On Aug. 6, President Bush signed the Protect America Act of 2007 (PAA), granting the government the authority to wiretap anyone, including U.S. citizens, without any court approval as long as the "target" of the surveillance is located outside the U.S. The legislation will expire in six months, but members of Congress and concerned public interest groups are not waiting for the sunsets. They are seeking immediate revisions to address the invasion of privacy and erosion of civil liberties contained in the act.

The PAA amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and permits the Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence (DNI) widespread wiretap authority without court approval, including such examples as:

• An immigration group calling a foreign country to help a client;
• A church calling Kenya to arrange for members to volunteer at an orphanage; or
• An association holding its convention in Toronto that calls a hotel to make arrangements.

This expansion of government authority to collect information without judicial oversight was fast-tracked into law without much congressional oversight. Only five days separated the introduction of the PAA bill in Congress on Aug. 1 and the president's signature. No committee hearings, no reports and no serious debate of the issues were conducted during those five days. Many groups contend that the impacts on personal privacy and people's right to due process were never sufficiently considered by Congress because of its haste to pass the legislation.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) have agreed to ask Congress to take a second look at the PAA and FISA right away and consider important privacy protections that were not in the bill. Pelosi has issued a letter to Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) and Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes (D-TX) calling for legislation to re-amend FISA as soon as possible.

The letter states, "Many provisions of this legislation are unacceptable, and, although the bill has a six month sunset clause, I do not believe the American people will want to wait that long before corrective action is taken."

Conyers responded with a Sept. 5 hearing to review the PAA. Hearing witnesses expressed unease with the White House for not explaining to the public the constitutional basis for the changes. Democrats have clearly made reconsidering the FISA amendments a top priority.