New Hampshire: The Real Facts

Compromise Announced
by Ericka Andersen

An updated Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) was agreed on today by Senate and House members eager to put an almost-unprecedented partisan fight behind them.

FISA, originally enacted in 1978, provides guidelines for authorizing electronic surveillance of foreign agents operating in the United States. The law came under fire when, in 2006, the New York Times published leaks about a top-secret program being conducted by the National Security Agency at the president’s request.

Supported by a broad bipartisan base, the FISA Amendments Act, H.R. 6304, will allow the effective surveillance of terrorist communications with people in the United States while preserving Americans’ civil liberties. The bill includes five specific points to underscore privacy and civil liberties protections.

Senate Intelligence Committee Vice-Chair Kit Bond (R-Mo.) said the decision “will put the intelligence community back in business, protect American families from attack and protect our civil liberties.”

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