A very troubling bill that gives the government expansive rights to eavesdrop on Americans' phone calls and tap into their emails without court-ordered warrants was hurriedly passed by Congress and signed into law as Capitol Hill rushed to recess this past August. The Bush Administration-backed "Protect America Act" was intended to sunset after six months, but now Democrats seem willing to extend the legislation by several years simply because they are afraid of being called soft on terrorism by the Republicans.
Based solely on the say-so of the Attorney General or the NSA Director, the bill gives the NSA the right to wiretap an American citizen if the agency believes that the citizen could be talking to someone overseas. (I'm not making this up.)
Democrats are slated to introduce a bill today that extends for years this and other expanded spying powers out of fear that the Bush Administration might succeed in getting the law made permanent. But the Democrats, who usually support strong civil liberties, are also asking for some concessions.
First, they want a "more active role by the special foreign intelligence court that oversees the interception of foreign-based communications by the security agency." Secondly, they want quarterly audits of the program by the Justice Department inspector general.
They also want this "special" court, a shadowy tribunal if there ever was one, to approve basket or umbrella warrants that basically give the government carte blance to eavesdrop on whole classes of people or types of communications in one fell swoop. Finally, they want the Bush Administration to turn over internal documents that lay out the legal rationale for the expansive spying initiative.
Once again, telephone companies are the best bet for stopping this legislation in its tracks (given that the Democrats won't). The House and Senate may end up fighting over a provision that will be purportedly included in the Senate bill, namely a section that grants retroactive legal immunity for the telcos who participated in the NSA's initial, illegal wiretapping program.
While the earlier temporary legislation legalized the NSA's initiative, it didn't provide any retroactive legal relief for the telcos, who have been slapped with numerous lawsuits for helping the government spy on its citizens. The new Senate bill would do precisely that and, as a consequence, might meet stiff opposition in the House.
Civil liberties groups like the changes that the Democrats seek, but still oppose the pending bills.
This still authorizes the interception of Americans' international communications without a warrant in far too many instances, and without adequate civil liberties protections," said Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies...
Cynthia Brumfield at 9:46 AM|Comments(1)
Another shocking bill be pushed through in the name of the war on terror. It'll be abused and it won't help.
Posted by: db at October 9, 2007 12:52 PM
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