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Bush backing down in FISA
fight?
Nick Juliano
Raw
Story
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
After months of using politically loaded rhetoric
and hyping "bogus" terror threats to push Congress to
give him the domestic spying bill he's demanding, President Bush
seems to be backing down.
The Wall Street Journal reports Tuesday that the White House
is softening its hard-line approach to updating the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Act. The steps toward moderation and compromise come
as House Democrats proved last month that they have enough votes
to pass a FISA bill that includes more oversight of surveillance
efforts within the US than Bush would like and also to block the
immunity he has demanded for telecommunications companies that
facilitated his warrantless wiretapping program.
Over the two-week spring recess, administration officials contacted
Democratic leaders to suggest they were open to compromise on
updating the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. "We
definitely want to get it done," said White House spokesman
Tony Fratto. "We've had some initial conversations with
Congress about the need to get FISA reform done quickly."
He added that Mr. Bush still prefers the Senate measure, which
the White House negotiated with Senate Democrats. In addition
to rejecting immunity for companies, House Democrats want tougher
judicial oversight of any eavesdropping effort. People familiar
with the matter said the White House has floated ideas to find
common ground but hasn't offered a formal compromise proposal.
Officials in both parties said judicial oversight might be an
easier area for the administration to make concessions.
(Article continues below)
In brief remarks Monday, Bush continued to push for
action on the FISA bill. But he declined to invoke one of the
GOP's favorite bogey men and backed away from previous accusations
that Democrats were in the pocket of "trial lawyers"
in failing to pass a long-term FISA update.
While the White House is striking a "more conciliatory posture,"
as the Journal says, recognizing their waning clout on national
security issues, it remains unclear just what -- if anything --
of substance will come from the reported negotiations between
the Bush administration and Congress.
Just before leaving for a two-week recess last month the House
narrowly passed a FISA update that included additional oversight
Democrats said was needed to protect Americans' constitutional
rights; the House bill also did not include a telecom immunity
provision. Bush has said it would be unfair to not to grant immunity
to phone an internet companies that assisted his wireless surveillance;
those companies, such as AT&T and Verizon, are defendants
in nearly 40 pending lawsuits alleging they illegally violated
customers' privacy.
Prior to the House bill's passage, the White House and its GOP
allies in Congress boycotted negotiations over how to update FISA.
As recently as Monday, National Journal's subscription-only CongressDaily
reported there were no serious discussion between Democrats and
Republicans during the two weeks Congress was out of session,
before returning Tuesday.
GOP and Democratic aides in the House and Senate said no substantive
negotiations occurred during the recess to broker a compromise.
Instead, Senate and House Democrats might be looking to try
to come to an agreement between themselves without input from
Republicans and the Bush administration, aides said.
Senate GOP aides say the House bill contains provisions similar
to ones rejected by the Senate, and that would impede the nation's
intelligence agencies. They say the House needs to pass legislation
Bush would sign into law.
Whatever the case, the changed mood seems to have
heightened Democratic spirits, although plenty of details remain
to be worked out. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) told
reporters Tuesday the White House is “now in a position
where they want to talk about a possible compromise,” according
to Roll Call (subscription only).
He credited Bush's new willingness to talk to the House's ability
to pass its own FISA bill.
“I think, frankly, they were surprised,” he observed.
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