Today in Washington D. C. - Feb 11, 2008

On The Floor: The Senate reconvenes at 2 PM today and will resume consideration of the FISA reform bill (S. 2248). Senators will vote on the FISA bill and amendments tomorrow, likely beginning around 10 AM with a cloture vote on the legislation. If the Senate finishes work on FISA on Tuesday, the bill would then need to either be passed by the House or conferenced with House-passed legislation (H.R. 3773). All of this must be completed by Friday, when the current FISA fix expires.

The easiest way forward would be for both the Senate and the House to pass the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee bill. Blue Dog Democrats recently sent a letter to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi indicating that they could support the Senate Intelligence bill.

Among the amendments to be considered is one by Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) which would strip immunity for telecom companies from the bill. Another would substitute the federal government as a defendant in lawsuits against telecoms stemming from surveillance. Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell have recommended that the president veto the bill if either of those amendments were to pass.

From Senate & News Sources: On FISA, The Wall Street Journal writes in an editorial today, “Not long ago Democrats seemed ready to move a bipartisan bill passed by the Senate Intelligence Committee last autumn. But under pressure from the anti-antiterror left, they are now bending and will try to weaken the bill on the Senate floor. Given that the House is likely to pass something far worse, the Senate debate will determine how much the U.S. ties its own hands in the fight against terrorists.”

According to The New York Times, Democrats seem to want to obscure the debate over surveillance and muddle it with criticism of the Bush administration on the military and Iraq. Apparently to that end, Rep. Pelosi (D-CA) went back to the surge “is a failure” well yesterday, claiming, “There haven’t been gains . . . The gains have not produced the desired effect, which is the reconciliation of Iraq. This is a failure.” Clearly, she didn’t read the diary excerpts of an al-Qaeda in Iraq leader discussing his organization’s demise, thanks in part to the troop surge.

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