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Warrantless Wiretapping Law Reauthorized by House for Five Years
- The FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012 was approved in the House by a vote of 301-118.
- The reauthorization, if passed in the Senate later this year, would extend the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 for another five years.
- The law allows the government to conduct warrantless wiretapping of international communications by citizens.
- Supporters say the law has “an inordinate amount of oversight” to protect American’s rights and is an important counterterror measure.
- Opponents consider it a “blank check” for spy agencies for the next five years.
- Related, a federal judge ruled against an indefinite detention law that was part of the National Defense Authorization Act.
Under FISA, the government does not need to obtain a warrant to obtain foreign communications. (Image: Shutterstock.com)
The House on Wednesday overwhelmingly renewed a surveillance law that allows the government to monitor — without a warrant — conversations of foreign spies and terrorist suspects abroad, while requiring approval from a secret court when Americans are targeted anywhere in the world.
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance (FISA) Amendments Act of 2008 was issued in 2008 by President George W. Bush to include warrantless wiretapping of citizens’ foreign communications and other surveillance measures as a counterterror measure. The reauthorization would extend FISA for another five years.
At the same time, the New York Times repots a federal judge ruling against indefinite detention, which when combined with the House’s approval of the FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012, shows the “debate over the balance between national security and civil liberties is still unfolding 11 years after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11″:
In the detention case, Judge Katherine B. Forrest of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a permanent injunction barring the government from relying on the defense authorization law to hold people in indefinite military detention on suspicion that they “substantially supported” Al Qaeda or its allies — at least if they had no connection to the Sept. 11 attacks.
Privacy and civil rights advocates, like the American Civil Liberties Union, have spoken out against the reauthorization act. In a recent blog post about the act, the ACLU criticized the law for allowing monitoring of “American communications without meaningful judicial oversight and without probable cause or any finding of wrongdoing.” It called for those in the House to demand those in the Obama administration disclose the following information, which they should then take into account before, reauthorizing FISA:
- Copies of FISA court opinions interpreting our Fourth Amendment rights under the FAA, with redactions to protect sensitive information (the Department of Justice can write summaries of law if necessary);
- A rough estimate of how many Americans are surveilled under the FAA every year;
- A description of the rules that govern how American information picked up by FAA surveillance is protected.
“Can you believe that 435 members of Congress who have sworn to uphold the Constitution are about to vote on a sweeping intelligence gathering law without this basic information?” the ACLU’s Legislative Counsel Michelle Richardson wrote.
TheBlaze reported earlier this year senators asking the National Security Administration for the number of people spied upon through this program were issued a response from the Inspector General of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence I. Charles McCullough. The response said not only that the information regarding that is classified but also that divulging it could violate the privacy of persons spied upon.
The amendment was brought to the floor under a closed ruling, meaning no amendments were allowed to be made to it. OBM Watch calls it “troubling” that the House seems to have “fast tracked” reauthorization of this act.
“The House missed an important opportunity to revisit privacy concerns that have arisen from the act and to require more disclosure about government surveillance of American citizens,” Gavin Baker wrote for OBM Watch.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y. said, “While it’s certainly appropriate for our government to gather foreign intelligence and while some degree of secrecy is necessary, it’s also vital in a free society that we limit government, protect the constitutional rights of Americans here and abroad, and limit warrantless spying to genuine foreign intelligence.
“Unfortunately we have seen repeatedly how even the very minimal restraints Congress put on FISA have been violated,” Nadler said. “We should address those abuses. Congress has an obligation to exert more control over spy agencies than simply to give them a blank check for another five years.”
Still, House supporters, of which there were 301 representatives that approved the reauthorization compared to 118 that voted against, assured Americans that their rights are protected.
“This is about foreigners on foreign soil. It’s not a dragnet,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Mich., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
He said Americans’ rights “are alive and well here. This is one of those programs that has an inordinate amount of oversight to make sure we are not targeting Americans. In the odd case where an American is intercepted, there are very strict procedures on how to destroy that information and correct that problem. And it has not happened hardly, frequently, at all….”
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, said the law would help stop terrorists “before they disable our defenses, carry out a plot against our country or kill innocent Americans.”
The Senate is expected to vote on the act later this year.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
This story has ben updated to correct a spelling error.
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Comments (86)
Eastinfection
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:34amAhhhh…. I love the smell of tyranny in the morning. Hey Big Bro- I’m gonna take a dump now. OK by you?
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Wango
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 10:31amSector request 143-BC received and approved. Initiate Deuce Monitor 3000.
