Vice President Dick Cheney speaks at The Heritage Foundation,
Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008, in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
Posted on 01/23/2008 12:03:27 PM PST by NormsRevenge
WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney prodded Congress on Wednesday to extend and broaden an expiring surveillance law, saying "fighting the war on terror is a long-term enterprise" that should not come with an expiration date.
"We're reminding Congress that they must act now," Cheney told the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. The law, which authorizes the administration to eavesdrop on e-mails and phone calls to and from suspected terrorists, expires on Feb. 1. Congress is bickering over terms of its extension.
On Tuesday, Senate Republicans blocked an effort by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to extend the stopgap Protect America Act without expanding it, raising stakes for an expected showdown in the Senate later this week on a new version of the law.
"This cause is bigger than the quarrels of party and the agendas of politicians," Cheney said. "And if we in Washington, all of us, can only see our way clear to work together, then the outcome should not be in doubt."
Congress hastily adopted the stopgap act last summer in the face of warnings from the administration about dangerous gaps in the government's ability to gather intelligence in the Internet age.
Administration allies in Congress not only want the expiring law made permanent but amended to give telephone companies and other communications providers immunity from being sued for helping the government eavesdropping and other intelligence-gathering efforts.
Cheney said such providers "face dozens of lawsuits."
"The intelligence community doesn't have the facilities to carry out the kind of international surveillance needed to defend this country since 9-11. In some situations, there is no alternative to seeking assistance from the private sector. This is entirely appropriate," Cheney said.
At the White House, press secretary Dana Perino defended the proposal to protect phone companies from liability. "These are companies who helped their country right after 9-11," she said.
At the heart of the controversy is whether the government's wireless surveillance program violated provisions of the original FISA law that requires warrants for wiretaps whenever one of the parties involved in the communication resides in the United States.
Cheney also said the administration "feels strongly that an updated FISA law should be made permanent, not merely extended again. ... There is no sound reason to pass critical legislation like the Protect America Act and slap an expiration date on it."
Reid plans to bring to the Senate floor on Thursday competing versions of the legislation.
If a bill is not approved then, Reid said he would require the Senate to work through the weekend to get a bill passed.
The original FISA law requires the government to get permission from a special court to listen in on the phone calls and e-mails of people in the United States. Changes in communications technology mean many purely foreign to foreign communications now pass through the United States and therefore require the government to get court orders to intercept them.
The Protect America Act, adopted in August, eased that restriction. Privacy and civil liberties advocates say it went too far, giving the government far more power to eavesdrop on American communications without court oversight.
Vice President Dick Cheney speaks at The Heritage Foundation,
Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2008, in Washington. (AP Photo/Haraz N. Ghanbari)
I am so glad we have conservatives in office. Can you imagine how these things would be abused if liberals were in office?
Yeah. They might even sidle-up to islamists in so-called palestine.
Yea so why let anyone have such blank check powers period is my position on it. Bush/Cheney giving Democrats new powers over citizens lives even Ted Kennedy could never have accomplished or dreamed of.
I agree. I'm not comfortable with either party having extra-consitutional powers.
The concerning thing, as you suggest, is why do conservatives support liberalism when a republican offers it. They would howl if it came from Teddy or Hillary.
If they would only act like conservatives, they would start such an avalanche of support. They really would win elections. Instead, they condescend to the middle, drive away their base and lose elections to the democrats.
The GOP made such headway during the Clinton years and they've squandered it with liberalism in all the corners of Party ideology.
They just don't get it.
I am so sick of this whole “War on Terror” drum the current administration keeps beating. It’s such bullsh*t. A real “War on Terror” would go after the real terrorists (they’re not in Iraq). Terror nations such as Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria, etc. ...And these guys want to increase their surveillance powers. Believe you me, it’s not as much to catch terrorists as it is a future tool to take care of us pesky American Citizens who believe in and support the Constitution.
Do you have any evidence of that at all?
Not to mention leaving the borders wide open and granting essential amnesty to those who violate the immigration laws..while at the same time increasing surveillance on citizens in the name of the "War on Terror"
Terror evidence from Saudi Arabia, Iran, and Syria? Where have you been? The evidence is everywhere.
How about “NO” Dick.
Everything should come with an expiration date. I mean, I guess you need all these extra capabilities with all the frequent and constant repeated attacks on the US since 9.11.01. Oh wait..what?
Do you have any evidence that FISA reforms are intended as “a future tool to take care of us pesky American Citizens who believe in and support the Constitution”?
Maybe those extra capabilities had something to do with that.
Dick Cheney prodded Congress on Wednesday to extend and broaden an expiring surveillance law.
I could live with extend for another 4 year period. Broaden is out of the question.
Yes, one look at Hillary’s agenda (who will be the next President unless a miracle occurs) and I have all the insight (evidence) I need. I would not sit back until things start proving themselves out. By then, there will be no way to react other than follow all the sheeple into tyranny. GWB and Company have set the stage for this to happen in the near future. Our own countrymen, patriotic Americans will be called “terrorists”. Hell, we’ve already been called vigilantes and racists.
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