|
Dems regroup to overhaul FISA |
|
By Susan Crabtree
|
|
Posted: 09/06/07 07:01 PM [ET] |
The Bush administration is taking a beating for failing to explain the changes to the federal wiretapping law that Congress passed quickly before it left town for its August recess.
Congressional Democrats didn’t waste any time before revisiting the temporary fix to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that they agreed to pass amid administration claims in July and early August that terrorist chatter was heating up, just as it did before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.
The new law would allow the government to monitor suspects in national security investigations without first seeking court approval in cases when one party is reasonably believed to be abroad, a change that has alarmed privacy and civil liberties defenders. The new law expires in six months, and Democrats have made an extension beyond that a top priority, but on their terms.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.) held a hearing on the FISA changes Wednesday in part as a response to a request from Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who said the new changes are “unacceptable” and warrant “corrective action.”
At the hearing, Democrats, witnesses and at least one Republican assailed the White House for failing to explain the constitutional basis for the changes to the American people.
“The Bush administration has done an atrocious job in explaining its constitutional position in this matter,” remarked Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.).
Morton Halperin, director of the U.S. Advocacy Open Society Institute, testified that the lack of communication to the public has created a “dangerous” situation.
“This is a recipe for people to hold back … and for citizens to be fearful that their phones are being tapped and their e-mails are being read,” Halperin said.
Former Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.), a conservative who now serves as chairman of Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances, was in the odd position of siding with Democratic concerns about the FISA law expansion. He said the legislation passed in a fearful atmosphere went “far, far beyond” what was necessary to address a technological problem.
Earlier this year, a classified federal court decision found that an electronic communication between two people outside the U.S. still was subject to the FISA warrant requirements because the communication was routed through the United States.
Several Republicans and at least one witness, University of Virginia law professor Robert Turner, came to the administration’s defense. Turner, who is also a co-founder of the Center for National Security Law, argued that the executive branch has sole authority over foreign affairs including intelligence gathering, quoting from the Federalist Papers and from the writings of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison.
Turner stressed the need for intelligence officers to move quickly on information they have and argued that after the secret court ruling, the intelligence community saw a 25 percent drop in information collected. He also said obtaining a FISA warrant takes roughly 200 hours and by that time “the bomb may have already blown.”
“If bin Laden is in Pakistan and he is communicating with Joe Six-Pack in North Carolina” the administration has the right to monitor their phone calls and e-mails, Turner argued.
Conyers has agreed to hold classified hearings about the court decision and other FISA-related matters, while the House Intelligence Committee will hold a closed hearing on FISA Thursday. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) this week also announced that making changes to the new bill is a top panel priority for the fall.
|
