The Gates of Hell

Full story at: globalsecurity.org

Legislation to revise U.S. surveillance law survived a key test vote in the Senate Wednesday, despite opposition from some majority Democrats to a provision protecting telephone companies from possible privacy lawsuits. The Senate could give final approval to the bill and send it to President Bush for his signature before a congressional recess next week. VOA’s Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

Senators voted 80 to 15 to proceed to the legislation - 20 more than the 60 votes necessary under Senate rules.

The bill, which updates the 1978 Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (FISA), would expand the government’s powers to eavesdrop on terrorism suspects while at the same time take steps to safeguard civil liberties.

“We have produced a strong, smart policy that will meet the needs of our intelligence community and protect America’s cherished civil liberties,” said Senator Jay Rockefeller, a West Virginia Democrat and chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee.

The bill would grant retroactive legal immunity to telephone companies that allegedly took part in the Bush administration’s warrantless wiretap program following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks - but only after a federal court determines they received legitimate requests from the government to participate in the program.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 5:26 pm and is filed under Police State, USA, surveillance. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.