WASHINGTON, DC — The House of Representatives refused to capitulate to the administration’s veiled threats about terrorism by declining on Thursday to incorporate telecom immunity into a replacement for an expiring surveillance law.The growing rift between the House and Senate over the law — which a lame-duck president has demanded include provisions absolving telecommunications companies of complicity in warrantless wiretapping carried out by security agencies over at least the past five years — indicates Republicans and Democrats are digging in for an extended election-year standoff over national security.
On one side of the issue are Republicans who accuse Democrats of putting the U.S. at risk of further terror attacks. On the other are Democrats who accuse Republicans and the current administration of Big Brother-like conduct and fear-mongering.
The House surveillance bill — which excludes telecom immunity but otherwise resembles the FISA Amendments Act approved Tuesday by the Senate — is not the only indication House Democrats are spoiling for a showdown with their Republican peers. On Thursday, they also approved the first-ever contempt citations against White House staff members. Chief of Staff Joshua Bolten and former White House Counsel Harriet Miers were cited for their refusal to cooperate with an investigation into mass firings of U.S. attorneys last year. Republicans staged a walkout before the vote.
At issue in the House’s surveillance dispute with the White House is the Protect America Act, which will expire Friday unless emergency measures are taken. Passed over the misgivings of Democrats last August, the temporary law expanded the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 by extending to security agencies the ability to monitor, without first obtaining warrants, suspected terrorists’ electronic communications passing into or out of the U.S. The Bush administration wants to make the law permanent, but it has faced increasingly vocal opposition to its insistence that any replacement law shield telecommunications companies from criminal and civil prosecution for their actions, even if those actions cause harm to common people. Several large telcos, including AT&T, currently are embroiled in related legal battles over their roles in allegedly assisting in the violation of American citizens’ constitutional rights.
The administration has said without a new law, the National Security Agency and other security agencies will face severe hardship in trying to prevent further terrorist attacks against the U.S. In addition, telecoms may become unwilling to help the agencies unless they are protected from prosecution.
“If Congress does not act by [the time the Protect America Act expires], our ability to find out who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying, and what they are planning will be compromised,” President George W. Bush said during a press conference on Thursday. He also accused House Democrats of trying to “tie the hands” of intelligence officials.
“He has nothing to offer but fear,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) told reporters immediately afterwards.
In a letter he sent to Bush after the press conference, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) condemned the president for “recklessly” attempting to “manufacture a crisis over the reauthorization of foreign surveillance laws.
“Instead of needlessly frightening the country, you should work with Congress in a calm, constructive way,” Reid wrote in the letter.
On the other side, Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) told reporters the Democrats are the reckless ones, as demonstrated by their willingness to leave a national security issue unresolved over their distaste for some minor provisions of the law.
“They’re just playing with fire on this,” he said.
