A New FISA Bill proposed by John Conyers

It was reported yesterday the Democrats are ready to capitulate on a FISA bill again. The New York Times reported Democrats were ready to give the Bush administration everything they wanted on FISA because they are afraid not to appear weak. This was surprising to me because the Progressive Caucus last week told the Democrats they were not willing to go along with this capitulation and House majority leader Hoyer had to postpone a press conference on the new FISA bill. I was ready to blast them this morning. Though, Glenn Greenwald then reported that the article was misleading and the news was not nearly as depressing.

This morning House Judiciary Chairman John Conyers (D- MI) and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Sylvestri Reyes (D-TX) introduced a much better bill and does not seem to capitulate, yet. It is the Restore Act (Responsible Surveillance That is Overseen, Reviewed and Effective - isn't that clever?) I guess we will see. The new bill's key provisions are:

* Restores court oversight of intelligence by requiring that electronic surveillance programs be approved by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Court

* Mandates that FISA warrants be obtained when the administration wants to undertake surveillance of persons in the US

* No retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that cooperated with the administration’s warrantless surveillance

* Does not require individual warrants when targets are reasonably believed to be abroad

* Ensures FISA is the exclusive means of electronic surveillance and that no modifications can be made without express legal authorization

Jerry Nadler, a member of the Progressive Caucus in the House said of the bill: "It is not perfect, but it is a good bill," he said. "It makes huge improvements in the current law. In some respects it is better than the old FISA law," a reference to the foreign intelligence court." I am sure this is not the end of the story. But, I am at least temporarily pleased that Democrats are finding their spine.