House Democrats stall on FISA vote

HOUSE DEMOCRATS STALL ON FISA VOTE
[SOURCE: The Hill, AUTHOR: Jackie Kucinich]
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) has postponed a vote to amend the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for at least a week, and a Hoyer aide told The Hill there was no indication the bill would go back to the floor “anytime soon.” The bill was pulled after Republicans introduced a motion to recommit that any changes to FISA would exempt al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Because of the way the motion was written, it would have effectively killed the bill had it passed. But many Democrats would have had a hard time opposing such a motion and then explaining it to voters. Hoyer’s spokeswoman also denied that House Democratic leaders were waiting on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will start its markup of the bill’s Senate version Wednesday. The Senate Intelligence panel has passed a FISA rewrite that includes limited retroactive immunity for telecommunications firms that cooperated with the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program. Many Democrats oppose that provision, which is not in the House bill, and some on the Senate Judiciary panel may try to change or strip that language.
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