Political Quotes

“This amendment is about allowing a court to review the request for immunity for the telecommunications companies, but in a way that is carefully tailored to meet this unique set of suits. It allows for the good faith defense if the companies reasonably believed the assistance they provided the Government was legal. As Members know, the FISA Court comprises 11 Federal district court judges appointed by the Chief Justice. It has heard thousands of applications for FISA warrants and has recently made determinations on the executive's procedures under the Protect America Act. In January of 2007, the Court put the entire Terrorist Surveillance Program under its jurisdiction. Its judges and its staff are experts in surveillance law, and the Court protects national security secrets. Let me describe the amendment briefly. Under this amendment, the FISA Court is directed to conduct a tailored, three-part review. Part one: The FISA Court will determine whether a telecommunications company actually provided the assistance to the Federal Government as part of the Terrorist Surveillance Program. If not, those cases are dismissed. So if you didn't give help and you have litigation pending, the case is dismissed, period. Second: If assistance was provided, the Court would review the request letters sent from the Government to the companies every 30 to 45 days. The FISA Court would then have to determine whether these letters, in fact, met the requirements of the applicable law.”