CBS/AP
Two months ago, President Bush made a strong argument for updating a law which oversees the government’s ability to engage in surveillance of Americans and non-citizens, which requires warrants from a secret court. He spoke of the importance to our nation’s security to have a bill ready for him to sign, so as to not “limit” his administration’s anti-terrorism activities.
“Congress and the President have no higher responsibility than protecting the American people from enemies who attacked our country,” he said.
But underneath this urgency was a threat: Even if Congress sent him an updated Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) bill with the provisions he said were required to pursue wiretaps of individuals with a minimum of judicial oversight, Mr. Bush said he would veto it if it did not also include an extraneous provision: immunity to telecommunications companies from liability for their past participation in the administration’s wiretaps.
Without quite admitting the program’s existence, Mr. Bush said that the bill must “grant liability protection to companies who are facing multi-billion-dollar lawsuits only because they are believed to have assisted in the efforts to defend our nation following the 9/11 attacks.”
(Original Article)