From AP
Bush called on lawmakers to extend the Protect America Act when they return from vacation in January, saying the legislation "closed dangerous gaps" in collecting intelligence on terrorists overseas. But he complained that its key provisions are set to expire at the beginning of February, "as if the terrorist threat is going to go away on February the 1st, 2008."
Bush said Congress should make the bill its top priority when it returns and that it "should include liability protection for companies that are facing multibillion-dollar lawsuits only because they are believed to have assisted in the effort to defend our nation following the 9/11 attacks."
The law modified the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to allow wiretapping without a warrant from the secret FISA court when the target of the eavesdropping is a foreigner located outside the United States. The White House wants the law to protect telecommunications companies that acceded to administration requests for data.
The act is strongly opposed by civil liberties groups such as the ACLU, which charges that it "allows for massive, untargeted collection of international communications without court order or meaningful oversight by either Congress or the courts."
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