Good!
After several hours of contentious debate, the House on Friday narrowly passed a version of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that removes prosecutorial immunity for telecommunications companies that participated in the government's warrantless wiretap program.
Members approved H.R. 3773 by a vote of 213 to 197 Friday afternoon after a battle over whether members should vote on a House or Senate version of the bill.
At issue is a warrantless surveillance program that helped the government more easily eavesdrop on suspected terrorists after Sept. 11. Telecommunications companies cooperated with the government, and allowed the National Security Agency access to their networks without any court intervention.
The Senate passed a FISA bill recently that would grant telecommunications companies retroactive immunity for participating in the program, but the House version would requires those companies to face the music in the courtroom.
President Bush has for weeks pressured the House to adopt the Senate version of the bill, and has pledged to veto any bill that does not include retroactive immunity. A temporary FISA extension expired on February 16.
"There are few rights that are more fundamental to our democracy than the right to have protections against reasonable search and seizure, and there are few responsibilities that are more important than the government protecting us from foreign threats," House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers said during the floor debate. "I submit that the [House] measure before us does both of those and regard them as the two most important acts that we can pursue as responsible members of the Congress."
"We have a well-structured bill in front of us," Rep. Rush Holt, D-N.J., said of the House version. "It gives the telecom companies the opportunity to defends themselves in court" rather than granting immunity.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2276225,00.asp
1 comment:
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