SENATORS PUSH FOR FISA BILL WITH MORE OVERSIGHT,
WITHOUT TELECOM IMMUNITY
14 Senators Urge Majority Leader to Take Up Senate Judiciary Committee
Version of FISA Bill
December 12, 2007
Washington DC – As the Senate prepares to consider legislation
to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), a group
of senators is urging Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to make the
FISA bill passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee (SJC) the base bill
to be considered on the Senate floor. The SJC bill makes significant
improvements to the FISA bill that was reported by the Senate Intelligence
Committee. It enhances judicial oversight of broad new surveillance
authorities, contains protections for innocent Americans, and does not
provide immunity to telecom companies that allegedly cooperated with
the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. The Senators
expressing their support for the SJC FISA bill in a letter to Senate
Majority Leader Reid are Senators Russ Feingold (D-WI), Chris Dodd (D-CT),
Barack Obama (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Robert Menendez (D-NJ),
Joe Biden (D-DE), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Tom Harkin (D-IA), Ben Cardin
(D-MD), Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), Daniel Akaka (D-HI), Jim Webb
(D-VA), Ted Kennedy (D-MA), and Barbara Boxer (D-CA).
“The Judiciary Committee FISA bill fixes many of the flaws of
the surveillance law we enacted in August and the new bill approved
by the Intelligence Committee. Everyone agrees that we should give our
intelligence officials the tools they need to go after suspected terrorists.
There’s no reason we can’t do that while still protecting
the privacy of innocent Americans and ensuring adequate oversight of
these broad new surveillance authorities -- and without setting the
dangerous precedent of granting retroactive immunity to companies that
allegedly participated in an unlawful program,” Senator Feingold
said.
“I strongly urge the Majority Leader to take up the Judiciary
Committee’s version of the FISA legislation. It is absolutely
essential that as the Senate begins debating reforms to FISA we do not
include retroactive immunity provisions for telecommunications companies
that may have engaged in illegal conduct. Additionally, the Judiciary
Committee’s version of the FISA legislation contains much stronger
safeguards which will serve to protect Americans against the President’s
warantless wiretapping program,” Senator Dodd said.
“The Judiciary Committee bill restores oversight and accountability
to the FISA program without unnecessarily providing retroactive immunity
to companies that cooperated with the Administration's warrantless wiretapping
program. It is my hope that this bill will be considered by the full
Senate," Senator Obama said.
“Of course we have to do everything we can to protect the American
people, but we must fight international terrorism in a way that is consistent
with our Constitution and the Bill of Rights,” Senator Bernie
Sanders said.
“I believe that the bill reported out of the Judiciary Committee
strikes the healthiest balance between protecting our national security
interests and safeguarding the basic civil and constitutional rights
of American citizens,” said Senator Webb. “The Judiciary
Committee bill also remains silent on immunity for the telecommunications
companies, which is appropriate. If there is a compelling case for immunity,
Senators supporting it will have the opportunity to make their case
on the Senate floor.”
“Congress must enact a FISA bill that will produce needed intelligence,
protect the privacy of Americans and respect the rule of law. The bill
reported out of the Judiciary Committee does those things without undermining
the structure of FISA and the rule of law by giving retroactive immunity
to phone companies that may have illegally invaded the privacy of millions
of Americans,” Senator Kennedy said.
The text of the letter is below. A copy of the letter is available
at http://feingold.senate.gov/pdf/ltr_reid_121207.pdf.
December 12, 2007
Dear Majority Leader Reid:
We understand that the Senate will shortly be considering amendments
to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. As you know, the Senate
Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Judiciary Committee
have reported very different versions of the FISA Amendments Act, S.
2248, and it is up to you, as Majority Leader, to decide how the Senate
considers this legislation.
We urge you to make the version of S. 2248 reported by the Senate Judiciary
Committee the base bill to be considered by the full Senate. While the
structure of Title I of both bills is the same, and both make improvements
over the Protect America Act, the reasonable changes to Title I made
in the Judiciary Committee ensure that the FISA Court will be able to
conduct much-needed oversight of the implementation of these broad new
surveillance authorities, and help to better protect the rights of innocent
Americans. While we appreciate the hard work that the Intelligence Committee
has done on this legislation, the process by which the Judiciary Committee
considered, drafted, amended and reported out its bill was an open one,
allowing outside experts and the public at large the opportunity to
review and comment. With regard to legislation so directly connected
to the constitutional rights of Americans, the results of this open
process should be accorded great weight, especially in light of the
Judiciary Committee’s unique role and expertise in protecting
those rights.
We also believe that the Judiciary Committee bill is preferable because
it does not provide immunity for telecom companies that allegedly cooperated
with the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. As
this is such a controversial issue, we feel it would be appropriate
to require the proponents of immunity to make their case on the floor.
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Russell D. Feingold (D-WI)
Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT)
Barack Obama (D-IL)
Bernard Sanders (I-VT)
Robert Menendez (D-NJ)
Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE)
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Tom Harkin (D-IA)
Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD)
Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)
Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI)
Jim Webb (D-VA)
Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)
Barbara Boxer (D-CA)
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