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Dead Constitution See other Dead Constitution Articles Title: White House, Bond Dismiss Reid’s Proposed One-Month FISA Extension White House, Bond Dismiss Reid’s Proposed One-Month FISA Extension By Tim Starks and Keith Perine, CQ Staff A top Senate Republican and the White House rejected a proposed one-month extension of an electronic surveillance law, which Majority Leader Harry Reid offered as a way to give Congress more time to complete a long-term overhaul. Faced with such opposition, the proposal appeared to be heading nowhere late Tuesday evening. That means Democrats would have just seven legislative days when they return from the holiday break to enact anything before the temporary law (PL 110-55) expires Feb. 1. Reid’s idea came one day after he pulled from the Senate floor legislation (S 2248) to overhaul the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA (PL 95-511), amid opposition from within his own party and difficulty reaching agreement on a floor procedure. In August, Congress enacted a short-term law that granted President Bush broad new authority to conduct warrantless surveillance of foreign targets, even if they were communicating with someone in the United States. Democratic leaders hope to pass a scaled-back version of the law before it sunsets. “Before we leave here, I’m going to ask for a one-month extension,” Reid, D-Nev., said Tuesday. “I think it’s important because we need more time to do this, as indicated last night.” Although the House plans to return to Washington on Jan. 15 to begin the second session of the 110th Congress, the Senate is not reconvening until Jan. 22. Senate Intelligence Chairman John D. Rockefeller IV, D-W.Va., said he supported a short extension because it would give Congress more time to work on the legislation. But the White House tossed cold water on the idea. “We would not support a 30-day extension,” said White House spokesman Tony Fratto. “Congress had six months to pass the bill and instead waited until the eleventh hour. We expect them to get their work done before the law expires.” The vice chairman of the Intelligence panel, Christopher S. Bond, R-Mo., said the Senate should focus on completing work on the stalled bill. “I don’t see that it benefits us to continue to delay something that we know we need to do,” Bond said. “It’s time to give our intelligence agencies and all those who cooperate with them a solid basis for future action.” Intelligence Director Mum Reid said he has discussed the idea of a short-term extension with Director of National Intelligence Michael McConnell, and McConnell supported it. “He personally thinks it’s a good idea,” Reid said. “Of course, he’s conveyed that to the White House and I hope that that can happen.” A spokesman for McConnell, Ross Feinstein, would not say whether McConnell endorsed the idea. “He expressed the critical need for permanent legislation. He also provided Sen. Reid with significant concerns about temporary extensions of the Protect America Act,” or PAA, Feinstein said in a prepared statement, referring to the temporary law’s title. “The Director of National Intelligence stated that any decision on an extension of the Protect America Act were matters Sen. Reid should discuss with the White House” and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Feinstein. The bill Reid pulled from the floor Dec. 17 would allow warrantless surveillance of foreign targets who were communicating with people in the United States. It would give a secret FISA court authority to approve several aspects of how that spying is conducted. Several Democrats, led by Christopher J. Dodd of Connecticut, vowed to use delaying tactics to stall passage because the measure also would grant retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program. However, a spokeswoman for Dodd said Tuesday that the senator supported a short-term extension. The White House and congressional Republicans have repeatedly insisted on retroactive immunity for the companies, which face lawsuits because of their reported cooperation with the government. The Senate Intelligence Committee approved the bill, with the immunity provision included, by a vote of 13-2 on Oct. 18. The Senate Judiciary Committee last month approved its own alternative, without the retroactive immunity. That version was to be offered as a floor amendment to the Intelligence panel’s bill. The House on Nov. 15 passed a FISA overhaul that lacks retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies. Spokespeople for McConnell and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., did not provide a response to the notion of a short-term extension. Source: CQ Today
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I think the administration wants to put time pressure on Congress to get the kind of FISA bill out of it they want, like they did back in August.
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