OPINION:
After enduring months of political fire for their obstructionism regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), House Democratic leaders are showing signs that they may be looking for a graceful way to capitulate on the issue. Following the orders of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, senior Democrats like Intelligence Committee Chairman Silvestre Reyes have prevented the House from considering the bipartisan FISA overhaul passed last month by the Senate. The Senate bill, which passed 68-29 with the support of 19 Democrats, included retroactive liability protection to telecommunications firms that aided government efforts to monitor terrorist telephone calls and e-mails after September 11.
But Mrs. Pelosi sent the House on vacation Feb. 15 without considering the Senate bill. The critical result of this action has been to force U.S. intelligence agencies to obtain approval from federal judges in order to eavesdrop on new foreign-to-foreign terrorist communications that are carried through switches on U.S. soil. National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell says that delays caused by this system handicap the ability of U.S. intelligence to monitor the phone calls of terrorists.
But the House Democratic leadership is under mounting pressure from members of the Blue Dog Coalition (a group of relatively moderate Democrats who joined with Republicans in August to pass a temporary extension of FISA over Mrs. Pelosi’s objections) to adopt the Senate bill or work out some kind of compromise on retroactive liability protection. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer indicated last week that he wants to work out an agreement, and Mr. Reyes, interviewed on CNN’s “Late Edition,” said that the Intelligence Committee had beren talking to telecommunications companies “because if we’re going to give them blanket immunity, we want to know and understand what it is we’re giving them immunity for.” The Texas Democrat’s use of the term “blanket immunity” would appear to suggest that the House leadership is moving toward the Senate bill. Mr. Reyes added that he has an “open mind” about retroactive liability protection, and said negotiators are “very close” to working out some kind of compromise.
The Reyes interview has angered the hard-left blogosphere, and Web sites like DailyKos and CommonDreams.Org are filled with op-eds and postings denouncing Democrats for caving in to the Bush administration once again on national security issues. But Republican lawmakers and staff contacted yesterday by The Washington Times advised caution, saying that the Democrats are negotiating among themselves, and there is no specific legislative language available for Republican members to consider. Even so, the signs that the House leadership may be looking for some kind of face-saving agreement on FISA indicate that things are moving in the right direction.
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