FISA Amendments Bill

From the Washington Post: "The Senate easily approved legislation to overhaul government eavesdropping rules in terrorism and espionage cases and effectively granted immunity to telecommunications companies that participated in a secret domestic spying program, ending a contentious debate that has raged for more than two years."

Yesterday in the Senate, three amendments to the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 were rejected. The amendments--S.AMDT.5059, S.AMDT.5064, and S.AMDT.5066--included language removing or restricting immunity for telecommunications companies that provided records to the federal government for intelligence purposes. Montana Senators Baucus and Tester voted for the amendments. Looking at how the Presidential nominees voted, Senator Obama voted for the amendments and Senator McCain did not vote on the amendments.

Ultimately, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, H.R. 6304, was passed without amendment with Senate roll call vote 168 (the House passed the bill on June 20, 2008, with roll call vote 437). Of the Montana delegation to Congress, Congressman Rehberg and Senator Baucus voted for the bill, and Senator Tester voted against it. Senator Obama voted for the bill and Senator McCain did not vote on the bill.

The President signed the bill into law today and issued a statement upon signing. The version of the bill that was signed into law is available as a text or PDF file.

Source: Murray, S. (10 July 2008). "Obama Joins Fellow Senators in Passing New Wiretapping Measure." Washington Post. A06.