FISA Deal completed, House vote likely tomorrow

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Far left dem blogs already mounting call in campaign.

June 19, 2008

Categories: Homeland Security

FISA Deal completed, House vote likely tomorrow

Negotiators reached a deal Thursday morning on long-stalled electronic surveillance legislation, with a House vote likely to be held on the measure on Friday, Democratic leadership aides confirmed.

The deal represents a major breakthrough on the long-stalled updated to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which has been stuck in Congress for most of the year.

While talk of a pending deal had intensified throughout the week, as late as Wednesday night, House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) cautioned that some details were still being worked out.

However, Democratic aides told Politico Thursday morning that all major differences had been ironed out and that the bill would hit the House floor shortly.

The centerpiece of the compromise is a provision that would allow a federal court to decide whether to provide retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in the program and are facing lawsuits from civil liberties organizations.

Here's the full text of the compromise bill provided to Politico ahead of time. The key section to look for is section 201, which explains how telecoms can receive the immunity that President Bush has been seeking. This may cause heartache for liberal Democrats who don't want any immunity for companies involved in wiretapping.

The chief congressional negotiators--Hoyer, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Sen. John D. Rockefeller IV (D-W.Va.), House Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) and Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.)---released a joint statement announcing the deal.

"At its core this historic, bipartisan agreement to modernize FISA is about providing an essential tool in the fight against terrorism," said Rockefeller. "It meets our dual obligations to make our Nation safe and restore the privacy protections and civil liberties Americans require,”

Blunt said Republicans "would have written much differently" if they were in charge, but still acknowledged that the compromise accomplishes the goal of giving the intelligence community the tools it needs to continue monitoring terrorist communications.

If the deal holds, it would represent a big win for Hoyer, who spent months shuttling between the different factions of the Democratic Caucus and a White House reluctant to make concessions on several key issues.

Martin Kady II contributed to this report

http://www.politico.com/blogs/thecrypt/060...y_tomorrow.html

Lawmakers Reach Deal To Expand Surveillance

By Siobhan Gorman and Sarah Lueck

Word Count: 571 | Companies Featured in This Article: AT&T, Verizon Communications

WASHINGTON -- After more than a year of partisan acrimony over government surveillance powers, Democratic and Republican leaders have agreed to a bipartisan deal that would be the most sweeping rewrite of spy powers in three decades. The House is likely to vote on the measure Friday, House aides said.

Removing the final barrier to action on the measure, which has been hashed out in recent weeks by senior lawmakers in both parties, House Democratic leaders decided to allow a vote on the bill, despite the opposition of many in their party.

The new agreement broadens the authority to spy ...

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121388542478988553.html