U.S. President George W. Bush on Thursday again urged the U.S. Congress to pass a surveillance bill. Speaking at a press conference to reporters at the White House, Bush said that passing the Protect America Act (PAA) is a “very urgent priority,” that is “vital to our [the United States'] security.” The much-contested PAA is a reincarnation of the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) which was created in 1978. Both the FISA and the PAA allow for the wiretapping of American's communications without a warrant when the target of surveillance is a foreign intelligence target located outside the United States. But, the important distinction between the two is that the PAA, which was passed unanimously as a bi-partisan bill in the U.S. Congress in 2007, has an added measure that grants cooperating telecommunications companies retroactive immunity against lawsuits because of the wiretapping. The PAA with the added measure passed in the Senate this year, but is still being contested in the U.S. House of Representatives. The Act was initially set to expire on February 1, 2008, but was extended until the 16 of February by Bush, but has since expired without reauthorization. Bush said that without the bill, the United States government “cannot protect our country from terrorist attacks.” Bush also said that “the law expired, [but] the threat to America did not expire,” adding that “there is [still] an enemy that wants to attack.” The surveillance is “in our [American's] national interest and its legal,” he said. Bush said that though the cooperating telecommunications companies were assured that the wiretapping was legal, there is still widespread hesitation before helping because of fear of being sued. Bush called the pending lawsuits against the telecommunications companies “abusive” and “unfair.” He hopes to push the House to pass the PAA “quickly and effectively.”
