Perlmutter Statement About FISA Vote Today

Statement

Today, U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter (CO-07) issued the following statement concerning the House of Representatives vote on changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The House passed amendments to FISA by a vote of 213-197. Rep. Perlmutter voted for the amendments.

"I am pleased the House passed the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. This is a strong, effective, and constitutional bill providing the tools our intelligence community needs to conduct legal surveillance of terrorists which will make our nation more safe and secure. It ensures that the secret FISA court can immediately authorize the surveillance of any call from a foreign terrorist to someone within the . It also allows the Attorney General to authorize wiretapping of terrorists in foreign countries communicating with each other.

"Despite these safeguards, President Bush is threatening to veto the bill because it does not give blanket retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies that gave away their customers' privacy. Under existing law, these companies already are immune from lawsuits for supporting the federal government, however President Bush will not allow them to assert such claims of immunity. The legislation passed by the House today gives the federal court the exclusive opportunity to privately hear classified evidence and determine whether telecommunications companies should be held liable for their action.

"For 30 years, FISA has provided us the information we need to keep our country safe, and it will continue to do so with these carefully crafted amendments that adhere to our Constitution. This bill makes our country safer, and it is time for President Bush to put the security of the American people above the political interests of the White House."

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