According to the Washington Post, Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) last night abruptly withdrew legislation that would have given AT&T and Verizon legal immunity for their role in the government’s domestic spying program.
According to Senator Chris Dodd:
“Today we have scored a victory for American civil liberties and sent a message to President Bush that we will not tolerate his abuse of power and veil of secrecy. The President should not be above the rule of law, nor should the telecom companies who supported his quest to spy on American citizens”.
Senator Dodd is against the immunity provision and continues to rail against it, notes Broadband Reports and his own YouTube video (below).
After the House passed surveillance legislation that did not include retroactive immunity, the National Republican Senatorial Committee accused House Democrats running for the Senate of “putting the rights of known terrorists ahead of the safety and security of Americans.”
The White House said FISA Legislation is Necessary to Keep Our Nation Safe in a Fact Sheet today. “The intelligence community cannot go it alone,” wrote Mike McConnell, the director of national intelligence, in a New York Times Op-Ed article Monday, urging Congress to pass the immunity provision.
Democratic leaders had hoped to complete an overhaul of the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act before recessing for the year, since the current law governing the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance program is set to expire in early February.
The Senate voted 76-10 to invoke cloture. The ten Senators who voted against immunity for phone companies were Barbara Boxer (CA), Sherrod Brown (OH), Maria Cantwell (WA), Ben Cardin (MD), Chris Dodd (CT), Russ Feingold (WI), Tom Harkin (IA), John Kerry (MA), Bob Menendez (NJ), and Ron Wyden (OR).
The EFF is suing AT&T for allegedly helping the NSA wiretap the internet, a suit that is now awaiting a decision from the U.S. Ninth Circuit Appeals Court, which will likely rule in the coming weeks if the suit can continue despite the government’s arguments that the suit puts “state secrets” at risk.
Vote on the bill will be delayed until next year while both sides work on a compromise. Blogrunner has more on The Battle Over FISA and Eavesdropping Protection for Phone Companies.
.gif)
