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Senate Republicans blocked a Democratic attempt to revive a controversial wiretapping law for 30 days on Monday night, leading to a mini-squabble on the chamber floor over the Bush administration’s program. Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) had asked for unanimous consent for the month-long extension to allow more time for House-Senate negotiations. Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) objected, saying the temporary fix was inadequate. The objection essentially blocks Reid’s extension request. The legislation updating the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) has been expired since Feb. 15, when a six-month interim law elapsed. The House has already passed its version of FISA, but the two chambers have been unable to reconcile their differences over whether to grant telecommunications companies retroactive legal immunity from invasion-of-privacy lawsuits. The House-backed legislation does not include such immunity; a Senate bill that passed by a 68-29 vote on Feb. 12 does. The move led to a brief exchange between Reid and McConnell, with each leader blaming the others’ party for the impasse. “It’s time for us to get serious and protect the companies that protect us,” McConnell said. But Reid said Republicans have refused to negotiate and President Bush has continued to act “irresponsibly” by blaming Democrats even though the law’s expiration does not affect ongoing surveillance operations. “It just appears to me, as has happened for more than seven years with this administration, that it’s the president’s way or no way -- and I’d think he would come to the realization here that it’s not going to be the president’s way,” Reid said. “Just ignoring us is no way to resolve the issue because it’s pretty clear that the House is not blinking.” |
