Senate extends warrantless wiretapping under FISA

one-world-orderThe Senate agreed on Friday to approve an extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, legislation that allows the NSA and other US intelligence agencies to wiretap conversations involving foreign citizens without obtaining a warrant.

Despite growing opposition to one of the most notorious and secretive US spying programs, the Senate voted 73-23 early Friday to reauthorize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.

First signed into law in 1978, FISA prescribes how the US government collects intelligence from foreign parties that may be detrimental to national security. Of particular significance, however, is the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, or FAA, which includes a provision that puts any US citizen engaged in correspondence with a person overseas at direct risk of being spied on.

Under the FAA, the government can eavesdrop on emails and phone calls made or received by Americans, as long as they reasonable suspect those conversations to include at least one person residing outside of the United States.

In May 2012, Senators Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Mark Udall (D-CO) sent a letter to the National Security Agency asking for an estimate on just how many Americans have been targeted since the FAA went on the book in 2008. In response, Inspector General I. Charles McCullough replied that honoring their request would be “beyond the capacity” of the Office of the NSA’s Inspector General, George Ellard, and that “dedicating sufficient additional resources would likely impede the NSA’s mission.”

“All that Senator Udall and I are asking for is a ballpark estimate of how many Americans have been monitored under this law, and it is disappointing that the Inspectors General cannot provide it,” Sen. Wyden told Wired’s Danger Room back in June. “If no one will even estimate how many Americans have had their communications collected under this law then it is all the more important that Congress act to close the ‘back door searches’ loophole, to keep the government from searching for Americans’ phone calls and emails without a warrant.”

The US House of Representatives approved the reauthorizing of FISA and the FAA in September, but the Senate had been unable to agree on renewing the acts until Friday morning. Earlier this month, in fact, Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Georgia) asked his colleagues on Capitol Hill to reauthorize FISA without holding any debates in the Senate in order to pass the bill before it expired. Had no action occurred before December 31, the warrantless wiretapping provisions would have eroded and the NSA would no longer be able to eavesdrop on Americans’ communications.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nevada) responded by saying that FISA is “an important piece of legislation,” though “imperfect,” but nonetheless warranted a full-on debate in the Senate.

Even before the Senate convened this week, the Obama administration already acknowledged that they favored reauthorizing FISA and the FAA.

 

This is a copy of the full article provided by RT

You may also like...