US President George W.
Bush signs a 15-day extension to the Protect America Act after his
speech, Thursday, January 31, 2008, in Las
Vegas.
US President George W. Bush signed a 15-day extension of a
surveillance law on Thursday after he failed to have Congress make
it permanent.
"I will sign the extension, but I expect members of both
political parties to get this work done so our professionals can
protect the American people," Bush said before signing the law.
The law, the Protect American Act, is set to expire on January
31.
In August, Congress hastily approved at request of Bush's
administration the law, or an update to the 30-year-old Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act, to allow the government temporarily
having more power to intercept foreign communications without a
court order even involving Americans.
However, Bush still asked Congress to make the Protect American
Act a permanent and expanded law before it is expired in six
months, but was opposed by many Democrats, who hope to change the
law to provide additional oversight when the authorities eavesdrops
on US citizens communicating with foreign parties.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid proposed earlier this month to
extend the Protect America Act without expanding it, but was
blocked by Senate Republicans.
The core of the controversy is whether the wireless surveillance
program violated provisions of the original FISA law that requires
warrants for wiretaps whenever one of the parties involved in the
communication resides in the United States.
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(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2008)