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Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:32amI can think of NOTHING more that I would love than for you and your ilk to “come for us”.
Let’s quit the foreplay an just get it over with.
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soybomb315_II
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:26amOnly 7 republicans voted against this bill. Ron Paul was one of them. If this were 2002, there would have been only one republican voting against it – Ron Paul. Dont you see – this is why we love the guy
Thank goodness he has some friends now in Congress. Justin Amash, Duncan, Chris Gibson, Tim Johnson, Walter Jones, McClintock also voted against it
That is why i ONLY vote for Tea Party republicans. And if they aint Tea Party – i dont vote for them
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soybomb315_II
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:31amCorrection: I only vote for Constitutional Tea Party republicans. It appears we need to have a distinction between Tea Party and Constitutional Tea Party
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Banter
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:42amYep,
My rep Dennis Ross voted for this. Other Tea Party favorites, Michelle Bachman, Allen West, Jason Chavitz, Connie Mack all voted yea to pi$$ on the Constitution.
Seems the assimilation of the 2010 Tea Party winners into the DC machine is almost complete.
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Chromo200
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:47amThis why we should vote for the right people that eventualy will aput a stop to the unconstitutional acts by the President and By OLd time congressmen and women.
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Banter
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 10:01amChromo200
“…and By OLd time congressmen and women.”
The 2010 Tea Party rout was to do exactly this, however, very few are left that have not been co-opted into pi$$ing on the Constitution.
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WarMunger_Al
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 1:17pmGod bless Justin Amash. They only politician I have voted for that has done what he said he would. Stick to the constitution. This stuff is why I am writing in Ron Paul in November
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cantstandlibs
Posted on September 14, 2012 at 1:53pmI really can’t see how it is a bad idea to monitor foreign communications. How does the constitution prohibit that? Granted, a lot of domestic communication could be threatening as well, but that is not included, from what I’ve read. Someone talking to any predominantly ******** country? I got NO PROBLEM intercepting that. Talking to any other country, I got NO PROBLEM with that. I don’t consider planning, funding, or supporting terrorism to be “free speech” but rather “treason.” If Ron Paul does not get it, and he does not, his foreign policy is dangerous, I’m glad he is where he is, one of 100 senators, rather than our nominee.
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Liberalismsamentaldisorder
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:19amIf only our press was uncorrupted, our public might make better informed decisions. Anybody recall Obama and libs in general RAILING against this when Bush was in office? If it weren’t for double standards, libs wouldn’t have any at all.
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soybomb315_II
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:27amwell the libs are the ones who voted against this bill
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progressiveslayer
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:15amYou worship a Marxist mulatto POS fraud president you dumb F&^% and your boy will be defeated by a wide margin.Candyass communists fail all over the world and that’s a fact.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EW-i1LTDxR0
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Rustic Gala
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:08amLiberty has been destroyed. And if you think our courts will protect us, consider a recent civil (non-criminal) federal court case in Texas. In this case, the judge and his friends threatened the litigant (the “victim”) with “death” and seized, without any notice or hearing, prohibited him from hiring a lawyer, and essentially into a bizarre civil lockdown. The litigant has been under this civil lockdown order for nearly two years, and is prohibited from having a lawyer, from owning any possessions, from freely traveling, from working, etc… The judge redistributed the litigants property to the judge’s friends.
http://LawInjustice.com/ has details about this disturbing case and some quotes from the judge:
THE COURT: “I’m telling you don’t screw with me. You are a fool, a fool, a fool, a fool to screw with a federal judge, and if you don’t understand that, I can make you understand it. I have the force of the Navy, Army, Marines and Navy behind me.”
THE COURT: “You realize that order is an order of the Court. So any failure to comply with that order is contempt, punishable by lots of dollars, punishable by possible jail, death”
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WarMunger_Al
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 1:26pmThis is more than disturbing, how has this guy not gone into full assault mode? there would be bodies piling up it were me. A judge’s order is not binding if it is unconstitutional.
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soybomb315_II
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:06amhttp://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/112-2012/h569
Why is it that the democrats voted nay but the republicans voted yea???
Which party stands up for the Constitution? Answer: NEITHER
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cykonas
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 11:06amThe D’s voted nay because the resolution was sponsored by an R. I doubt, in the vast majority of cases, that it had anything to do with the Constitution or with the protection of our Natural Rights. Peace.
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justangry
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 1:16pmHey Soy, Notice how all the “Paulbot” bashers neglected to show up to this thread?
