House Members have refused to reach an agreement in Congress after the liberal circus over the Protect America Act.  Division in the House spiraled downward into a partisan staring match as each side of the aisle waited for the other to blink, finally ending in a version of the bill that the President promised to veto.  The most recent temporary extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) expired February 16, and instead of working hard to pass a measure that will protect the American people, members of the House majority have chosen to pursue their own anti-Bush agenda.

Shortly before Easter recess, the House Majority got its wish and passed a gutted version of FISA, neglecting retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies involved in surveillance since 9/11.  Without such a provision, it is doubtful those companies will continue to lend their support.  President Bush has threatened to veto any version of the bill omitting this provision.

The White House has agreed to negotiate possible compromises with House leadership.  Even with this development, however, many are saying the bill will not be considered for several weeks.  That means several more weeks of unnecessary vulnerability on the part of U.S. citizens.  This version also burdens the intelligence community by creating a commission to study surveillance conducted since 2001. 

"Some in the majority may have forgotten how the old FISA law failed the nation in 2001, but it was only last year that it failed our soldiers kidnapped in Iraq," said Representative Pete Hoekstra (R-Michigan), the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee.  "To ignore the real world costs of not reforming our terrorist surveillance laws is to invite only more tragedy and suffering.  The failure of Congress to modernize and strengthen FISA has put our homeland at greater risk, as well as our troops in Afghanistan and Iraq and our allies around the world."

Let our leaders know that partisan games are not acceptable.  U.S. citizens cannot afford to be so vulnerable to terrorist attacks.

Action: Please call your Representatives at 202-225-3121 and ask them to support S. 2248, the Senate FISA Amendments Act.