House passes FISA overhaul

The House passed an overhaul of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) on Friday, endorsing a compromise supported by Republicans and conservative Democrats but opposed by a majority of Democrats.

The vote was 293-129. Only 105 Democrats voted yes, while 128 voted no.

{mosads}“This is not the bill I would have written, in an ideal world,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), who negotiated the compromise with Senate and House Republicans. “This bill is one step in a long, continuing process of updating this critical legislation — ensuring that our national security and our civil liberties are both protected.”

The most contentious issue for the bill was legal immunity for telecom companies that participated in President Bush’s warrantless wiretapping program. The bill would allow federal judges to waive lawsuits if the firms can prove that they were authorized by the president and assured that the program was legal.

The bill would also allow the government to perform surveillance on people in foreign countries communicating with people in the United States. But the secret FISA court would first have to review the government’s intelligence-gathering techniques, except in “exigent” circumstances.