Back in August, Peter Roskam issued a statement about his joy over the new FISA bill and the removal of those pesky court warrants that got in the way of governmental eavesdropping. Here's a taste:
"After months of Republican pressure, the House finally closed a dangerous loophole and updated FISA to properly guard our nation against terrorist attacks, sending the bill to the President's desk for his signature. [...]
"Current FISA law did not allow the United States Intelligence Community to effectively protect our nation. Existing law required a FISA warrant to intercept international communications transmitted over a wire, hampering our ability to monitor foreign-to-foreign terrorist threats in a time sensitive matter.
"During a time of heightened threats from global terrorism it is essential we use every tool constitutionally possible to thwart possible terrorist threats.
Warrantless wiretapping. Sounds Constitutional to me. Well now Bush wants amnesty for any telecoms that happened to go along with this previous illegal activity.
Problem is, the America people - including liberals, moderates and conservatives - don't like the idea of amnesty for those who break the law.
Fifty-nine percent (59%) of voters reject amnesty for phone companies that may have violated the law by selling customers' private information to the government, preferring to let courts decide the outcome. Again intensity favors opponents of amnesty, with 48% "strongly" opposed. Fewer than 1-in-3 (31%) support amnesty for the phone companies, with just 1-in-5 (22%) strongly supporting amnesty.
Opposition to amnesty is also widespread, cutting across ideology and geography. Majorities of liberals, moderates, and conservatives agree that courts should decide the outcomes of these legal actions (liberals:67% let courts decide, 28% give amnesty; moderates: 59% let courts decide, 28% give amnesty; conservatives: 52% let courts decide, 37% give amnesty).
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act resulted from extensive investigations by Senate Committees into the legality of domestic intelligence activities. These investigations were led separately by Sam Ervin and Frank Church in the 1970s after certain activities had been revealed by the Watergate affair (see the Church Committee report). The act was created to provide oversight of covert surveillance activities, while maintaining secrecy. It required in most cases that authorization be received within 72 hours after surveillance begins.
Checks and balances via court oversight? Na. Dangerous loopholes!
Now Bush wants amnesty for those who broke the law before "months of Republican pressure" were able to make the illegal legal. And you know if Bush hearts it, Peter Roskam hearts it too. I wonder if Roskam will stand with the Constitution and the American people, or if he'll once again vote the way Bush wants him to.
