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Advocacy Blog
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Hearings On the Protect America Act
A series of hearings are now underway intended to examine and create legislative changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in light of the Protect America Act (S.1927) that was rushed through Congress and signed into law in Aug. Yesterday the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled, "Warrantless Surveillance and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: The Role of Checks and Balances in Protecting Americans' Privacy Rights," to follow up on part one held Sept. 5. The two witnesses were Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell and Kenneth Wainstein, assistant attorney general for national security. McConnell told the Committee that the he doesn't know how many Americans' phone and e-mail conversations have been inadvertently overheard in the process of foreign-oriented surveillance.
The concern was also raised that the bill was written too broadly. A Congressional Research Service (CRS) report addresses the vague nature of the law, highlighting sections that may be open to different interpretations. TPMMuckraker.com also followed the events of yesterday's hearing.
During the Judiciary hearing Representative Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) gave some hard hitting opening remarks; "the power to invade people's privacy must not be exercised unchecked. As we consider how to fix the Protect America Act, we must restore the fundamental freedoms that have been lost because of our recklessness. We must focus surveillance on terrorist activity and provide meaningful court review to protect the rights of Americans who will be spied on in our country."
The House Select Intelligence Committee held a separate hearing yesterday, and will hold another hearing on FISA on Thursday hearing testimony from McConnell. According to CongressDaily, the House Intelligence Committee plans to mark up legislation Oct. 4 covering long-term changes to the FISA law.
Chairman Silvestre Reyes' (D-TX) press release stated, "The scope of the so-called 'Protect America Act' passed in early August is extremely troubling, and the witnesses before us today voiced strong concerns that it does not protect Americans' civil liberties and could authorize a broad range of warrantless surveillance. We also heard concerns that the House Intelligence Committee will not be able to conduct meaningful oversight if the Administration continues to deny access to critical documents about the NSA surveillance program."
Future hearings to look out for: On Thursday Sept.20 the House Select Intelligence Committee will hold a hearing at 9 am and on Tuesday Sept. 25 the Senate Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing 9:30 am.
Posted by Amanda Adams
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