August 03, 2007

Bush To Congress: Don't Leave Until FISA Is Fixed

As the House wrangles with a procedural spat over spending bills, President Bush is urging Congress to remain in Washington until it finishes work on a revision of the federal law governing U.S. counter-terrorism surveillance. At issue is where the power to authorize foreign wiretaps should come from: the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court or the Department of Justice.

Earlier this week, congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle unveiled competing "compromises" on how to fix the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which has been in dispute ever since it was revealed that the Bush administration was wiretapping the communications of suspected terrorists overseas without obtaining warrants.

The Boston Globe reports that details of the negotiations remain "murky" and that discussion of how to reconcile the differences between Congress and the Bush administration on the matter have largely taken place behind closed doors, due to the classified nature of the surveillance program.

Democratic leaders have expressed the desire to act on FISA before adjourning for the month of August, but with Congress taking up a host of last-minute bills today, it was unclear at press time whether they would heed Bush's request to speed the process along. Civil rights groups are pushing leaders to hold back in order to better review how revisions to existing law might impact Americans' civil liberties.

Meanwhile, there are new revelations this week about how the existing Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, the body currently responsible for overseeing foreign spy programs, has exercised its power in recent months. The Los Angeles Times picked the story up yesterday, and the Washington Post followed suit today, focusing on House Minority Leader John Boehner's disclosure of a recent FISA court ruling that judged "a key element of the Bush administration's wiretapping efforts illegal." The revelation helped explain why lawmakers are so invested in revising the law before leaving tonight.

This morning, the editorial boards of the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times and the Wall Street Journal (subscription) weighed in on the issue. And USA Today featured a debate between its editorial board and Michigan Rep. Pete Hoekstra.

While Congress is deadlocked on a number of last-minute bills today, lawmakers were able to send one key piece of anti-terrorism legislation to the White House: a bill implementing the 9/11 commission's recommendations. Bush signed the bill into law this morning.

Posted at 1:30 PM
Posted to: Congress, President Bush
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