For those that aren’t up on this issue. FISA is the 30-year-old Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which prescribes procedures for the physical and electronic surveillance and collection of “foreign intelligence information” between or among “foreign powers” on territory under United States control. The act created a court which meets in secret, and approves or denies requests for search warrants which would be required to conduct electronic surveillance, physical searches or obtain access to business records. The act was amened with the US Patriot act of 2001 to include terrorism.
The Protect America Act of 2007, signed in August of 2007 was designed by the Bush Administration to ease restrictions on surveillance and allow for unchecked wiretapped of any communications that begin or end in a foreign country. The Act removes from the definition of “electronic surveillance” in FISA, and broadens the power to any surveillance of any individual “reasonably believed to be located outside the United States”.
Because of the broadening of the wording and that the amendment authorized oral approval rather than initial court checked approval, many suspect that this offers the government to conduct warrantless physical searches, wiretaps and even seizures of communications and computer devices and their data which belong to U.S. citizens.
The Act was set up as a temporary amendment, to expire on Feb 1st, 2008 with congress to provide final approval before that time. Within the final approval bill, Bush had added retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies who had cooperated with government on warrantless surveillance efforts since 9/11. The concern from the Administration seems to be protecting corporations from billion dollar lawsuits as a result of violating citizen rights when they offered up customer information without warrant or informing their customers that they were doing so. “It’s particularly important for Congress to provide meaningful liability protection to those companies now facing multi-billion-dollar lawsuits only because they are believed to have assisted in efforts to defend our nation” ~ President George W. Bush
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, noted technology experts from academia and the computing industry wrote an article “Risking Communications Security: Potential Hazards of the Protect America Act” which found significant flaws in the technical implementation of the Protect America Act. They said by implementing the procedures in this Act would create serious security risks, including the danger that such a surveillance system could be exploited by unauthorized users, criminally misused by trusted insiders, or abused by the government.
So today, one of the country’s most conservative papers, The Washington Times, reported that Analysts say FISA will suffice [and there is no need to implement the Protect America Act to improve national security]. This is building on many points that there is no direct correlation to open and warrantless surveillance and national security. The current FISA process works to protect American rights while at the same time preserve national security and this Act’s purpose only seems to broaden governmental power and control, while breaking down citizen rights to privacy.
Bush maintains that he will not allow the Congress to pass this bill without the additions of the retro active immunity for the telecoms, that the new Act is mandatory for National Security and adding that “the House’s failure to pass the bipartisan Senate bill would jeopardize the security of our citizens,” – This has been countered by industry think tanks, analysts, intelligence personnel and now the conservative right.
The excerpts from the Washington Times article:
“…today’s expiration of certain temporary domestic wiretapping laws will have little effect on national security, despite warnings to the contrary by the White House and Capitol Hill Republican leaders.” Washington Times Feb 16th, 2008
“There’s no reason to think our nation will be in any more danger in 2008 than it was in 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, or 2006.” Said Timothy Lee, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute a a non-profit public policy research foundation headquartered in Washington, D.C. which seeks to broaden the parameters of public policy debate to allow consideration of the traditional American principles of limited government, individual liberty, free markets and peace. Toward that goal, the Institute strives to achieve greater involvement of the intelligent, concerned lay public in questions of policy and the proper role of government.)
“We believe the president’s rhetoric is inaccurate and divisive, and an attempt to stampede the House of Representatives to rubber-stamp legislation by stoking the fears of the American people,” Mr. Hoyer said. “We will not be stampeded.”
Ben Wittes of the Brookings Institution (a nonprofit public policy organization based in Washington, DC conduct high-quality, independent research and, based on that research, to provide innovative, practical recommendations that advance three broad goals: 1) Strengthen American democracy; 2) Foster the economic and social welfare, security and opportunity of all Americans and 3) Secure a more open, safe, prosperous and cooperative international system) made a comment that he was “somewhat bewildered by the apocalyptic rhetoric” of the White House.
The FISA question, the Right can not answer [Crooks and Liars]