Vamosa
03-07-2008, 04:22
So I've been reading over the text of the amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA) that are pending in the Senate, as well as those that passed in the House. Aside from the controversy over granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that assisted Bush in his illegal wiretapping program, I don't understand any further controversy. Sen. Russ Feingold, the ACLU, and others are protesting that the new procedures established by the recent amendments enroach on Americans' civil liberties, but I can't seem to find a difference between the new procedures outlined in the bills, and those currently on the books described by the original act. The only difference is that the old procedures now apply to instances of wiretapping targeted at individuals overseas.
The old procedures allowed for a blanket authorization by the FISA court of warrantless wiretapping for up to 1 year, with "minimization" procedures meant to prevent American citizens from becoming the target of these wiretaps. The new spying procedures allow for the exact same thing, albeit they must be authorized by both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence, rather than just the Attorney General, and they now apply to intelligence gathering targeted overseas. All the amendments seem to do is reiterate existing procedures, albeit applying them to overseas communications. Furthermore, they make it explicitly clear that any attempt at wiretapping American citizens in foreign countries requires a warrant. So why the civil liberty complaints?
Procedures Established by Original FISA Law:
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/50/usc_sec_50_00001802----000-.html
New Procedures Established by the Amendments:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s2248/text [see Section 7023 -- not too far down the page]
The old procedures allowed for a blanket authorization by the FISA court of warrantless wiretapping for up to 1 year, with "minimization" procedures meant to prevent American citizens from becoming the target of these wiretaps. The new spying procedures allow for the exact same thing, albeit they must be authorized by both the Attorney General and the Director of National Intelligence, rather than just the Attorney General, and they now apply to intelligence gathering targeted overseas. All the amendments seem to do is reiterate existing procedures, albeit applying them to overseas communications. Furthermore, they make it explicitly clear that any attempt at wiretapping American citizens in foreign countries requires a warrant. So why the civil liberty complaints?
Procedures Established by Original FISA Law:
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/50/usc_sec_50_00001802----000-.html
New Procedures Established by the Amendments:
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/110-s2248/text [see Section 7023 -- not too far down the page]