
CDT Statement on Senate Passage of FISA Amendment Act: http://www.cdt.org/press/20080212press.php

BUSH PLAYS HARDBALL ON FISA LEGISLATION
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Klaus Marre]
In a move that puts great pressure on the House, President Bush said Wednesday that he would not sign any more temporary extensions to legislation updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). President Bush praised the Senate for passing a long-term FISA fix Tuesday by a “wide, bipartisan” majority. He added that there is “no reason” why the House could not “immediately” pass the same bill. Congress last summer passed a FISA update but, in the hopes of revisiting the issue, included a sunset provision that would have let it expire earlier this year. When work on a long-term bill was not completed by the deadline, congressional leaders and the White House agreed to a two-week extension. However, President Bush’s statement indicates that he has had enough. He blasted the House for having “failed to pass a good bill” since last summer. A main sticking point is a provision included in the Senate legislation that would provide retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with the government. President Bush said the companies “won't help protect America” without such liability protection.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/bush-plays-hardball-on-fisa-legislat...
* Bush urges House to OK telecom amnesty
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20080214/a_capcol14.art.htm
* President Bush Discusses Protect America Act
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2008/02/20080213.html

DUELING FISA COMMENTARY
* Time for Legislating (Wash Post)
[Commentary] President "Bush's pass-it-now-or-the-terrorists-will-win rhetoric is overheated fearmongering. He should agree to a second extension, which would allow intelligence agencies to operate under the existing law. The fact is that even if the law is permitted to expire Saturday, as scheduled, the orders under which surveillance is being conducted would remain in place. Any new orders could be issued by the FISA court, and without the backlog that had slowed the court's operations before the Protect America Act was passed last August. Allowing legislators a few more weeks to try to resolve differences presents no evident threat to U.S. security. A few more weeks could even produce a better bill."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/13/AR200802...
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* Telecoms acted in good faith (Sen Kit Bond (R-MO)
[Commentary] The House should agree to the Senate version of the FISA update without immunity for telecommunications companies. "We need these companies' cooperation in acquiring electronic communications of foreign terrorists overseas planning to strike at us here at home."
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20080214/oppose14.art.htm
* Bush uses scare tactics to railroad flawed spying act (USA Today editorial)
[Commentary] President Bush is rarely as vivid about the specter of terrorism as he is when he's trying to stampede Congress into doing something it should think twice about.... Bush is pressing the House to accept the Senate bill and refusing to temporarily extend the current law, which expires on Saturday. That's irresponsible. The House and Senate need time to negotiate their differences because the House has no telecom immunity provision. Bush's implication that expiration of the law would expose the nation to terrorist danger is worse than disingenuous: The eavesdropping authorizations under the law continue for a year. Crucial decisions about civil liberties in an age of terror shouldn't be driven by fear-mongering.
http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/news/20080214/edit14.art.htm
* A showdown on spying (SF Chronicle)
[Commentary] First torture and now wiretaps. The White House followed last week's refusal to rule out waterboarding by bullying the Senate into widening a wiretap program and granting immunity to telecommunications companies that went along with the warrantless surveillance. Both are dark chapters in annals of civil liberties and due process. But it's not over yet: The House - and specifically Speaker Nancy Pelosi - must hold the line by refusing to sign off on the Senate-approved wiretap rules.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/02/14/ED01V1MJM.DT...