GOP Opposes Attempt To Revise Wiretap Law

[DeepModem Mom]

Source: Washington Post

By Ellen Nakashima
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 10, 2007; Page A04

A House Democratic effort to revise the nation's new foreign intelligence surveillance law met swift resistance yesterday from the White House, Republican lawmakers and even some party members. The GOP leaders of both chambers said the bill introduced yesterday by the chairmen of the House intelligence and Judiciary committees seeks to impose restrictions that would impede intelligence and law enforcement efforts to prevent a terrorist attack.

Meanwhile, Rep. Rush D. Holt (D-N.J.), a member of the House intelligence panel, and a handful of other Democrats introduced a competing bill that would impose even more surveillance restrictions than those endorsed by the committee leaders.

The Democratic chairmen said their bill is an attempt to fix the temporary Protect America Act, which was passed under White House pressure in August with a February expiration date. The Bush administration wants to make the act permanent.

Like that law, the chairmen's legislation would expand the government's ability to intercept the communications of intelligence targets overseas. It would do so by allowing officials to request from the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court a blanket warrant for a foreign target: a person, group, cell or government of interest to an intelligence investigation.

But unlike the Protect America Act, the bill would require court approval for the procedures to be used by the government in selecting those who would be subject to surveillance, as well as the procedures to be used to minimize or protect the information derived from U.S. citizens' calls and e-mails that are inadvertently intercepted. It would also require court approval for the guidelines by which the government obtains a warrant to wiretap a person in the United States....

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/09/AR2007100901956.html?hpid=sec-politics

[skyounkin]

1. Like

what we had before 6 years of the idiot king?

nice.

[robinlynne]

15. oh no, not quite.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Well, if the republicans don't like the "new" updated bill, they

don't have to vote for it, and the current law can lapse and FISA as it used to be can control once again.

[earthside]

8. "We don't have the votes."

That's what I'm afraid we will hear from the Democratic Congressional leadership again on this issue.

Indeed, since the bill sunsets, they don't have to bring up any bill at all! But just like with the Iraq occupation funding, Reid makes it sound like they must have 60 votes to deny Bush what he wants.

I have to agree with another post here ... Bush is far from a lameduck, he's getting everything he wants. Taking the threat of impeachment "off the table" was the dumbest strategic mistake made in politics in a long time. Bullies like Bush/Cheney take any sign of 'civility' as weakness and just keep going with their belligerent ways. So, until impeachement is officially put back on the table, the Democrats in Congress are going to continue to get rolled by the Bushites and radical Republicans ... sad to say.

[lostnfound]

3. a nitpicking comment: "met swift resistance"..choice of words

always paints Republicans as strong and decisive. Would it ever be said that the Dems gave "swift resistance" to anything?

[FiveGoodMen]

13. Does swift token resistance before total capitulation count?

[lostnfound]

19. Actually, at least I would recognize some truth in that statement

if it appeared in the newspaper, which it wouldn't.

Thank God for the Internets.

[ixion]

4. The GOP hates us for our freedoms

and are doing everything they can to make sure that they curtail every last one.

[Supersedeas]

11. trust Booosh....you can trust Boooosh....give him even more of your freedoms

[Vinca]

5. Mistake #1: Passing the bill in the first place.

They ought to let it lapse, but of course they won't because they'll be accused of being "soft on terror."

[robinlynne]

16. The rpoblem with just letting it lapse, is that it has a 12 month extension

where Bush can continue to wiretap anyone and everyone he is wiretapping right now. That goes right up till the election.

[Triana]

6. Well. The damn bill should have NEVER been passed in August! I said then..

...that once that THING is passed it will NEVER be rescinded or changed. Democrats should NOT have passed it - NOW we're STUCK with the damned thing. Just like I KNEW we would be.

Idiots.

[Faygo Kid]

7. All this crap about a "weakened president" is just that. He gets whatever he wants. Period.

If I hear one more NPR report about how Bush is "weakened" I will scream. He gets what he wants. The GOP members of Congress are his worshippers, and the Dems are his dupes. All this is leading up to a very, very bad ending; there is no opposition in his party whatsoever, and there is only cowardice from the Dems.

I miss Paul Wellstone.

[MidwestTransplant]

9. Fear any law that has in the title "protect America" "protect Children" or "Patriot"

[NoodleyAppendage]

10. Rush Holt (D-NJ) -- TRAITOR to Constitutional freedoms. Thanks NJ!

The ghost of past fascist regimes would like to thank the voters of NJ for electing a traitorous Dem to office. You make us proud, Hitl...er, I mean Holt.

[robinlynne]

17. You have it BACKWARDS. Holt wrote the good bill which the ACLU supports. The dem

"leaders" didn't even bother to let Holt's bill come to a vote.

[NoodleyAppendage]

18. Whoops! My bad...capitulate, capitulate and apologize.

The traitors appear to be those who worked against Holt.

J

[MsMagnificent]

12. WTF?!

it's much more difficult getting these laws repealed than keeping them out in the first place.
Democratic politicians cannot be unaware of this -- so for the life of me I can't understand why they rolled over without so much as a real push-back in the first place!

And as for these cynical ideas which pop into my head every so often (where's my :tinfoilhat:? : )
I simply do not want to imagine that they could possibly be true!

It is very, very sad when politicians believe the Beltway's, and their own, propaganda

...or is it even more nefarious --perhaps evil-- than that?


These are crazy, bizarro-world times... in both parties.

[november3rd]

14. Work the phones

Intelligence 202-225-7690

Silvestre Reyes, Chairman Democrat Texas
Alcee L. Hastings, Vice Chairman Democrat Florida
Leonard L. Boswell Democrat Iowa
Robert E. (Bud) Cramer, Jr Democrat Alabama
Anna G. Eshoo Democrat California
Select Committee on Intelligence

Rush D. Holt Democrat New Jersey
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger Democrat Maryland
John Tierney Democrat Massachusetts
Mike Thompson Democrat California
Jan Schakowsky Democrat Illinois
Jim Langevin Democrat Rhode Island
Patrick Murphy Democrat Pennsylvania
Peter Hoekstra, Ranking Member Republican Michigan
Terry Everett Republican Alabama
Heather Wilson Republican New Mexico
Mac Thornberry Republican Texas
John McHugh Republican New York
Todd Tiahrt Republican Kansas
Mike Rogers Republican Michigan
Darrell Issa Republican California

Judiciary Committee 202-225-3951


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