posted on August 5, 2007 02:50:38 PM newBush Signs Terrorism Law
Sunday, August 05, 2007 CAMP DAVID, Md. —
President Bush on Sunday signed into law an expansion of the government's power to eavesdrop on foreign terror suspects without the need for warrants.
The law, approved by the Senate and the House just before Congress adjourned for its summer break, was deemed a priority by Bush and his chief intelligence officials.
Bush signed the bill into law on Sunday afternoon at his retreat at Camp David, Md.
"When our intelligence professionals have the legal tools to gather information about the intentions of our enemies, America is safer," Bush said. "And when these same legal tools also protect the civil liberties of Americans, then we can have the confidence to know that we can preserve our freedoms while making America safer."
The administration said the measure is needed to speed the National Security Agency's ability to intercept phone calls, e-mails and other communications involving foreign nationals "reasonably believed to be outside the United States."
The law is designed to capture communications that pass through the United States.
Civil liberties groups and many Democrats say it goes too far, possibly enabling the government to wiretap U.S. residents communicating with overseas parties without adequate oversight from courts or Congress.
The new law updates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, and it will expire in six months unless Congress renews it. Bush wants deeper, permanent changes.
"We must remember that our work is not done," Bush prodded. "This bill is a temporary, narrowly focused statute to deal with the most immediate shortcomings in the law."
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Did the democrats 'sell out' to this administration, or did they REALLY show, by their votes of agreement/approval that they KNOW this is a necessary ability that we need to fight terrorism?
Imo, they KNOW it was necessary even though they've TALKED such a different 'talk'. lol
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"While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation": "What would a Democrat president have done at that point?"
"Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack."
posted on August 13, 2007 04:19:14 PM new
The 'kook fringe' is right.
THIS is how they supposedly LEAD.
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Front Page > Editorial
WA Times
FISA and the kook fringe
In the wake of congressional passage of a bill clarifying the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to ensure that U.S. intelligence agencies can monitor the operations of foreign terrorists operating overseas for the next six months, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid denounced the legislation and said they want to revisit the issue when Congress returns.
The bill, signed into law by President Bush, ensures that U.S. intelligence will be able to monitor overseas telephone calls, e-mails and faxes — but that authority expires in February. Unfortunately, the legislation fails to provide retroactive liability protection for companies who could face lawsuits from privacy ideologues for cooperating with government requests to monitor terrorist suspects' communications.
The key question today is whether Mr. Reid and Mrs. Pelosi are serious about fighting what will almost certainly be a losing battle on FISA once again or are simply parroting silly rhetoric in an effort to satiate the bloggers and the rest of the lunatic fringe.
Polls hardly indicate that the American public as a whole is clamoring to make it more difficult to monitor terrorist communications:
According to results of a Rasmussen Poll released on Friday, 59 percent of voters "believe that allowing the government to intercept phone calls from terrorist suspects makes Americans safer." Just 26 percent disagree, while 15 percent are not sure. Rasmussen found that 48 percent of Democrats, 53 percent of not-affiliated voters and 79 percent of Republicans agree that allowing the government to intercept these calls makes America safer.
Our best guess is that Mr. Reid and Mrs. Pelosi are engaged in some idle bluster — that they hope to get away with merely demagoguing against the Bush administration over FISA by depicting it as a menace to our civil liberties, without actually doing much of anything about it.
After all, how would the Democrats and the political left benefit by trying to force 41 House Democrats and 16 Senate Democrats who voted with the administration on FISA to walk the plank and jeopardize their political careers by voting to make it more difficult to monitor terrorist telephone calls?
The truth is that they don't benefit with the American public as a whole — but they are gambling that large sectors of the American public are too dimwitted and apathetic to follow such things closely.
On the other hand, the left-wing bloggers who comprise the Democrats' political base are apoplectic right now over what they regard as the party leadership's capitulation to the White House over FISA.
When Congress returns next month, the Bush administration will likely square off with Mrs. Pelosi and Mr. Reid over retroactive liability for companies that have aided U.S. terrorism surveillance efforts.
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As I've SAID.....many times before and the 'KOOKS' continue to prove it true....they're ALL TALK....no action.
Watch how they VOTE....not what they SAY. The two RARELY match. tsk tsk tsk
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"While the democratic party complains about everything THIS President does to protect our Nation": "What would a Democrat president have done at that point?"
"Apparently, the answer is: Sit back and wait for the next terrorist attack."
