Letter from Shelley
Friends and Colleagues,
Congress played host to a spirited debate this week about much-needed legislation to modernize our foreign intelligence laws, and struggling homeowners received good news as the Treasury Department announced a new initiative to combat the subprime mortgage crunch.
Intelligence Laws Must Be Updated
For months, Congress has debated important legislation to permanently update our nation’s foreign intelligence laws, which enable our intelligence community to observe and track known terrorists. Because of the growth of modern communications technology many of our laws were significantly outdated, and the existing laws created troubling obstacles for our intelligence gathering efforts.
It was clear that Congress needed to address these challenges, so we passed the bipartisan Protect America Act in August as a short-term agreement. Yet, it is set to expire this weekend unless Congress acts.
Thanks to hard-work in the United States Senate, a bipartisan cross section of Senators approved a compromise measure earlier this week that would supercede the Protect America Act and prevent our intelligence laws from lapsing. In fact, Senator Rockefeller – one of my colleagues in West Virginia’s Congressional delegation – was a strong advocate for the Senate bill.
House Leadership, however, refused to allow the Senate bill to come before the House for a vote, despite strong opposition from a bipartisan coalition of both Republicans and Democrats. Instead, Speaker Pelosi chose to let the Protect America Act expire.
Her action is not only unwise, but betrays a broad bipartisan coalition of the American people.
Project Lifeline
The Treasury Department this week announced a new initiative designed to support borrowers struggling with foreclosure.
Expanding on the efforts of the Hope Now Alliance, Project Lifeline presents an opportunity to help struggling homeowners negotiate with their lender to find a way to avoid foreclosure.
Foreclosure is not in the interest of either the bank or the homeowner, and I’m glad to see the continued emphasis on initiatives like this one. If you’re a homeowner struggling with the subprime mortgage crunch, visit HopeNow.com for more information.
Sincerely,
Member of Congress
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Capito Meets With West Virginia Purple Heart Veterans
WASHINGTON, February 12, 2008 – Rep. Capito meets with West Virginia Purple Heart Veterans Troy Varney, Charles Basden, and Clinton Atkins to discuss veterans issues.
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IN CASE YOU MISSED IT...
Capito blasts House over expiring eavesdropping law
Charleston Daily Mail
Jake Stump
February 15, 2008
Of West Virginia's five-member congressional delegation, only Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller and Republican Rep. Shelley Moore Capito have vouched support for extending a law that grants the government authority to intercept foreign communications passing through the United States.
But President Bush and several House Democrats are now engaged in a tug-of-war over this eavesdropping law, which is set to expire at midnight.
Critics of the intelligence act, led by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, contend that the president would still have authority to spy on potential terrorist phone calls and e-mails. They've also expressed concerns about civil liberties and want to thoroughly reevaluate such a measure before passing it.
Capito criticized House leadership and said immediate passage of the bill was necessary to keep the country safe from terrorists. Congress has already gone into recess and won't return until Feb. 25.
"We didn't do anything today of much substance," Capito said Thursday. "We had time to talk and make sure we come upon an agreement. Now we've got a loophole that will prevent us from the most optimum way of collecting intelligence in this rapid day of communications.
"I can't believe we're leaving here without finishing this business."
The Senate on Tuesday passed a six-year extension of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act with a 68-29 vote. Rockefeller supported the bill, while Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., opposed it.
Rockefeller and Byrd also split their votes on an amendment that would allow civil lawsuits against electronic communication service providers offering assistance to the government under the act. The amendment was rejected 31-67, with Byrd in support of it and Rockefeller voting against it.
The Senate bill was then referred to the House, which hasn't acted on it.
"The only thing brought up in the House was for a 21-day extension of the law, which is very unwise, shortsighted and potentially dangerous," Capito said. "We need to give our intelligence community the right tools."
Capito said there is obvious strong bipartisan support in the Senate, as well as the House, for a long-term extension of the bill. She blamed Pelosi and other leadership members for stalling.
"The Speaker had 21 of her own members asking to support the Senate version and put it up for a vote, and she refused to do that," Capito said. "She's obstructed something that's important, that's been investigated, and has been refined to the point where 68 senators believe it's the right way to go."
One difference between the House and Senate is their opposing views on whether telecommunications companies should be vulnerable to civil lawsuits. The Senate version grants those businesses retroactive immunity, even if the companies acted without court permission. The House version does not do that.
About 40 lawsuits have been filed recently against telecom companies by people alleging violations of wiretapping and privacy laws.
Bush has stated he'd veto any new surveillance bill that did not protect the companies.
The bill would also require FISA court orders to eavesdrop on Americans who are overseas.
To read the full text of this story, click here.
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