Wednesday, October 17, 2007

House Debating RESTORE Act for Vote Today

For 90 minutes this morning (Oct.17) the House will debate the RESTORE Act, HR 3773, the surveillance bill meant to fix some of the problems with the Protect America Act (PAA), amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Yesterday the Rules committee decided to go ahead with floor consideration of the bill without allowing lawmakers the chance to try to alter it. The only changes allowed have already occurred, with combining the two slightly different versions approved by the House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees last week. Additionally, an amendment will be included in the rule for floor debate that would allow a court to issue temporary surveillance orders when an application is under appeal. It would also require any administration request for assistance from telecommunications companies to cite the section of law with which it is in compliance.

During the Rules Committee numerous amendments were blocked much like those offered during the mark up hearings last week. One would have offered retroactive legal immunity to companies that participated in the National Security Agency's surveillance program. Unfortunately an amendment that would have required individual warrants for communications where one party is a U.S. citizen was also voted down.

The Bush administration has threatened to veto the bill if it passes in its current form. In a statement issued Oct.16; "The bill does not result in permanent FISA modernization and it contains no retroactive liability provision. H.R. 3773 therefore falls far short of providing the Intelligence Community with the tools it needs to collect foreign intelligence effectively from individuals located outside the United States."

Civil libertarian groups have split. The ACLU has come out in opposition to the RESTORE Act, while other groups though realizing that the bill is not perfect, support the bill for the improvements from current law. The Center for Democracy and Technology and the Center for National Security Studies are urging passage of the bill. Importantly, the RESTORE Act increases some oversight of the program absent in the PAA.