Pelosi Letter To Conyers-After Last Night's Tragedy: 'Amend FISA As Soon as Possible'

Amend FISA As Soon as Possible
August 5th, 2007 by Karina

Speaker Pelosi said that S. 1927, the bill passed tonight by the House to temporally amend FISA for six-months, after H.R. 3356, the Improving Foreign Intelligence Surveillance to Defend Our Nation and Our Constitution Act bill failed last night, contains many provisions that are unacceptable and she does not believe that the American people will want to wait that long before corrective action is taken. In a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes, Speaker Pelosi requested that the Committees report to the House “as soon as possible after Congress reconvenes,” legislation to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

Below is the text of the letter:

August 4, 2007

The Honorable John Conyers, Jr.
Chairman, Committee on the Judiciary
2138 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Silvestre Reyes
Chairman, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
H-405 The Capitol
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Conyers and Chairman Reyes:

Thank you for your leadership on matters affecting the security of the American people and the protection of the liberties that define our country.

I know that your committees have been working diligently on a proposal by the Administration to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). I also understand that your work has been hindered by the Administration’s refusal to provide all of the documents you believe are relevant to your consideration of the proposal.

Tonight, the House passed S. 1927, a bill approved by the Senate yesterday, which is an interim response to the Administration’s request for changes in FISA, and which was sought to fill an intelligence gap which is asserted to exist. Many provisions of this legislation are unacceptable, and, although the bill has a six month sunset clause, I do not believe the American people will want to wait that long before corrective action is taken.

Accordingly, I request that your committees send to the House, as soon as possible after Congress reconvenes, legislation which responds comprehensively to the Administration’s proposal while addressing the many deficiencies in S. 1927.

Thank you for your attention to this request and for your service to our country.

best regards,

Nancy Pelosi

http://www.speaker.gov/blog/?p=661

. . . less and less by the second.

They really believe the people a stupid don't they?

after all the only thing the turncoats in the house has done is to appease their master george bush....

i wonder how many here are going to dismiss this letter.....

As several House members said last night, it's much harder to make changes after a bill has been passed.

The Patriot Act is an excellent example of this.

Pelosi is covering her ass.

after it has gone off.

As Speaker of the House, doesn't she set the schedule for the House?

If she truly had misgivings about the bill, she should not have even scheduled it for a vote.

Shun him, along with all the other Democrats.

this bill...now? Couldn't it have waited until after the month+ vacation? I believe that last night we said "good-bye" to the Fourth Amendment.

the way I WATCHED HER do, live on Cspan.

the 2008 campaigns.

She should impeach Gonzo when she gets back. Or better yet, they should forget the vacations when the constitution is hanging by a tiny thread.

try to protect their supporters from an Administration and a party which has an agenda to completely destroy anyone who stands in their way.

and let bush's pass.

If he was finally brought before a judge his defence could argue that whatever it was that he did, it was legal for six months.

investigation of illegal activities since 2000, isn't it interesting that we need a monkey wrench to interfere with justice. I am
sure that the fbi raid on Mr. Tamm's house, will do a lot to chill any investigation further. This crew will ride off into the
sunsent with their plunder.

For someone who runs a house she sure doesn't seem so smart of a housekeeper :shrug:

sheeple.

Doesn't that count for anything?

Then why would you pass it??!!!! When I find something unacceptable I don't act on it. Talk about a lot of nonsense!

Didn't he vote for it?

opening remarks. He was very depressed and so was Steny Hoyer.

And you're right, I think his remarks in the beginning led me to believe he voted for it

Actually, an utter rout.

She fucked up, and I'll wager people are letting her know it.

As usual with her, too little, WAY WAY WAY WAY too late.

Good strategy, Nancy. Doesn't Congress have something better to do than try to correct its stupid mistakes?

It's too late to backtrack on your inability to pressure your party to stand tall against tyrrany. You are either an ineffectual leader, or worse, complicit in this conversion of America to Gonzolia. ENOUGH.

J

It's not like Pelosi is der Fuhrer of the House and has anything approaching absolute power. Talk to those 31 Dead Dog Bastards who voted for it along with the other traitors who work against the will of the people as well as the GOP!

J

to be something like the dems are on top of this....

If the bill was so bad in the first place, they shouldn't have even voted on it! It's going to be a lot hard to undo the things they just did. What's the purpose of putting out that letter, to make us feel better? Do they think we're idiots? UGH!

I've never been on the Pelosi hate-train, but this action REALLY disappoints me. I'm losing more and more confidence in our system.

