On The Floor: Senate reconvened at 9:30 AM today and resumed consideration of S. 2248, the FISA modification bill. The FISA bill is based on the bipartisan bill passed out of the Senate Intelligence Committee sponsored by Sens. Rockefeller (D-WV) and Bond (R-MO).Yesterday a substitute amendment with the text of the Judiciary Committee’s bill, which does not include immunity for telecom companies that assisted with terror surveillance, was rejected, 60-36. Republican Leader McConnell filed cloture on the Intelligence Committee bill yesterday and a vote has been scheduled at 4:30 PM on Monday. Majority Leader Reid knowingly that FISAsa expires in Feb 1, said on the floor this morning that Democrats may not vote for cloture, which jeopardizes the opportunity Congress has to pass the bill in the Senate and House before Friday. Reid then introduced an amendment to the bill which would extend the current FISA law by 30 days and filed for cloture on his amendment yesterday. A vote on that amendment is expected on Monday if the McConnell cloture motion fails. [Does anyone suspect Ried is willing to risk FISA and national security in an effort to push President Bush on other issues?]
On Monday, President Bush will deliver his final State of the Union address to a Joint Session of Congress.
From Senate & News Sources: On Feb. 1, a week from today, the current law modifying FISA, the Protect America Act, expires. As Jed Babbin writes in Human Events today, “If it expires, our intelligence gatherers here and abroad will be rendered blind and deaf because the legality of their operations will be put in limbo.” The Senate Intelligence Committee has produced a bipartisan bill supported by the White House and Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell, yet Senate Democrats seem reluctant to move forward on the bill.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has called for a 30-day extension of the current law, but the Senate has been aware of the problems with FISA since April and quite a bit of floor time has already been spent considering the bill at various times. Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO) told Jed Babbin, “Congress has had six months to act. To stall legislation needed to help our intelligence community prevent attacks and protect American lives is not only irresponsible, it’s dangerous.”
On the economic front, a stimulus plan was unveiled in the House yesterday, of which one component is tax rebates. However, The New York Times reports today that the IRS may have difficulty getting the checks mailed quickly, thanks in part to Democrats’ irresponsible delays in passing a fix to the alternative minimum tax last year.
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