U.S. House votes to extend surveillance under FISA
Legislation would extend the provisions of FISA to December 2017
IDG News Service – The U.S. House of Representatives has voted to approve the extension by five years of a controversial law, that its critics claim allows for the warrantless surveillance of electronic communications like email and phone calls of not only foreigners but U.S. citizens.
The FISA Amendments Act Reauthorization Act of 2012, was passed by the House on Wednesday by 301 to 118, with 10 not voting.
The bill H.R. 5949 aims to extend the authority of the federal government to conduct surveillance pursuant to the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 until Dec. 31, 2017. The authority under the 2008 Act is scheduled to expire on Dec. 31 this year.
“Yet again, the House has rubberstamped a law so broad and vague that, despite its passage four years ago, we still have little idea how the government is using it,” said Michelle Richardson, legislative counsel of the American Civil Liberties Union in a statement.
It is at the very heart of the Fourth Amendment that Americans and their communications are fiercely protected from government intrusion, Richardson said. ACLU recommended that the law should be amended to include much stronger privacy protections when the Senate takes it up later this year
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2 comments:
Both the Senate and the House of Representatives should hold a special session, broadcast on all networks and to the world, in which they ceremoniously remove the Constitution from it's nuclear attack-protected enclosure, place the Bible they used to swear their allegiance to our laws and Constitution on top of it, and set them on fire. Maybe drag a prisoner from a secret prison and execute him on camera. THEN, at least, EVERYONE would able to know their true intent. Apparently, many believe they actually have our (we, the people) best interests in mind. That oughta clear it up for the mindless, the stupid, the ignorant and the "refuse to believe whats in front of your lying eyes" population segments.
Here, hear, 12:22. It's pretty obvious we have elected people to Congress and the Senate on flashiness alone. Content of character was off the table but can be back of this time around. Spread the word people. Talk to your neighbors and learn the candidates' voting records. Discuss.
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