Via digby
HOUSE CHAIRMAN OPEN TO REPUBLICAN COMPROMISE ON FISA
The House Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat disclosed late Tuesday that he is ready to accept a Republican-brokered deal to rewrite the nation’s electronic surveillance laws, signaling that a long-running congressional impasse could soon be coming to an end.
House Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes told CongressDaily that he is “fine” with language offered by Senate Intelligence ranking member Christopher (Kit) Bond and other Republicans to overhaul the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.
Notably, the GOP language, which was offered a day before the recent congressional recess, would leave it up to the secret FISA court to grant retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies that have helped the Bush administration conduct electronic surveillance on the communications of U.S. citizens without warrants.
Digby adds that this smells like a cover-up, since it’s not about money but about discovery.
Silvestre Reyes can be reached at (202) 225-4831.
It’s also a good idea to give Pelosi, Hoyer, and the rest of leadership an earful, as well as your own rep.
I will be reminding Mr. reyes about how the netroots took out Al Wynn and what we’re doing to Chris Carney.
