There is a storm brewing on Capitol Hill as some Democratic Senators take a firm stance against the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) overhaul passed by the house last week. The controversial legislation has received criticism from some prominent Senators as well as the American Civil Liberties Union.
Connecticut Democrat Chris Dodd and Wisconsin Democrat Russ Feingold released a joint statement Tuesday, calling the FISA compromise "deeply flawed."
"This is a deeply flawed bill, which does nothing more than offer retroactive immunity by another name," the Senators wrote. "We strongly urge our colleagues to reject this so-called 'compromise' legislation and oppose any efforts to consider this bill in its current form."
The Senators added that they opposed efforts to end debate on the bill, although should it pass they will offer an amendment that would remove retroactive immunity from the bill.
The House passed a controversial update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Friday, approving the most sweeping overhaul of the act since its creation three decades ago.
The update passed 293 to 129, ending months of bitter debate over the power of government intelligence. The agreement allows the government to spy on people within the United States, as well as providing legal immunity to companies like Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) and AT&T Inc. (T) following their compliance with the National Security Agency in granting access to phone records without customer's permission.
The overhaul also allows the U.S. government to eavesdrop on its citizens without a warrant as well as allowing for surveillance on U.S. to overseas calls, although only to collect intelligence on matters of national security.
The compromise has support from both the White House and the telecommunications providers, who face up to 40 lawsuits should immunity not be granted. It includes a provision that allows a federal district court to review the legality behind granting the companies immunity after they aided the government in the wiretapping program. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the NSA spy program eavesdropped on conversations without an order from that secret court.
Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, also signaled his opposition to the legislation.
"The bill presented to the Senate seems intended to result in the dismissal of ongoing cases against the telecommunications carriers that participated in the warrantless wiretapping program, without allowing a court ever to review whether the program itself was legal," he said in a statement Wednesday. "Thus, the bill would have the affect of ensuring that this administration is never called to answer for its actions - never held accountable in a court of law."
"I do not support that result," Leahy added.
Despite opposition, the Senate is expected to pass the bill this week. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Wednesday that she thinks more debate would be "healthy," even if the measure is still passed.
"It would be healthy if (the public) heard more about it… even if the resolution is the same," the California Democrat said.
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