"The bill that we passed six months ago has ben a tremendous help in keeping the us safe from the terrorists. Now the Democrats want to take this tool away from us. We must now make this law permanent, with a few more additions of course."

Now why, oh why would the Dems agree to this BS in the first place?

Restoration act or amendment?

You know, to fix the damage caused by the Blue Dogs voting for the Military Commissions Act?

Did it pass or is this still an ongoing thing?

and later, go back and undo what we just gave him. The bizarre train keeps on rolling. Do you have the votes Nancy?

Bush will never agree to a modified bill. He'll veto it or he'll sign that away.

Nancy already knows this. "We don't have the votes."

Speaking of that, do you think he'll just sign away the 6 month thing, on the grounds that during wartime, a president cannot constrained by time limits on his authority?

if he didn't get his way

Bush has said he would "reject" any bill that his intelligence director deemed unable "to prevent an attack on the country."

"We've worked hard and in good faith with the Democrats to find a solution, but we are not going to put our national security at risk," Bush said after meeting with counterterrorism and homeland security officials at FBI headquarters Friday morning. "Time is short."

"

"I'll veto it if it doesn't contain the provisions I want" and then I'll call you a threat to our safety as a nation until you get me a bill I like.

So just hand it over, you pathetic morons, before I sign congress away and send you home with no cookies!

:puke:

Pelosi said impeachment is off the table and that was heard far and wide.
Why didn't she ramp up the talk about not passing this bill? There was a whole lot of nothing from the Dems, and she was part of it.

And, write in long prison terms for violating FISA law and any espionage abuse of Constitutional protections.

On this issue, the past criminality will be brought to light in the debate.

she could have changed a comma and sent it into committee for changes if she was serious.

This is just backward.

fucking idiots

Mostly people ignoring the following line:

Accordingly, I request that your committees send to the House, as soon as possible after Congress reconvenes, legislation which responds comprehensively to the Administration’s proposal while addressing the many deficiencies in S. 1927.

I don't see anywhere in there something talking about doing it NOW, but AFTER Congress reconvenes, meaning AFTER the August vacation, giving enough time to get to the constituencies and drum up opposition to Bush's plan and everything involved with it and time to rally support behind what Pelosi and Conyers really have in mind including things like privacy protections.

I guess there's people who seem to be much more ready to shoot the batter because she missed the ball instead of the pitcher who threw an illegal pitch and the umpire who called it a strike.

The bill should have NEVER been brought to vote, much less passed, if there was questionable language in it.

Nancy *was* the pitcher. She set the agenda and let it come forward for a vote. They passed it because they all just wanted to go home.. fuck the rest of us, right? Fuck what's good for the Country, just let us go on our vacation...

Please explain something to me. You said:
"I don't see anywhere in there something talking about doing it NOW, but AFTER Congress reconvenes, meaning AFTER the August vacation, giving enough time to get to the constituencies and drum up opposition to Bush's plan and everything involved with it and time to rally support behind what Pelosi and Conyers really have in mind including things like privacy protections."

Since you seem to know what they have in mind, some secret plan or something, please enlighten the rest of us here. Thanks...

Article 5

This law takes effect with the day of its proclamation. It loses force on 1 April 1937 or if the present Reich government is replaced by another.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/1231

thanks for playing anyhow

and We KNOW why this had to be done NOW and WHY the Congress is working with BUSH

its all about the War with Iran and World War III

Your Not fooling anybody

Yes the people are pissed

Why was the slightest attention paid to it?
Is the Speaker of the House a potted plant now?

Maybe she wants Cindy Sheehan spied on more.

The only question I have.

I suspect malfeasance, no one is that stoopid, are they?

the tantrum-throwing infant ANOTHER freebie and claiming they'll fix it later? Why can't they do it correctly NOW? And get it spot-on first thing? Do we really have THAT many enablers who have to be appeased? Is this another "oh well, it's the best we can hope for at the moment"?

I shudder to imagine what kind of abuses this will green-light for the bushies while the Dems decide they have to be noble or something and keep trying to get along? I didn't work like hell, give til it hurt, and hand over tons of my time for free so that a bunch of enablers and appeasers would be sent to Washington.

Sheesh...

Why cave into the demands of Bush Inc?

Why???

It wasn't put up for vote seriously. The rules were suspended and it need 2/3 to pass. It was meant to fail deliberately.

hurry up and support facism, to Hell with the poor/middleclass. I don't thing the people are important to her. I just don't know, but Kucinich is looking pretty good right now. I am so sick of politics. Time to get away for a while! I couldn't donate to Dem party lately, I think they should have asked Bush for a donation?