Hoyer "hopeful" FISA Can Pass Before Memorial Day

Source: The Politico

The Politico) House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-Md.) said Tuesday he is “hopeful” that Congress can pass a long-stalled electronic surveillance measure before the Memorial Day recess, as deadlines for finishing work on the controversial measure continue to slide.

“I am hopeful we can come to an agreement before the Memorial Day break,” said Hoyer in a press conference.

Still, a lot of heavy lifting remains.

When asked by a reporter if Democrats were having a “substantive” discussion with the White House over the measure, Hoyer replied “sort of,” saying that the “parameters” of a compromise had been discussed but “not the specifics.”

Hoyer did say that the relevant committee chairman and staff members were meeting “almost every day” to try and reach an agreement. He also indicated that he had been in preliminary talks with some members of the administration.


Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/15/politics/politico/thecrypt/main4017070.shtml

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Dear xxxx,

Now that the House has passed a fair FISA bill, it's time to turn our attention back to the Senate.

Forward an email to your Senators now!
http://ga3.org/campaign/fisasenate




Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a strong and balanced FISA bill, legislation that protects America's national security while defending civil liberties -- without granting retroactive immunity to phone companies. Retroactive immunity would abet the Bush-Cheney Administration's efforts to avoid accountability for its actions.

This was a tremendous accomplishment -- and would not have been possible without the hard work and support from engaged citizens like you. The fight for a fair FISA bill has been waged all across the country: in the halls of Congress, on progressive political blogs, in newspaper editorial pages, on the public airwaves, and around dinner tables and water coolers from coast-to-coast.

But there's still much work to do. Now that the House has passed a fair FISA bill, it's time to turn our attention back to the Senate -- and we hope you'll join us in urging our Senate colleagues to sign on to the strong FISA legislation the House passed just last month.

Urge the Senate to support the House's strong and balanced FISA bill -- forward an email to your Senators now!


We've already seen the impact of grassroots activity on the FISA debate. Your emails, phone calls, blog posts, and letters-to-the-editor -- including more than 1,700 letters written in response to our call last month alone -- really do make a huge difference.


Now we need your help to make sure that our colleagues in the Senate know that the American people are watching -- and that they want a FISA bill that protects our national security, preserves our civil liberties, and refuses retroactive immunity to telecom companies.

Urge the Senate to support the House's strong and balanced FISA bill -- forward an email to your Senators now!

First the Bush-Cheney Administration tried to bully the House into accepting its own deeply flawed FISA legislation. Then White House officials and Congressional Republicans refused to meet with us to hammer out a better bill. And then the President and his allies blocked our attempts to temporarily extend existing surveillance legislation -- incredibly blaming Democrats for their own efforts to let the legislation expire.

Despite all of this bullying, cajoling, and foot-dragging, we're proud that our House Democratic colleagues stood firm, refusing to water down the strong, balanced FISA bill that passed the House and is now on its way to the Senate.

Now we need your help to encourage our Democratic colleagues in the Senate to stand firm as well.

Urge the Senate to support the House's strong and balanced FISA bill -- forward an email to your Senators now!

Thank you, once again, for your continued support on this critical issue.

Sincerely,

John Conyers
Chairman
House Judiciary Committee

Patrick Leahy
Chairman
Senate Judiciary Committee

Aren't things going ok without it?

I hope this doesn't mean that you're planning to sell the American people down the river again, 6 months before the election.

Remind us again- what's so important about this legislation?

Who's putting pressure on him to hurry up and pass this unnecessary bill?

FISA has been around since Nixon and updated MANY times, several times by Shrub himself.

Not that he ever observed the law.

something that must be "beneficial" to a selected few elites...

(as usual)