Ryan Singel
Security

Senate Re-Starts Wiretapping Debate

Senators are taking to the floor Thursday to debate how far to expand the government’s power to spy inside the United States without getting court approval and whether to grant a Get-Out-of-Jail free card to the telecom companies that helped with the government’s four-year long secret wiretapping program that operated in clear contravention of federal law. The debate […]

Senators are taking to the floor Thursday to debate how far to expand the government's power to spy inside the United States without getting court approval and whether to grant a Get-Out-of-Jail free card to the telecom companies that helped with the government's four-year long secret wiretapping program that operated in clear contravention of federal law. The debate is being broadcast live on C-span.org.

Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pennsylvania), the head Republican on the Judiciary committee, took to the floor shortly before noon, arguing that the Senate should take up his amendment, which would substitute the government for the telecoms in the more than 40 lawsuits now pending in federal court. Specter -- whose actions on warrrantless spying have been a curious mixture of cowardly and schizophrenic -- thinks the telecom companies who helped the government were simply being good citizens, even as he admits he's never been allowed to know what they did and never issued subpoenas to find out more because VP Cheney went behind his back to talk to other Senators.

Today he defended the telecoms and his proposal to have the government be sued instead.

No doubt that the telephone companies have been good citizens in whatever they have done. Whatever it is they have done, the indicators are they have been good citizens.

But Specter's proposal, like all the amendments -- including the Senate Judiciary committee's full substitute that doesn't include immunity -- will have to win 60 votes to pass, thanks to the Administration-friendly rules set by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada).

Specter says once his amendment fails, he will swallow the immunity pill and vote for the expansion of government spying power without court oversight.

Senator Christopher Dodd (D-Connecticut), who is threatening to filibuster the bill, has just taken the floor at 12:15 EST.

Dodd is supporting the Senate Judiciary version, which has been introduced as a substitute amendment. That vote is likely to come in two hours.

Dodd says the Intel bill hands too much power to the executive branch and is dangerous to the state of the republic.

If we act wisely, when amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, we can make sure that terrorist surveillance remains insside the law not an exception to it.

Both versions authorize the American president to conduct overseas surveillance without warrants. [...]

Only one bill balances these with real oversight.

The intelligence version is a bill of token oversight and weak protections for Americans rights.

The constitution is not a partisan document. The intelligence version is entirely too trusting a bill. If any democrat tried to do this, I would protest, perhaps even more so. What we are doing here is about the years and years to come. We dont' have the right as temp custodians of the constitution [to give this power to executive branch].

Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) -- who negotiated the bill with the White House and attended fundraising cocktail parties hosted for him by telecom companies -- crowed to the Politico newsite that he was about to win.

For his part, President Bush issued a statement Thursday supporting Rockefeller's bill:

The Senate Intelligence Committee's bill contains many provisions that our intelligence officials say they need to protect our country. The bill would maintain the vital flow of intelligence on terrorist threats. It would protect the freedoms of Americans while making sure we do not extend those same protections to terrorists overseas. And it would provide liability protection to companies now facing billion dollar lawsuits only because they are believed to have assisted in efforts to defend our Nation following the Nine-Eleven attacks.

1:00 pm: Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) is defending the Intelligence bill's provision that lets the government warrantless wiretap inside the United States.

"One of basic requirements of any FISA modernization bill is that the government shouldn't need any warrants to target foreign targets overseas," Hatch said. "I am not willing to support a bill that handcuffs our intelligence agencies."

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