Press Releases
Brendan Daly/Nadeam Elshami
202-226-7616
02/22/2008
Pelosi Statement on FISA Negotiations
“The House and Senate met again today to produce a strong
new FISA bill and once again, Republicans and the White House refused to come
to the negotiating table. Despite the
Republicans’ apparent insistence on turning this into a partisan issue,
Congressional Democrats will continue to reach out in a bipartisan way to finalize
a strong FISA law that protects our national security and our civil liberties.
“Meanwhile, in a letter to the Congress today, the Bush
Administration repeated its claim that the expiration of the Protect America
Act (PAA) has resulted in intelligence gaps.
If the expiration of the PAA has lessened the willingness of
telecommunications companies to comply with surveillance requests to protect
our national security, the President and Congressional Republicans have only
themselves to blame for refusing to support the PAA’s extension.
“The existing FISA statute provides a remedy: convert the
surveillance requests to compulsory court orders. The Director of National Intelligence has
admitted that the backlog at the FISA court that prompted the passage of the
PAA last summer no longer exists. FISA
court orders can therefore be issued even more quickly than they were in the
past.”
Facts About FISA:
1. Under FISA, the
Attorney General can approve surveillance in minutes. Surveillance can begin
immediately and approval of the
2. Unlike last
summer, there is no backlog of cases to slow down getting surveillance
approvals from the FISA court. Michael
McConnell, Director of National Intelligence, has stated: “We’re caught up to
all of it now.” [2/7/08]
3. The FISA Court
can approve surveillance orders quickly, and according to public reports, it
has approved nearly every application for a warrant from the Department of
Justice over the past 30 years.
4. Under FISA,
telecommunications companies can be compelled by the FISA court to help with
surveillance and have legal protection for compliance.
Facts About the Legislative Process:
1. The House
passed the RESTORE Act in November 2007.
Because of Senate Republican delay tactics, the Senate did not pass its
bill until February 12.
2. Congressional
Republicans blocked a second extension of the Protect America Act on February
13th after President Bush said he would veto it and reiterated his intention to
veto any FISA bill that does not include immunity for telecommunications
companies.
3. Now that both
the House and Senate passed legislation, Committee leaders from both chambers
are attempting to working on a bipartisan compromise that would pass both the
House and Senate and get signed into law.
Unfortunately, House and Senate Republicans and the Bush Administration
have refused to come to the negotiating table.