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usedCZARsalesman
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 1:52pmI’m here…but I don’t think of myself as a “basher” :-)
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Dismayed Veteran
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:00amAs a former Army Counterintelligence Agent, I understand the need to collect timely intelligence. I also know that you have to collect every bit of intelligence to be able to separate the relevant from the meaningless. Warrantless means that they will harvest every call. On the flip side, there have been no success terrorists attacks claiming large number of casualties. (Ft Hood is the exception but was done by a lone wolf.)
We have stepped to far away from our Constitution and Bill of Rights. Power once obtained is difficult to give up.
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The_Jerk
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:58amRepublicans are not conservative. They are Democrat-Lite.
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SamIamTwo
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:56amDoes this apply to the throwaway wireless phones? ha
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bharris0
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:47amIt sure sounds like both republicans and democrats are violating their oath to support and defend the constitution.
In short, the lot of them are committing acts of treason and should be punished accordingly.
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The Giver
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:07amI wonder how many tea party representatives voted for it. It’s deeply saddening.
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Banter
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 10:14am@The Giver
Most of them.
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progressiveslayer
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:41amWe’ve strayed so far from our founders it’s pathetic,’warrantless wiretapping’ is all that needs to be said,it’s unconstitutional and just because the neanderthals in congress created a law doesn’t mean it’s constitutional.That giant info collecting project out in Utah is another nail in the coffin of our republic,a police state indeed. Our airports are filled with TSA privacy rapists,drones flying over the continental US,warrantless wiretaps,vets being picked up for making comments on FB and being sent for a psychological evaluation. We’re headed for a depression and the sycophants in the media want to see Romneys tax returns! WTF.
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Wango
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 10:32amThank Cheney.
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justangry
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 1:09pmI think, if not mistaken, Cheney now has a HEART…
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Individualism
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:28amtalk to any judges you know and get them to rule this down as well, we need to focus on our judges because it seems there the only ones interested in protecting the constitution now. the wiretapping justifies groups like anonymous’s existence and actions.
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johnjamison
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:41amWhere can we the people find a break down of the house vote so we can figure out who needs to be removed from office.
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johnjamison
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:48amhere’s the breakdown of the who supports these Unconstitutional actions
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/112-2012/h569
Anyone who thinks Republican are more constitutional than democrats needs to see these numbers and realize that R and D have the same BIG GOVERNMENT AGENDAS JUST WITH DIFFERENT IDEOLOGICAL OUT COMES
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johnjamison
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:48amhttp://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/112-2012/h569
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Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:33amYeah, because that worked so well on Obamacare.
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Armyduderetired
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:28amMy posts will not load. I’m being monitored I guess.
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Armyduderetired
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:26amAdd your comments
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standuppeople
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:25amRight after 9/11 (I guess I will now have to include the year to designate which 9/11) 2001, I was in favor of FISA. Now, things have changed. Safeguarding liberty is more important than ever. I am sorry to admit that I failed to be involved enough as a citizen to communicate my will to my legislators. No matter who actually said it, Jefferson or de Tocqueville or someone else, “People get the government they deserve.”
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Merry52277
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:52amI understand how you feel, but the elites in Washington have elevated and removed themselves from the general populace to such an extent if feels more like a monarchy instead of a Republic.
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moreteaplease
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:20amCountrygirl1362
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 7:24am
Does anyone really belive they stop at warentless wiretapping on just international communications?
———————————————————–
Oh come now, you don’t think they’d lie to us do you? And if everybody is a suspect then it’s only to keep anyone from feeling left out or disenfranchised ( there’s a word that will be getting thrown around quite a bit after the election )
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sndrman
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:55amwasn’t it bush’s fault?remember the liberal,socialists,aclu and nancy P and dingey hairy,yelling and screaming about bush and the warrentless wire taps…………funny how for the last 4 years you haven’t heard a peep………..could the left be hypocritical? of course they can it called the “ends justifies the means” no media coverage,just gets swept under the rug with liberals in charge…………….one thing bush used it to keep AMERICA safe. the socialists use it to SPY AND SUBDUE AMERICANS(MOSTLY TEA PARTY, CONSERVATIVES)……..
