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GUEST: Leigh Ann Caldwell, Washington Editor for Free Speech Radio News

Congress is considering amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) – and the telecom industry is weighing in. Despite a veto threat from President Bush, the House vote to pass changes to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) last week, which denies retroactive immunity to telecoms that aided the National Security Agency in spying on US citizens. A similar measure came out of the Senate Intelligence Committee – although the Judiciary committee voted against granting retroactive immunity. As the final version is hammered out to head to the Senate floor, the issue of retroactive immunity will likely be the final sticking point. Meanwhile, the telecom lobby is doing whatever it can to keep retroactive immunity on the table to avoid prosecution. But many Democrats on Capitol Hill say that renewing FISA is about keeping the Bush administration accountable for its actions.

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