Pelosi Rebuts Bush and GOP with Facts
The GOP spin machine is in full force with its fear-mongering trying to convince Americans they will die if Congress does not pass the FISA bill the President wants before the extensions to FISA expire this week. Nothing could be further from the truth. It’s all grandstanding to insure Congress grants amnesty to the telecoms, and inherently to the Bush administration, and Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi has called the President’s bluff (for now).
The extension to the FISA bill is the Protect America Act, which allows the administration to do anything it wants and circumvents judicial review of illegal wiretapping.
Details on Pelosi’s rebuttal in a moment, but first…
If we are to believe the fear-mongering president’s assertions (and that’s all they are) made yesterday and today, then we are in imminent danger of annihilation and the telecoms are included unless they’ve found a way to operate without people or facilities. Therefore, how can Bush make the argument that he won’t accept legislation that protects all of the people as provided for in the RESTORE Act?
And what evidence has Bush provided to support all the BS in his recent statements that the intelligence agencies are just going to halt and not be able to monitor terrorists? None. Not one single piece.
This is the fear card Bush played yesterday.
At this moment, somewhere in the world, terrorists are planning new attacks on our country. Their goal is to bring destruction to our shores that will make September the 11th pale by comparison. To carry out their plans, they must communicate with each other, they must recruit operatives, and they must share information.
The lives of countless Americans depend on our ability to monitor these communications. Our intelligence professionals must be able to find out who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying, and what they’re planning.
To help our intelligence agencies do this, Congress passed the Protect America Act last year. Unfortunately, Congress set the law to expire on February 1st — and then failed to pass new legislation that would keep these tools in effect over the long run. …
The House’s failure to pass the bipartisan Senate bill would jeopardize the security of our citizens. As Director McConnell has told me, without this law, our ability to prevent new attacks will be weakened. And it will become harder for us to uncover terrorist plots.
And this is the fear-mongering Bush spewed today.
This Saturday at midnight, legislation authorizing intelligence professionals to quickly and effectively monitor terrorist communications will expire. If Congress does not act by that time, our ability to find out who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying, and what they are planning will be compromised. It would be a mistake if the Congress were to allow this to happen….
The Senate bill will provide fair and just liability protection for companies that assisted in the efforts to protect America after the attacks of September the 11th. Without this protection, without this liability shield, we may not be able to secure the private sector’s cooperation with our intelligence efforts. And that, of course, would put the American people at risk….
Failure to act would harm our ability to monitor new terrorist activities, and could reopen dangerous gaps in our intelligence. Failure to act would also make the private sector less willing to help us protect the country, and this is unacceptable. The House should not leave Washington without passing the Senate bill….
The lives of countless Americans depend on our ability to monitor terrorist communications. Our intelligence professionals are working day and night to keep us safe, and they’re waiting to see whether Congress will give them the tools they need to succeed or tie their hands by failing to act.
Bush is just flat out lying. Furthermore, if he is so concerned about the safety of Americans then why did he refuse to pass the Senate Judiciary Committee’s bill, which gave the intelligence agencies everything they need, but did not grant amnesty to the telecoms. I know I’ve said this repeatedly, but where is the logic in putting the priority of corporations over citizens?
Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi obviously anticipated the showdown that is taking place in Congress today as evidenced by her remarks published at The Gavel yesterday. She has put Bush on notice, using facts, not bullshit.
On Friday, a surveillance law insisted upon by the President last August will expire. Today, an overwhelming majority of House Democrats voted to extend that law for three weeks so that agreement could be reached with the Senate on a better version of that law. The President and House Republicans refused to support the extension and therefore will bear the responsibility should any adverse national consequences result.
However, even if the Protect America Act expires later this week, the American people can be confident that our country remains safe and strong. Every order entered under the law can remain in effect for 12 months from the date it was issued.
Furthermore, the underlying Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which provides for the surveillance of terrorists and provides that in emergencies surveillance can begin without warrant, remains intact and available to our intelligence agencies. Unlike last August, the FISA court has no backlog of cases, and thus can issue necessary court orders for surveillance immediately.
January 20, 2009 cannot get here fast enough.
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