House Democrats stall on FISA vote

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) has postponed a vote to amend the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act for at least a week, and a Hoyer aide told The Hill there was no indication the bill would go back to the floor anytime soon.

Speaking at his weekly pen-and-pad briefing, Hoyer did not say when the measure, known as the RESTORE Act, would return. But he criticized a Republican procedural tactic, a motion to recommit, that forced him to pull the legislation on Oct. 17.

{mosads}“The Republicans continue to use the motion to recommit for political purposes, not substantive purposes,” said Hoyer. “Substantive purposes would be trying to change policy … For the most part, what they do with their motions to recommit are not change policy, but try to construct difficult political votes for members. We understand that.”

The bill was pulled after Republicans introduced a motion to recommit that any changes to FISA would exempt al Qaeda and Osama bin Laden. Because of the way the motion was written, it would have effectively killed the bill had it passed. But many Democrats would have had a hard time opposing such a motion and then explaining it to voters.

Hoyer’s spokeswoman also denied that House Democratic leaders were waiting on the Senate Judiciary Committee, which will start its markup of the bill’s Senate version Wednesday.

The Senate Intelligence panel has passed a FISA rewrite that includes limited retroactive immunity for telecommunications firms that cooperated with the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program. Many Democrats oppose that provision, which is not in the House bill, and some on the Senate Judiciary panel may try to change or strip that language.

Democrats in both chambers want to clear a FISA bill before a six-month interim bill expires in February 2008. Congress passed in August the Protect America Act, which granted the Bush administration far more sweeping powers over foreign-intelligence surveillance that may touch on Americans.

For their part, most House Republicans have continued to blast the RESTORE Act.

 “Nothing’s new. Democratic leadership is still in limbo,” said Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.). “The best thing to do is to have a solid bill, not the bill the Democrats cobbled together. That was a mess.”

When asked whether she had heard that Democratic leaders were having trouble with gathering the votes on the measure, especially from conservative freshmen and Blue Dog Democrats, Wilson said, “That would make sense.”

Republicans have also not missed an opportunity to criticize Democrats for failing to bring the legislation to the floor.

“Another week in the new Democrat majority and another light legislative floor schedule which doesn’t include FISA,” said Amos Snead, press secretary for Minority Whip Roy Blunt (R-Mo.). “We hope the Democrats improve from their last attempt and the next FISA package will actually allow our intelligence professionals to monitor calls from al Qaeda coming into our country.”

Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam (Fla.) said: “The silence on FISA is deafening.”

Democrats were mum about which tactics they may use to curtail other possible motions by Republicans, who vehemently opposed the bill’s closed rule. But when asked whether the Rules Committee may tweak the rule to limit Republican input on the floor, panel member Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) smiled and said: “We are aware of the options.”

“They are creative,” he said, referring to the Republican motions.