Opponents of Immunity for Telecoms Seize on Spying Claims
QuestionGirl March 7th, 2008 - 7:08 pmDemocratic leaders of the House Energy and Commerce panel, citing new domestic spying claims, are urging careful examination of surveillance overhaul legislation that may delay progress on the measure.
Retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies being sued for helping with a government spying program is the major sticking point on legislation overhauling the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act currently in negotiations between the House and Senate.
In a letter to lawmakers Thursday, panel Chairman John D. Dingell of Michigan, and two subcommittee chairmen, Edward J. Markey of Massachusetts and Bart Stupak of Michigan, said claims by the chief of security at an unnamed wireless carrier that the company may have given a government entity access to all of its customers- communications, justified further delay in considering the legislation.
“Because legislators should not vote before they have sufficient facts, we continue to insist that all House members be given access to the necessary information, including the relevant documents underlying this matter, to make an informed decision on their vote,” the trio wrote.
Babak Pasdar, chief executive of a security firm who was hired to upgrade security at the unnamed telecommunications company, said he discovered a third-party security breach traced to a governmental office in Quantico, Va., home to a U.S Marine Corps base and the FBI Academy, the letter said.
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March 7th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
Well gee fellas, it’s kinda hard to decide if they should get immunity if you don’t know exactly what’s been done, huh? Yea, it’s kinda like asking a Judge or jury to decide on a case in which they have heard no witnesses or had any evidence introduced, huh? Have you finally decided to pull your heads out of Bush’s ass long enough to use it or is this just more political posturing and pandering before you cave in once again and re-insert your heads up his ass? Just wondering? I’m not holding my breathe on this one either because I can’t hold it nearly as long as the 7 years you’ve had your heads up Bush’s ass. It’s nice you can emerge for some fact checking fresh air occasionally, and get your name mentioned in the press. Ya know it’s an election year so you might want to think about getting out more often cause the stink of complicity takes awhile to go away.