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bertr
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:05amH.R. 5949 Tea Party Caucus
NAY:
Tom McClintock, California
NO VOTE:
Paul Broun, Ga
Tod Akin, Missouri
Wally Herger, CA
YAE:
Sandy Adams, Fl
Robert Aderholt, Alabama
Rodney Alexander, Louisiana
Michele Bachmann, Minnesota, Chair
Roscoe Bartlett, Maryland
Joe Barton, Texas
Gus Bilirakis, Florida
Rob Bishop, Utah
Diane Black, Tennessee
Michael C. Burgess, Texas
Dan Burton, Indiana
John Carter, Texas
Bill Cassidy, Louisiana
Howard Coble, North Carolina
Mike Coffman, Colorado
Ander Crenshaw, Florida
John Culberson, Texas
Jeff Duncan, South Carolina
Blake Farenthold, Texas
Stephen Fincher, Tennessee
John Fleming, Louisiana
Trent Franks, Arizona
Phil Gingrey, Georgia
Louie Gohmert, Texas
Vicky Hartzler, Missouri
Tim Huelskamp, Kansas
Lynn Jenkins, Kansas
Steve King, Iowa
Doug Lamborn, Colorado
Jeff Landry, Louisiana
Blaine Luetkemeyer, Missouri
Kenny Marchant, Texas
David McKinley, West Virginia
Gary Miller, California
Mick Mulvaney, South Carolina
Randy Neugebauer, Texas
Rich Nugent, Florida
Steven Palazzo, Mississippi
Steve Pearce, New Mexico
Mike Pence, Indiana
Ted Poe, Texas
Tom Price, Georgia
Denny Rehberg, Montana
Phil Roe, Tennessee
Dennis Ross, Florida
Ed Royce, California
Steve Scalise, Louisiana
Tim Scott, South Carolina
Pete Sessions, Texas
Adrian Smith, Nebraska
Lamar Smith, Texas
Cliff Stearns, Florida
Tim Walberg, Michigan
Joe Walsh, Illinois
Allen West, Florida
Lynn Westmoreland, Georgia
Joe Wilson,
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soybomb315_II
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:11amThose are all the votes for the so-called Tea Party congressmen? Good God we are doomed
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bertr
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:19amyea, sad isnt it, i wasnt picking on the tea party so much as those were the only ones i went to look for as a gage of hope. i searched http://www.govtrack.us/congress/votes/112-2012/h569 for these results
Feel free to check behind me, i tried to be accurate but i am not beyond misreading a line when searching this many.
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GhostOfJefferson
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:22amOh, who controls the House again? Talk to me about Liberty, GOP. :-/
Also, if they’re already violating your rights, what good does an oversight committee do to “protect your rights”, which they have, as I mentioned, already violated?
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Stelex
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:44amNot good…..WTF.
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PIGSWILLNEVERFLY
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:09amThere must be SOMETHING Really Treacherous afoot that THEY know that WE DO NOT know. That is the ONLY reason i can think that some of the reps. that i didn’t think would vote for this DID vote for this. The Globalists who want to nation build because they think they will have more customers to sell to are CRAZY. We need small government, break up the big banks and stop the mergers. We need small and medium sized American companies. Look where this globalization has gotten us. If Israel is on it’s own that so should everyone else be. All the wicked alliances of the global elite that is who is being protected…not the American citizen.
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RJJinGadsden
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:09amSOY, this is one of those times when I have to agree with Ron Paul’s vote. Every danged one of our state’s reps to include the one Dem-wit voted for this. Really ticks me off. Did notice that Gary Johnson was not listed in the vote. Where was he?
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IOWAGIR
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:13amWe are doomed!!! It even looked like most of the Nay votes came from Dems. I know that Bush started this but I was hoping that our Repub. represenatives would strat to move in the right direction and see the errors of their ways.
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soybomb315_II
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 9:22am@RJJinGadsden
Gary Johnson is not a congressman. Did you really not know that, or were you trying to be cute?
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Stelex
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:05amHey Blaze, how about when you do an article on a particular vote, include a link to the Roll Call so each person here can see how there representatives voted. An informed public is……..well pretty rare these days but that might help.
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soybomb315_II
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:10amexactly!!!
That is the only way we can move forward with purging these RINOs
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Stoic one
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:54amSTELEX
I copied you post and pasted it at the bottom of the page in the “have a tip?” box.
I am sure that It will be read there….
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cykonas
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 10:59amYour request is a good one. I, however, would like to know a day or two ahead of the vote that it’s coming to the floor. If I knew when these votes were coming up I could take a more proactive stance using my phone or email to personally lobby my Congress Critter(s).
I know there are ways to do it now, but most require a fair amount of time and I have very little extra time on my hands. If you know a better way to know what’s upcoming in the House and Senate I would love to know it. Peace.
