Congresspedia Preview: This Week in Congress (Dec. 14 - 21, 2007)
This week in Congress, Sen. Majority Leader Harry Reid will face dissent within his caucus this week when the Senate debates policy for conducting intelligence gathering within the U.S. It also appears Congress will finally approve a $515 billion spending package, capping months of continuing resolutions and partisan feuding over the 2008 federal budget. President Bush may also have a comprehensive energy bill to sign by week’s end, if the House can approve the Senate’s weakened version of the CLEAN Energy Act. Medicare and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program will likely see votes as well.
FISA Revamp
The Senate today will take up reform of the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act, the 1978 law that regulated the nation’s intelligence gathering apparatus and its application at home and abroad. Lawmakers will debate the RESTORE Act, a successor of the Protect America Act, which included temporary changes to FISA. The PAA expires in February, necessitating Congressional action for reforms to continue.
Two versions of the RESTORE Act have been pushed in the Senate: one by the Intelligence Committee and another by the Judiciary Committee. The Judiciary bill varies from the Intelligence version in several respects: it prohibits the bulk surveillance of foreign telecom traffic that is not directed at a specific person or source. The Judiciary bill also mandates an audit of past National Security Agency activities (which may have been illegal) and requires a court review of activities that are directed against American citizens regardless of whether they are the target of a specific investigation.
However, the most glaring difference is telecom immunity. The Intelligence version grants phone and internet companies retroactive protection from prosecution for their cooperation with the Bush administration in surveilling American citizens. The Judiciary version of the bill does not contain immunity, and the bill approved by the House in October. Bush has threatened to veto any bill that does not include the immunity.
Reid will introduce the Intelligence version today. Sens. Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold have heatedly opposed the bill, and Dodd has threatened a filibuster as well.