PittsburghThoughts

Instead of fighting McConnell's version of the FISA bill earlier this month, Congress caved and vowed to fight another day, another day when they'll be in the thick of an election cycle and looking weak on terror will be antithetical to being reelected. Yes. Senator, the dead reckoning of cooler heads will prevail in six months, but not to fix FISA but to pander to the vocal minority that cannot grasp what it ultimately means to throw the baby out with the bath water and give up our rights for the security of a police state.

 Dear Mr. XXXX,

Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding legislation amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978. I appreciate hearing from you about this important issue.

After careful thought and deliberation, I voted for two competing versions of temporary legislation to fix the FISA on Friday, August 3^rd, and voiced my extreme discontent with the Bush Administration’s irresponsible handling of this issue. Before the Senate adjourned for the August recess, I wanted to ensure that our intelligence community has the tools it needs to target terrorists while a larger review of the FISA law is conducted. The version of the bill introduced by my colleagues, Senators Bond and McConnell, gained the necessary 60 votes for final Senate passage while the language introduced by Senators Rockefeller and Levin, fell short. On Saturday, August 4^th, the House of Representatives passed an identical version of the Bond-McConnell bill and President Bush subsequently signed it into law.

The Bond-McConnell version, supported by the White House, is far from ideal and I deplore the tactics employed by the Bush Administration to push its agenda through the politics of fear. This revision to FISA law will sunset in six months. I look forward to a thorough review when cooler heads can prevail, which is needed for a permanent FISA fix that keeps America safe from terrorists while also safeguarding the rights of our citizens.

Again, thank you for sharing your thoughts with me. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future about this or any other matter of importance to you.

If you have access to the Internet, I encourage you to frequently visit my web site, http://casey.senate.gov. In the months ahead, I will continue to develop the site in order to allow you to stay up-to-date on my work in Washington. If you wish to e-mail me, you can do so on the web site.



Sincerely,
Bob Casey
United States Senator