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justangry
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 1:13pmWhy would they do that? They like putting up the clowns that voted for this trash but lash out at Obama, like Gomer today… The story wouldn’t work if they said, “this POS that just voted to screw you over said X about Obama”.
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Bret4207
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 7:52amThe word is spelled “warrant” not “warrent”.
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kenboo1
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:04amIt will take to hours for thim to corect that you no…
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Landfill
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 7:39amThis is the destruction of liberty in the United States. Because the United States government will not carefully restrict who comes into this country, WE ARE ALL UNDER SURVEILLANCE IN THE UNITED STATES. This is a failure of our state department to keep these murdering terrorists the hell out of our country. We are in “lockdown” in prison with cameras watching all of us because the government of the United States will not control our borders. The U.S. federal government is a failed institution that cannot control spending nor the borders of the country. The result is both national insolvency and all of us living in fear of mass murder.
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kenboo1
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:06amvery true… Lets change that
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Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 7:38amBut…but…you either vote for Romney and the GOP or you are voting for Obama.
We need to just vote these people in and then we’ll nudge them the right direction later. /sarc
Suckers.
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WarMunger_Al
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 1:33pmYep, it is too late for nudging. Time to fire up the tar and gather the feathers. The government is no longer for the people. The parties are both filled with traitors.
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LRC
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 7:34amI’m sick of George Bush eroding our rights, we have to vote him out this November folks. What’s next, full body scans before we fly? This has to stop, Obama will protect us.
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Countrygirl1362
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 7:24amDoes anyone really belive they stop at warentless wiretapping on just international communications?
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Taurnil
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 7:58amNo I don’t believe it.
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soybomb315_II
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 7:18amthis article should be a wake up call that even though republicans have “won” the house, we are still losing the war. As long as this party is controlled by these establishment republicans – we will never win our freedom back.
The only way to revive the Constitution is to JOLT this nation awake. Need to only vote for candidates who are FOR the Constitution and AGAINST the establishment
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WarMunger_Al
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 7:23amFriggin traitors. Republicans and Democrats should be brought down.
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Leadthemtothelight
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 7:28amI am torn as this is a terrible invasion of privacy. We are at war however radical islamic jihadists are just getting warmed up in my opinion. The Obama administration has systematically undone the stabilization of the middle east. Jihadists are gonna keep on coming wave after wave. Libya, Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt and more and we have armed them and given them vast amounts of money. This will not end well for us. Wiretapping may well be the least of our worries. Hopefully in November we will have a new POTUS and the damage done can be undone. God help us all if Obama is re elected.
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Rothbardian_in_the_Cleve
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 7:42am@Lead,
If you give up liberty for security you get neither.
You don’t just give up your freedom buy you give up the freedom of future generations.
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soybomb315_II
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 7:48am“If tyranny and oppression come to this land, it will be in the guise of fighting a foreign enemy.”
James Madison
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GhostOfJefferson
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:25am@Lead
The Congress has not declared “war” on anybody since WW2. We are not legally “at war” with anybody. Even the most teeth gnashing, pro-statists shout “we need these extraconstitutional powers because we’re at war!”, yet we’re not. They want the ability to violate, without fulfilling even the most basic legal requirement to get their wish. Not that declaring war means they can violate rights, I’m just pointing out that they’re not even living up to their silly standards.
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justangry
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 8:58am@Lead, Forgive my candor, but have you ever had a Jihadist try to kill you personally? Grow a pair, dude.
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Banter
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 10:11am@Lead
“This will not end well for us. Wiretapping may well be the least of our worries. Hopefully in November we will have a new POTUS and the damage done can be undone.”
Liberty taken away is not usually restored. If you think Romney will restore your liberty lost in the pasing of this unconstitutional act, then you are right, wiretapping will be the least of your worries.
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cykonas
Posted on September 13, 2012 at 11:40amThe only way to revive the Constitution is to JOLT this nation awake. Need to only vote for candidates who are FOR the Constitution and AGAINST the establishment
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I agree with you Soy. However, the awakening that you refer to will not come with either of the two establishment parties. Look at the list of tea party caucus Republicans that voted yea for this diabolical piece of legislation. Even the chair of the caucus, Michelle Bachmann, voted for it!
Our faith has to be in the God of our understanding and in alternate parties. We’ve got to get to work evening the field in ballot access, Federal campaign funds disbursement, Presidential debate access etc. if you want to hold any hope of any awakening.
Speeches, party affiliations, and caucus affiliations mean nothing when you measure them against the Constitution. Our representatives are Progressives on both sides of the aisle. Peace.
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