[Infowarrior] - Specter propose last-minute spy bill

[Richard Forno]

Republicans propose last-minute spy bill

By Anne Broache
http://news.com.com/Republicans+propose+last-minute+spy+bill/2100-1028_3-613
6026.html

Story last modified Wed Nov 15 17:22:28 PST 2006

The outgoing Republican chairman of a key U.S. Senate committee has made a
last-minute attempt at giving the Bush administration what he calls the
necessary "resources" for carrying out its phone call and Internet
surveillance within the law, but critics remain unconvinced.

In remarks on the Senate floor on Tuesday afternoon, Judiciary Committee
Chairman Arlen Specter marketed his new 11-page proposal as "a significant
advance in protecting civil liberties." Once one of the few Republicans to
question openly the legality of the National Security Agency's warrantless
terrorist surveillance program, the veteran Pennsylvanian politician drew
criticism this summer for endorsing a bill that would allow--but not
require--the Bush administration to submit the operations for court review.

The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman's latest effort drew near-immediate
skepticism from the American Civil Liberties Union and from California
Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who co-sponsored what civil liberties
groups viewed as a more stringent bill with Specter earlier this year. That
bill narrowly cleared a committee vote in July but has since stalled.

"I am really unsure why passage of this bill now would achieve anything,"
Feinstein said in her own Senate floor remarks.

Specter's new bill arrives less than a week after President Bush called on
the lame-duck Congress to prioritize legislation that would effectively
authorize the administration's terrorist surveillance project, which is
already the target of a few dozen lawsuits. The House of Representatives in
September approved an administration-backed bill that drew fire from civil
libertarians, who argued it would expand the government's electronic spying
powers to unprecedented levels.

Titled the "Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Oversight and Resource
Enhancement Act of 2006," the latest Specter bill does not appear to grant
as much latitude for warrantless spying as the approved House bill.
Specter's proposal, for instance, would require the U.S. Supreme Court to
review all appeals of cases challenging the legality of the specific spy
program acknowledged by the president last December, whereas the version
approved by the House would effectively quash all such challenges.

The bill also proposes a number of changes to existing law that some found
troubling.

One section, for instance, would require the U.S. attorney general to "fully
inform" the Senate and House of Representatives intelligence committees
semiannually of any electronic surveillance undertaken without a court
order. But it would also scale back a 1947 law that governs reports on
government intelligence activities to Congress, requiring only that the
chairmen of each congressional intelligence committee be privy to those
documents.

Perhaps most notably, one section would erase the need for the government to
obtain a warrant when tapping into "foreign-to-foreign" communications, even
if Americans are involved in those exchanges, said Mike German, a policy
counsel for the ACLU. Under existing law, a showing of probable cause is
required, he said, meaning that "a U.S. person located abroad would lose his
right to privacy under this section of the bill."

Among other provisions, the bill would also permit hiring of new lawyers as
needed by the Department of Justice, the FBI, the National Security Agency
and the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which is tasked with
issuing court orders for eavesdropping on conversations when at least one
end is located in the United States. It would also allow authorities 168
hours--rather than the existing 72--to make after-the-fact applications for
warrants in "emergency" situations when higher-ups decide surveillance must
begin immediately.

"With these additional resources, I am advised that the NSA will be in a
position to have individual warrants for all calls which originate in the
United States and go overseas," Specter said.

The ACLU's German disputed the extended window, saying "there has not been
an adequate showing that they need that extra time."

It remains unclear whether the Senate will take up Specter's proposal during
the lame-duck session, as a number of spending bills still await action. An
aide to Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who sets the schedule, said the
issue was "not totally off the table, but time is the problem."