Edwards Rails Against FISA Bush Pushes Expanded Measures

According to the Hill

Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) is laying the groundwork to attack Democratic presidential front-runners Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (N.Y.) and Barack Obama (Ill.) on some of the key issues that they will be forced to vote on during the primary season.

Edwards on Thursday said it is “time for Senate Democrats to show a little backbone and stand up to George W. Bush and the corporate lobbyists” on a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) measure that would give retroactive immunity to telecommunications corporations.

The Senate is currently debating an extension of FISA legislation enacted last year that is set to expire on Feb. 1.

By criticizing the bill now, Edwards puts himself in a position to criticize Clinton and Obama for not doing enough to fight against corporate interests if the legislation passes. However, Clinton and Obama do not support giving immunity to the telecommunications companies.

The former senator also criticized a tentative deal reached Thursday between Democrats and Republicans on a stimulus package aimed to boost the ailing economy.

The Hill also reports:

President Bush on Thursday pressured Congress to pass quickly legislation to overhaul the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which the Senate is debating.

“If Congress does not act quickly, our national security professionals will not be able to count on critical tools they need to protect our nation, and our ability to respond quickly to new threats and circumstances will be weakened,” Bush said in a statement.

Congress passed last August a GOP-written interim FISA bill, set to expire Feb. 1, that greatly expanded the government’s powers to conduct warrantless surveillance on U.S. soil. It quickly drew criticism from many Democrats and civil liberties groups.

The House passed a Democratic-written bill last fall, while the bill pending in the Senate passed by a bipartisan vote in the Senate Intelligence Committee. The bill would, among other things, grant retroactive immunity to the telecommunications firms that participated in the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program after Sept. 11, 2001 – a key priority for the White House.

Many Democrats oppose that provision and will try to alter, if not strike, the immunity language through amendments.