Bush rejects Democrats' wiretapping reform bill
11/10/2007 16:16
US President George W. Bush rejected yesterday a proposed update to the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), saying the plan sponsored by the
Democrats is a step in the wrong direction.
In a national televised speech,
Bush said it would be a "grave mistake to weaken" the provisions in the
wiretapping bill that " currently help protect the country."
The president
made it clear that he would not sign the bill unless "it provides the tools and
flexibility intelligence professions need to protect the America against
terrorism."
The bill, he said, must "keep the intelligence gap firmly closed
and ensure that protections intended for the American people are not extended to
terrorists overseas who are plotting to harm us."
After Congress put in place
a six-month fix prior to the August recess, Democrats recently began crafting a
permanent update on foreign-intelligence wiretapping legislation.
House
Democrats unveiled their proposal Tuesday, but it was met immediately with
opposition from leading Republicans and the Bush administration.
The proposal
eliminates some of the provisions that were included in the interim measure, and
it does not include one key element demanded by Republicans: retroactive
immunity for the telecoms that participated in the administration's secret
Terrorist Surveillance Program without a warrant.
Democrats said their
legislation balances security and civil rights concerns and hope to get it to
the House floor next week.
The House intelligence and judiciary panels are
marking up the bill Wednesday, and Senate committee action is expected in coming
weeks.
"Not only is this bill better than the bill passed in August, it's
better than the original FISA bill in protecting our civil liberties," House
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said ealier this week.
Xinhua
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