Bush pressures Congress on FISA

President Bush on Thursday pressured Congress to pass quickly legislation to overhaul the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which the Senate is debating.

“If Congress does not act quickly, our national security professionals will not be able to count on critical tools they need to protect our nation, and our ability to respond quickly to new threats and circumstances will be weakened,” Bush said in a statement.

{mosads}Congress passed last August a GOP-written interim FISA bill, set to expire Feb. 1, that greatly expanded the government’s powers to conduct warrantless surveillance on U.S. soil. It quickly drew criticism from many Democrats and civil liberties groups.

Since then, Democrats have been working on legislation that would shore up the powers of the secret court that has traditionally held oversight over foreign intelligence surveillance in the U.S.

The House passed a Democratic-written bill last fall, while the bill pending in the Senate passed by a bipartisan vote in the Senate Intelligence Committee. The bill would, among other things, grant retroactive immunity to the telecommunications firms that participated in the National Security Agency’s warrantless surveillance program after Sept. 11, 2001 – a key priority for the White House.

Many Democrats oppose that provision and will try to alter, if not strike, the immunity language through amendments.

Bush expressed his qualified support Thursday for the Senate Intelligence Committee legislation, saying the bill “contains many provisions that our intelligence officials say they need to protect our country.” Bush also praised the immunity provision.

“This bill still needs some changes, but I am optimistic that with goodwill on both sides we can make those changes quickly,” Bush said.