Here you go. Just call it an emergency authorization and the deal is done. How many FISA court
requests are turned down: 5 of 29,000 plus, that we know of. Even without the emergency provision,
you can be assured that whatever the executive wishes, the court will grant. And also be assured that
whenever a president wants to violate any of our civil liberties, he/she will think back to this bill
and say, 'Well, I can always get retroactive dispensation from Congress. They did it for
Bush-Cheney. They'll do it for anybody.'You read the bill and this material and answer your question for yourself.
Read this too:
Five Myths About the New Wiretapping LawWhy it's a lot worse than you think.
http://www.slate.com/id/2194254/ By Patrick Radden Keefe
Posted Wednesday, June 25, 2008, at 3:12 PM ET
Steney Hoyer. Click image to expandRep. Steny Hoyer
Sometime today, the Senate is likely to approve the most comprehensive overhaul of American
surveillance law since the Watergate era. Unless you're a government lawyer, a legal scholar, a
masochist, or an insomniac, chances are you haven't read the 114-page bill. Don't beat yourself up:
Neither have most of the 293 House members who voted for it last week. Ditto the mainstream press, who
seem to have relied chiefly on summaries provided by the same lawmakers who hadn't read it.
Wednesday June 25, 2008 05:19 EDT
Chris Dodd's speech and a glimmer of hope for stopping the FISA bill
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/06/25/dodd/index.html Glen Greenwald
Back in December, Harry Reid's plan was to have the Senate quickly pass the Cheney/Rockefeller FISA
bill before the Senate recessed for Christmas. But Chris Dodd's relentless delaying tactics -- his
filibuster and holds and other procedural tactics designed to block quick enactment of the bill,
supported at every step by Russ Feingold -- forced Reid to pull the bill from the floor and prevented
the Senate from considering the bill until the following February.
Sen. Christopher Dodd, Speech
http://dodd.senate.gov/index.php?q=node/4476 His response: The president has "the authority to defend the country."
"And in one swoop, the Attorney General conceded to the president nearly unlimited power,
just as long as he finds a lawyer willing to stuff his actions into the boundless rubric of
"defending the country." Unlimited power to defend the country, to protect us as one man sees fit,
even if that means listening to our phone calls without a warrant, even if that means holding some of
us indefinitely."
110TH CONGRESS
2D SESSION H. R. ____________
To amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 to establish
a procedure for authorizing certain acquisitions of foreign intelligence,
and for other purposes.http://www.politico.com/static/PPM104_080619_fisapromise.htm"(d) EMERGENCY AUTHORIZATION.
"(1) AUTHORITY FOR EMERGENCY AUTHORIZATION - Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, if the Attorney General reasonably determines that-- "(A) an emergency situation exists with respect to the acquisition of foreign intelligence
information for which an order may be obtained under subsection (c) before an order authorizing such acquisition can with due diligence be obtained, and
"(B) the factual basis for issuance of an order under this subsection to approve such ac question exists, the Attorney General may authorize such acquisition if a judge having jurisdiction under subsection
(a) (1) is informed by the Attorney General, or a designee of the Attorney General, at the time of such authorization that the decision has been made to conduct such acquisition and if an application in accordance with this section is made to a judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court as soon as practicable, but not more than 7 days after the Attorney General authorizes such acquisition.
"(2) MINIMIZATION PROCEDURES.--If the Attorney General authorizes an acquisition under paragraph
(1), the Attorney General shall require that the minimization procedures referred to in sub section (c) (1) (C) for the issuance of a judicial order be followed.
June 18, 2008 (5:12 p.m.)
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