There were, regrettably, no surprises on the Senate floor today.
The Senate has approved a bill overhauling the rules on secret government eavesdropping and granting immunity to telecom companies that helped listen in on Americans after Sept. 11.
The Senate passed the bill Wednesday, 69-28. It turned back three amendments that would have watered down, delayed or stripped away the immunity provision demanded by President Bush.
When the president signs the bill, as expected, it will effectively dismiss some 40 lawsuits filed against telecommunications companies for alleged violations of wiretapping and privacy laws.
A handful of Democratic senators, including Sens. Russ Feingold (Wis.), Pat Leahy (Vt.), and Tom Harkin (Iowa), moved to filibuster the bill, but were turned back.
In terms of what this all means, there’s probably no reason to rehash the entire debate. Needless to say, it’s exceedingly disappointing. Andrew Tilghman summarized it this way: “It means that the nation’s largest telecom companies no longer have to worry about a batch of multi-million lawsuits filed by customers angered that the companies turned over their personal information to the government without a warrant. It also means that if you are at home making an overseas phone call to a suspected terrorist, the government can monitor that call without a warrant. And it’s not clear how intel agents define who is a suspected terrorist.”
Earlier today, there were votes on three key amendments. The first, sponsored by Democratic Sens. Chris Dodd (Conn.), Russ Feingold (Wis.), and Pat Leahy (Vt.), would have stripped retroactive telecom immunity from the legislation. It failed on a 32-66 vote (31 Dems — including Obama — and Bernie Sanders).
The second, sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), would have required the courts to consider the legality of Bush’s warrantless-search program before immunity could be granted. It failed on a 37-61 vote (35 Dems — including Obama — and Sanders and Specter).
And third was an amendment from Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-N.M.) would have put off the immunity question for a year, pending a review of the surveillance program by the Justice Department’s inspector general. This was the closest vote of the three, but it didn’t come close, failing on a 46-52 vote (44 Dems — including Obama — and Sanders and Specter).
John McCain, as per the norm, didn’t show up for work, and didn’t participate in any of the votes.