Debate and Delays in Efforts to Rollback Warrantless Wiretapping
The U.S. House of Representatives was poised to vote on the RESTORE Act on Wednesday when it was pulled from the floor in response to a "poison pill" that would have carved out an exemption to permit intelligence officials to conduct any surveillance needed to prevent bin Laden or Al Qaeda from attacking the United States.
The House legislation, in the words of Lisa Graves, Deputy Director at the Center for National Security Studies, "would go a long way to ameliorate the flaws in the [Protect America Act that temporarily legalized warrantless wiretapping] while requiring a retroactive audit . . . about the President’s Program." It would have sunset in 2009, and was criticized for allowing year-long "blanket warrants" instead of individualized warrants as existed prior to the recently enacted Protect America Act.
President Bush had threatened to veto the House version, and announced yesterday an agreement with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee to provide full immunity to telecommunications companies that handed over customer data to the government so long as they had followed government orders, even if the requests came without traditional supporting legal documents.
The Senate Intelligence Committee approved the legislation that grants the Attorney General the ability to immunize telecommunications companies; the legislation must still be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee before going to the floor.
In addition, allegations surfaced that the government may have punished telecommunications companies that resisted government directives the company concluded were likely illegal. The government reimbursed at least one telecommunications company, Comcast, $1,000 for the first month and $750 for each additional month per intercept; Verizon alone turned over information 94,000 times from January 2005 to September 2007.
The House legislation, in the words of Lisa Graves, Deputy Director at the Center for National Security Studies, "would go a long way to ameliorate the flaws in the [Protect America Act that temporarily legalized warrantless wiretapping] while requiring a retroactive audit . . . about the President’s Program." It would have sunset in 2009, and was criticized for allowing year-long "blanket warrants" instead of individualized warrants as existed prior to the recently enacted Protect America Act.
President Bush had threatened to veto the House version, and announced yesterday an agreement with members of the Senate Intelligence Committee to provide full immunity to telecommunications companies that handed over customer data to the government so long as they had followed government orders, even if the requests came without traditional supporting legal documents.
The Senate Intelligence Committee approved the legislation that grants the Attorney General the ability to immunize telecommunications companies; the legislation must still be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee before going to the floor.
In addition, allegations surfaced that the government may have punished telecommunications companies that resisted government directives the company concluded were likely illegal. The government reimbursed at least one telecommunications company, Comcast, $1,000 for the first month and $750 for each additional month per intercept; Verizon alone turned over information 94,000 times from January 2005 to September 2007.
Written By:Carolyn Kay On October 20, 2007 3:05 AM
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Senator Dodd has put a hold on the Senate bill, and has threatened to filibuster if the leadership ignores his hold.
Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com