The House held an unusual closed-door session to talk about classified intelligence gathering in anticipation of a vote Friday on a warrantless eavesdropping bill.
The Democratic bill would set rules for the government’s surveillance of phone calls and e-mails. President Bush has vowed to veto it.
The president’s main objection is that the bill does not protect from lawsuits telecommunications companies that allowed the government to eavesdrop on their customers without permission from a court after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
House Republicans succeeded Thursday in delaying the vote by one day by requesting a rare, late-night closed session of Congress to discuss the bill. It was the first secret session of the House in a quarter century.
The last such session was in 1983, on U.S. support for paramilitary operations in Nicaragua. Only five closed sessions have taken place in the House since 1825… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <Huffington Post>
I watched this unfold yesterday on C-SPAN, and figured that this hush-hush secrecy was just a GOP ploy to deceive sheeple that they had some compelling information and stall a day to arm-twist Bush Dog DINOs. I was correct, as Steny Hoyer’s statement after the session reveals.
WASHINGTON, DC – House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (MD) released the following statement tonight after the House held a secret session to discuss information relevant to the debate on legislation to modernize the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA):
“I did not hear any new information tonight that dissuades me from my very strong belief that the FISA bill House Democrats have produced – and which the House will vote on tomorrow – is a reasonable, thoughtful, appropriate piece of legislation that will ensure that the intelligence community has all the tools it needs to protect our nation, while also respecting the Constitutional protections that Americans rightfully feel are so important. Tomorrow, I will urge members on both sides of the aisle to vote for this legislation.”… [emphasis added]
Inserted from <The Gavel>
Of course, telecom immunity is not and never has been the issue here. The real issue is Bush/GOP immunity from disclosure of their criminal acts in spying on Americans.
Cross-posted from Politics Plus
