Judiciary Completes Markup of FISA Revisions
October 10th, 2007 by Jesse Lee
http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=835From the Judiciary Committee:
House Judiciary Passes RESTORE Act to Implement FISA Revisions
(Washington, DC)- Today, the House Judiciary Committee passed the “RESTORE” Act - The Responsible Electronic Surveillance that is Overseen, Reviewed, and Effective Act of 2007 (H.R. 3773). The bill seeks to update the hastily passed Protect America Act and implement safeguards to protect Americans’ civil liberties while providing the tools needed to support U.S. intelligence gathering efforts. The bill was reported favorably out of the committe, in a vote of 20-14.
Upon passage and following President Bush’s remarks about today’s action, Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) said: “Those who oppose this bill are doing so for one reason: they are trying to convince Americans that those of us who support this legislation are somehow less committed to protecting this country from attack. They will pretend this bill doesn’t meet our nation’s security needs, despite the fact that it gives the Director of National Intelligence everything he said he needed.
“Americans are willing to make sacrifices to meet true national security imperatives, but they should not give up their rights unnecessarily, just to allow one political party to score points. This bill–the RESTORE Act–successfully provides the national security tools needed to go after terrorists and protects vital rights of Americans. The bill’s opponents know this but find it more convenient to pretend otherwise.”
The final bill passed with three amendments:
Jackson-Lee (TX): An amendment to clarify the bill’s language to prevent “reverse targeting” by requiring the Administration to obtain a regular FISA warrant whenever a “significant purpose of an acquisition is to acquire the communications of a specific person reasonably believed to be located in the United States” rather than waiting until said person formally becomes a target.
Nadler (NY): An amendment to improve court oversight over the government’s compliance with the FISA Court’s orders by requiring the court to assess compliance with its orders as opposed to merely authorizing it to do so and by removing limitations on its review.
Scott (VA): An amendment to the bill’s auditing and reporting requirements. The current standard is that acquisition must be with the “significant purpose” of gathering foreign intelligence. The amendment seeks to obtain information about what additional purposes for which the government may be collecting.
=====================
On Judiciary and Intelligence Committees Passing FISA Reform Bill
October 10th, 2007 by Speaker Pelosi
http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=838The Intelligence and Judiciary Committees have approved a bill to restore constitutional checks and balances to the way electronic surveillance is used to gather intelligence. The RESTORE Act gives the government all the tools necessary to acquire under the law the intelligence that can keep our country safe.
At the same time, the bill protects the privacy of Americans by putting the FISA court back in business and assuring strong oversight of surveillance activities by Congress. The two committees also reaffirmed Congress’ constitutional role by refusing to consider granting retroactive immunity to companies that participated in the President’s warrantless surveillance programs until the Administration has provided Congress with full information about those programs.
We can and must protect and defend the Constitution as we protect and defend the American people.
==========================
Conyers Hits Critics of Dem Surveillance Bill
By Spencer Ackerman - Oct 10, 2007
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004423.phpAt the mark-up of today's RESTORE bill, House Judiciary Committee chairman John Conyers (D-MI) defended the surveillance measure, which he's co-sponsoring, against criticism from both left and right (
http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/004421.php):
To those who would claim that this bill is weak on terrorism, I would say that protecting the civil rights and liberties of Americans does not show our weakness, but our strength. What the terrorists fear most is our constitution and our values, and that is what this bill protects.
To those who say that the bill is too weak on civil liberties, I say that if you trust an independent court and have faith in congressional oversight, those liberties will not be jeopardized. That is the premise our democracy was founded on, and that is exactly what this bill does.
=============================
House Judiciary Cmte. Mark Up of FISA (10/10/2007)
http://c-span.org/videoarchives.asp?CatCodePairs=,&ArchiveDays=100Chair. John Conyers (D-MI) holds a House Judiciary Cmte. mark up of pending legislation, including the draft of a bill updating the rules for electronic surveillance. This new bill would replace one passed in August that expires next year.
10/10/2007: WASHINGTON, DC: 2 hr. 43 min.
Play it now with your RealPlayer:
http://switchboard.real.com/player/email.html?PV=6.0.12&&title=House%20Judiciary%20Cmte.%20Hearing%20on%20FISA%20Markup&link=rtsp%3A%2F%2Fvideo.c%2Dspan.org%2Fproject%2Fter%2Fter101007%5Ffisa.rm
Printer-friendly format
Email this thread to a friend
Bookmark this thread
(1000+ posts)
Send PM |
Profile |
Ignore
