Hear that? Those are the hosannas of civil libertarians.
The Senate Judiciary Committee, by a single vote, passed a surveillance bill yesterday. And it doesn’t include retroactive legal immunity for telecommunications companies that complied with the Bush administration’s warrantless surveillance programs. Since the Senate intelligence committee’s version of the FISA Amendments Act of 2007 does have the immunity provision, Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV), the majority leader, has the discretion to choose which bill to bring to the Senate floor for a vote.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=179355