Think Progress

House Judiciary passes RESTORE Act.

In 20-14 vote today, the House Judiciary Committee passed the RESTORE Act, which seeks to update the hastily-passed Protect America Act and restore a balance between civil liberties and security. Upon the passage of the bill, Chairman John Conyers (D-MI) said in a statement that the bill gives “the Director of National Intelligence everything he said he needed” while still protecting the “vital rights of Americans“:

Those who oppose this bill are doing so for one reason: they are trying to convince Americans that those of us who support this legislation are somehow less committed to protecting this country from attack. They will pretend this bill doesn’t meet our nation’s security needs, despite the fact that it gives the Director of National Intelligence everything he said he needed.

“Americans are willing to make sacrifices to meet true national security imperatives, but they should not give up their rights unnecessarily, just to allow one political party to score points. This bill–the RESTORE Act–successfully provides the national security tools needed to go after terrorists and protects vital rights of Americans. The bill’s opponents know this but find it more convenient to pretend otherwise.

An amendment offered by Rep. Randy Forbes (R-VA), which would have given immunity to telecoms, was defeated 14-21.

Digg It!  October 10, 2007 3:33 pm | Comment (27)