Posted on 03/02/2008 11:24:16 PM PST by Ernest_at_the_Beach
WASHINGTON — The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee hinted Sunday that a battle over an expired eavesdropping law might be moving toward a conclusion that gave phone companies the retroactive legal protections long sought by President Bush.
The chairman, Representative Silvestre Reyes, Democrat of Texas, said in an interview on CNN that the committee had been talking to the companies “because if we’re going to give them blanket immunity, we want to know and understand what it is we’re giving immunity for.”
Mr. Reyes did not specify what provisions a House bill might contain. But his use of the words “blanket immunity” suggested that he might be moving toward a Senate bill, backed by Mr. Bush, that would protect phone companies that assisted in a federal program of wiretapping without warrants after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“I have an open mind about that,” Mr. Reyes said.
“We’re very close,” he added. “Probably within the next week, we’ll be able to move hopefully to bring it to a vote.”
The eavesdropping law, which expired Feb. 16, made it easier for the government to initiate wiretaps without court approval. Mr. Bush has said its expiration creates a national security risk, while Democrats say the government can continue current wiretaps and start new ones through other legal means.
The main point of the dispute over renewing the legislation concerns whether to immunize phone companies from at least 40 lawsuits that allege their actions after 9/11 violated privacy laws.
“They’re getting sued for billions of dollars and it’s not fair,” Mr. Bush said on Feb. 25. “And it will create doubt amongst private-sector folks who need to help protect us.”
Mr. Bush has also said that allowing the lawsuits to proceed could disclose government secrets and damage national security.
The Senate passed a bill on Feb. 11 ......
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
They may have “caved” as you speculate but the Rats sure didn’t care if they allowed the USA to sit unprotected with a wiretap law for several weeks. Where are their priorities,up their respective noses?
I prefer: Pelosi is dic#less!
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