Bob Casey Responds On FISA

I received this in my Email yesterday…

Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding legislation amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978. I appreciate hearing from you about this important issue.

After careful thought and deliberation, I voted for two competing versions of temporary legislation to fix the FISA on Friday, August 3rd, and voiced my extreme discontent with the Bush Administration’s irresponsible handling of this issue. Before the Senate adjourned for the August recess, I wanted to ensure that our intelligence community has the tools it needs to target terrorists while a larger review of the FISA law is conducted. The version of the bill introduced by my colleagues, Senators Bond and McConnell, gained the necessary 60 votes for final Senate passage while the language introduced by Senators Rockefeller and Levin, fell short. On Saturday, August 4th, the House of Representatives passed an identical version of the Bond-McConnell bill and President Bush subsequently signed it into law.

The Bond-McConnell version, supported by the White House, is far from ideal and I deplore the tactics employed by the Bush Administration to push its agenda through the politics of fear. This revision to FISA law will sunset in six months. I look forward to a thorough review when cooler heads can prevail, which is needed for a permanent FISA fix that keeps America safe from terrorists while also safeguarding the rights of our citizens.

I still think Casey and the other Democrats who supported Bond-McConnell (still unbelievable to me) are guilty of horrific bad judgment and not showing much of a spine either. Despite that, I appreciate the courtesy of a response on Casey’s part.