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GUEST: Tim Sparapani, Senior Legislative Counsel for the ACLU

The U.S. Senate will resume debate today on legislation regarding provisions to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act as a temporary extension is nearly over. Competing bills from the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Intelligence panel differ on what surveillance authorities should be granted the government. The Bush administration of course favors the Senate Intelligence Panel’s legislation that would continue the eased restrictions on wiretapping phone and email conversations without a warrant. Vice President Dick Cheney urged Congress to make such provisions permanent as opposed to merely extending them legislatively once more. Central to the current debate on the Senate floor is a provision that would grant retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies that provide phone records and other information to the government. If passed, current lawsuits filed against telecom companies would be terminated and no such action against them could be taken up in the future. Senator Christopher Dodd opposes retroactive immunity and has threatened to utilize every means, including a filibuster, to strip the provision from the bill. The Senate is unlikely to agree on new legislation prior to the February 1st expiration date prompting some to call for a one-month extension.

For more information, visit www.aclu.org.