This past Thursday the House of Representatives convened in secret for the first time since 1983. The purpose of their secrecy was to revise the infamous Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This act was put into place in 1978 and then amended by the USA Patriot Act of 2001 to include terrorist organizations that aren't backed by a specific government.
The act has allowed warrentless domestic wire tapping (this use was developed by the Bush administration) as well as created a court that meets in secret to issue warrants. Only the amount of warrants issued must be disclosed, not how they are issued.
I am not certain of all the specifics of the revisions, but one revision has been met with strong opposition from the GOP. It would allow telecommunications companies to be sued if they had participated in any of the warrantless seaches. That doesn't seem fair to me since the telecommunications companies had probably acted under the advice that what they were doing was legal at the time.
I am not as well informed on this topic as I would like to be and am hoping that someone else can take a look at this article and possibly shed some light on what is going on here.
House challenges Bush on surveillance
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I only wish the bill was stronger, but I'll take any chip into the Patriot Act. Bush will veto this one as soon as he gets the chance and maybe we'll end up with an even better bill after he's gone.
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