Colbert's Word More Truth Than Truthiness

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Senate Caves in On Telecom Immunity

Despite the efforts of Senators Chris Dodd, Pat Leahy, and Russ Feingold, the Senate has given immunity to the telecoms as prescribed by George Bush in defeating the amendment proposed by Dodd and Feingold. Fortunately the House does not have the same provision in their bill, so it ain't over.

The Washington Post reports:

Senate voted today to preserve retroactive immunity from lawsuits for
telecommunications companies that cooperated with a government eavesdropping
program, decisively rejecting an amendment that would have stripped the
provision from a bill to modernize an electronic surveillance law.

Senators voted 67 to 31 to shelve the amendment offered by Sens. Christopher J. Dodd (D-Conn.) and Russell Feingold (D-Wis.). A filibuster-proof 60 votes had been
needed for the amendment to move forward.

The vote represented a victory for the Bush administration and a number
of telecommunications companies -- including AT&T and Sprint Nextel -- that
face dozens of lawsuits from customers seeking billions of dollars in damages.

Bush Says Immunity for Telecoms Should Be #1 Priority

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."

Dodd Comes Through

From the Swamp

Against improbable odds, Chris Dodd did it.

Earlier today, the leader of his own party, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.), pushed a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act renewal bill to the floor. Reid had selected a piece of renewal legislation voted out of the Senate Intelligence Committee rather than the version of the FISA bill passed by the Judiciary Committee. And the Senate followed Reid's lead by voting in favor of cloture to cut off debate on the bill.

All throughout the day, Judiciary Democrats such as Dodd, Edward Kennedy, and Russ Feingold took aim at the bill, even as Reid professed his hope that the Senate would pass the FISA bill today, in advance of its holiday adjournment. Dodd, a margin-of-error presidential candidate, vowed to filibuster the FISA bill on the floor if it granted large telecom companies such as Verizon and AT&T immunity from civil lawsuits for allegedly cooperating with the government. The Intel Committee bill did just that.

But early this evening, Reid surrendered, saying the FISA legislation would be taken up again in January, after the recess. (Reid had pledged this morning that the Senate would take up the omnibus spending bill from the House on Tuesday.)

That is sure to upset the White House and Democratic and Republican members alike who worry that Congress is leaving itself open to accusations that it is dragging its feet in terms of national security. The White House, which supports granting immunity to the telecoms, has already complained about the delay. The temporary FISA renewal bill, the Protect America Act, expires in February. President Bush had vowed to veto the bill if it did not contain the immunity provision.

In a statement this evening, Dodd claimed victory:

“Today we have scored a victory for American civil liberties and sent a message to President Bush that we will not tolerate his abuse of power and veil of secrecy. The president should not be above the rule of law, nor should the telecom companies who supported his quest to spy on American citizens. I thank all my colleagues who joined me in fighting and winning a stay in the rush to grant retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies who may have violated the privacy rights of millions of Americans.

However, the Democratic chair of the Intelligence Committee, Sen. Jay Rockefeller (W.Va.), was not happy. It was his bill that didn't make it off the floor Monday. In a statement after Reid pulled the bill, Rockefeller said:

“I’m disappointed legislation to modernize and improve FISA will now have to wait until January. As I’ve said many times, it is one of the most important bills before Congress, and one that should not be rushed in the final hours before Protect America Act expires.

“Today’s strong 76-10 vote to cut off debate is a clear sign that the majority of Congress is ready and willing to pass this critical legislation.

The January fireworks will give Hill-watchers something to look forward to when the post-holiday doldrums set in.

Well done Senator Dodd, well done!

Senate Move Ahead on FISA Bill With Immunity to Telecoms

From Reuters

President George W. Bush's demand for immunity for telephone companies that participated in his warrantless domestic spying program won an initial victory on Monday in the U.S. Senate.

On a vote of 76-10, far more than the 60 needed, the Democratic-led Senate cleared a procedural hurdle and began considering a bill to increase congressional and judicial oversight of electronic surveillance of suspected terrorists.

It includes a provision to grant retroactive immunity to any telecommunications company that took part in Bush's spying program -- surveillance without court warrants of e-mails and telephone calls of people in the United States -- begun shortly after the September 11 attacks.

Nearly 40 lawsuits have been filed accusing AT&T, Verizon and Sprint Nextel Corp. of violating U.S. privacy rights.

Backers of immunity, who include some Democrats as well many of Bush's fellow Republicans, contend companies should be thanked, not punished, for helping defend the United States.

But civil liberties advocates and a number of Democratic lawmakers argue the courts should determine if any company violated privacy rights of law-abiding Americans.

Tell Grassley and Harkin No to Telecom Immunity

Today, the Senate started debate on S. 2248 -- the FISA Amendments Act of 2007. The bill now exists in two versions -- one that was reported out of the Intelligence Committee and one that was offered as an alternative by the Judiciary Committee. The worse of the two -- the Intelligence Committee version, containing retroactive "telecom immunity" -- is the one that will come up first.

Please call your U.S. senators now and urge them to STOP THE INTEL-PASSED S. 2248.

Sen. Charles Grassley
Phone: (202) 224-3744

Sen. Tom Harkin
Phone: (202) 224-3254

Please keep in mind that this legislation is strongly supported by the Bush-Cheney administration. Prioritize your calls accordingly -- for instance, if you have one senator who is a staunch right-wing ally of the administration and one who is a Democrat, you probably want to make sure you call the Democrat first.

Dodd Joined by Clinton, Obama

Earlier this month Dodd said, "Today’s report that Verizon provided the Bush Administration with personal information of American citizens absent judicial authorization is deeply troubling. We must be told the full extent of Verizon’s activities and what other private information they have provided to the Bush Administration.

“More troubling still is that the United States Senate would sanction those telecommunications companies that have violated the law and the privacy of our citizenry, enabling this Administration’s assault on the Constitution.”

Open Left and other blogs have been following MoveOn's challenge to the Obama and Clinton campaigns to support Senators Chris Dodd and Joe Biden on a move to filibuster the FISA bill if Telecoms have immunity.

Senator Obama has serious concerns about many provisions in this bill, especially the provision on giving retroactive immunity to the telephone companies. He is hopeful that this bill can be improved by the Senate Judiciary Committee. But if the bill comes to the Senate floor in its current form, he would support a filibuster of it.

And here's Clinton.

I am troubled by the concerns that have been raised by the recent legislation reported out of the Intelligence Committee. I haven't seen it so I can't express an opinion about it. But I don't trust the Bush Administration with our civil rights and liberties. So I'm going to study it very hard. As matters stand now, I could not support it and I would support a filibuster absent additional information coming forward that would convince me differently.