Subcommittee Chairman Nadler on RESTORE Act (changes to FISA)

[babylonsister]

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=829

Subcommittee Chairman Nadler on RESTORE Act
October 9th, 2007 by Jesse Lee

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, on the RESTORE Act introduced this morning:

Rep. Nadler Welcomes Introduction of RESTORE Act
Conyers-Reyes Bill Makes Meaningful Changes to FISA

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Congressman Jerrold Nadler (NY-08), Chair of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties, today welcomed the introduction of the Responsible Electronic Surveillance that is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of 2007 (RESTORE Act), introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (MI-14) and Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes (TX-16).

“The RESTORE Act, as currently drafted, crafts a careful balance between security and freedom and it makes clear that FISA is the law of the land,” said Rep. Nadler. “Chairmen Conyers and Reyes have written a bill that restores many of the freedoms that were undermined by the White House’s bill passed this August. If President Bush is serious about protecting our nation and preserving the Constitution, he will support the Conyers-Reyes bill.”

The RESTORE Act takes several steps to undo the damage done by the White House’s Protect America Act, which was stampeded through Congress in August. Specifically, the Conyers-Reyes bill reinforces the role of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in regards to electronic surveillance programs, clarifies that foreign to foreign communications do not require court approval, and requires that FISA warrants are required when targeting domestic communications.

The bill also requires periodic audits of surveillance activities by the Justice Department’s Office of the Inspector General. Additionally, the bill provides resources for the National Security Agency and the Justice Department for the purposes of processing FISA applications and other submissions to the FISA court in a timely and efficient manner, and to comply with the audit, reporting and record keeping requirements.

Also, in a key victory for civil liberties, the bill does not include immunity for telecommunications companies that may have broken the law when they participated in the President’s warrantless wiretapping program.

“This bill enhances checks and balances and better protects our national security,” Rep. Nadler added. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure this bill passes with the strongest protections possible.”

[WilliamPitt]

1. God dammit.

I agree with a good deal of that, but I *really* wish he could at least have mentioned the "umbrella warrant" problem in the bill...because it's not a small problem, and we really need the FISA firewalls in the rest of the bill, but a lot of people are gonna balk if that issue isn't resolved...hell, or even mentioned. :(

[truebrit71]

2. Do you have a link to the actual bill...maybe it's buried in there somewhere...?

:shrug:

[BuyingThyme]

3. The Senate version includes immunity for the corporations.

Keep your eyes on both balls. The last time they played this game, they basically just fucked us and went with the Senate version (so we're learning).