Think Progress

RESTORE Act vote postponed.

By Amanda Terkel on Oct 17th, 2007 at 5:57 pm

RESTORE Act vote postponed.

CongressDaily reports (sub. req.):

House Democratic leaders postponed a vote this afternoon on legislation that would limit the Bush administration’s spying activities, a development that signaled backers did not have enough votes to ensure passage. According to a memo to members from Majority Leader Hoyer, the House will have no other votes tonight after wrapping up railroad safety legislation.

Greg Sargent reports Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) had today planned on introducing an amendment clarifying that nothing in the bill “shall be construed to prohibit the intelligence community from conducting surveillance needed to prevent Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda, or any other foreign terrorist organization…from attacking the United States or any United States person.”

UPDATE: House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer (D-MD) has put out a statement:

Once again, House Republicans have chosen to engage in politics rather than substantively address the challenges that face the American people.

Once again, they have offered an amendment that, if passed, would have substantially delayed this important legislation — which is designed to protect the American people — by proposing language already provided in the bill.

We have every intention of completing consideration of this critical legislation and fulfilling our twin objectives — protecting the American people and protecting their civil liberties.



29 Responses to “RESTORE Act vote postponed.”

  1. StratRat says:

    Do we have a functioning democratic party or not?


  2. Candyce says:

    Nancy is gonna pull the Armenian resolution vote, too. Not enough votes.


  3. tarazan says:

    Democrats broke records in assmebling,issuing non-binding resolutions.etc..etc.,but so far nothing came out of all of these so called non-binding resolutions.
    Why, because Democrats are not united. People were fooled last elections to think that they will do something about this war and the coming war…but alas…


  4. Candyce says:

    I’m not sure what the problem is here. Too many blue dogs. This is a Democratic majority in name only.


  5. Clyde the Ripper says:

    How do you unring the bell? That is exactly what they are trying to do now. There is no way to ascertain if the surveillance will prevent anything until after the fact and then it is too late. That is precisely why the FISA court was established—to preclude the “OOPS, sorry! I thought we were bugging the A-rabs, not the Democrat’s office in Watergate.”


  6. wreckingcrew says:

    How corrupt can this goverment be..seriously. The Dems pass this law and pretend they were rushed and hurried into it. now, they cant muster enough support to change it..how convienent. both parties have the same adjenda and only present an illusion of a real democracy in my optinion. this is just another glaring example of how flawed our goverment really is.


  7. old_hack says:

    wheres the vote to end the war?


  8. Bob says:

    They couldn’t pass a non-binding resolution implying that ice cream is cold.


  9. Candyce says:

    She promised to fix FISA, but she knew then she wouldn’t have the votes. It was a promise she knew she couldn’t keep.

    I think what makes me most angry is remembering how proud I was to see her, the first woman, take the gavel, and then to look at her now. I can hear people say it – a woman can’t handle the job. All her tough talk results in mealy-mouthed “compromise” and “bipartisanship.” Screw bipartisanship! Listen to the people, for God’s sake. When you have 70%+ behind you, what are you so scared of?


  10. bilbobaggins says:

    Wait a minute. I thought they had already passed it. At least that is what TP posted earlier. What’s going on here?


  11. mrkcohen says:

    Good. Let this crappy version die, and the worse version working through the Senate too.

    Pass a clean foreign to foreign through US switches fix and send it off. Otherwise let this bastard expire in February…


  12. grover nerdkissed says:

    i thought it passed earlier today as well!?!?!?!


  13. AngryOne says:

    Last night’s airing of the PBS Frontline documentary “Cheney’s Law” could not have come at a more fitting time. As Congress begins debate on a new FISA bill and the issue of immunity for telecommunications firms, Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey begins confirmation hearings in the Senate. But as Frontline reminded us last night, the architects of the Bush administration’s NSA domestic surveillance program believe FISA itself is unconstitutional.

    For the details, see:
    “Cheney’s Law and the Constitutionality of FISA.”


  14. katy says:

    i’ve been hearing about another version of this bill…

    “H.R.3782 is the “FISA modernization bill” from russ holt.”

    supposed to be a much better bill, from what i hear…

    which is very little…

    WHY IS THAT? … anyone know?

    http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en-us&q=FISA,+Holt&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
    .


  15. Doc Rock says:

    Just say, “No.”


  16. katy says:

    $1000 to read your email, that’s what the Bush Administration paid the telecom companies they are trying to protect
    -maddowonline.com

    http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/10/what-does-uncle.html
    .


  17. had enough says:

    Bartlebee has been saying for 2 years now in here that they are spying on us all.
    To make sure no pockets or groups of rebellion start up… before they can get it done.. it being the complete privatization of our society… the move towards a one world order..
    Are the curtains going to open up one day and all will see just how screwed we are?


  18. katy says:

  19. katy says:

    anyone? can you see me?


  20. Witch1 says:

    Uh, excuse me……Did any one posting read my post yesterday that Nancy Palosi has been one of the very few that knew about the wire tapping when Bush/ Cheney went into office in 2000.?……She knew then…Got that from Tom Paines site yesterday and posted it on one of the thread’s……They were tapping then and Palosi knew, did ya get it.? She knew…Dammet……Haven’t ya all been reading what I have been slamming her about last night and today?……We have been screwed, she has ” assumed the position” for bull shit bush since 2000….Hello! “Doe’s any body here realy care what time it is”?..I do…….Blessings


  21. had enough says:

    Witch1
    Bernie Ward also talked about this last night….Pelosi is his Rep in SF and he has had it with her too.


  22. Witch1 says:

    I’m sick of this mess…..It’s coming out in drove’s…..The majority on both side’s of the isle are corrupt, lier’s, thieves and murderer’s by proxy.On the one hand it is something several of us have been working on, exposing the evil doer’s and on the other hand the public isn’t getting it quick enough to save more live’s…..I watched Cheney’s law last night, nearly all of it was stuff I knew and it was presented well but untill every one wake’s up it has little affect…We the people have to do what ever it take’s to get our country back…If we don’t impeach them now they get away with murder as well as all the other crime’s…..I am still sending Palosi email’s every day but my tone isn’t as respectful as it was…She’s just as bad as the reich as far as I am concerned and would bet there are many more just like her…..Blessings


  23. grover nerdkissed says:

    i am stunned that comcast is freaking making a profit by handing over their customer’s personal info!!!!

    so comcast is getting paid TWICE, once by its customers & once by the government spies!


  24. grover nerdkissed says:

    & doesnt the fact that comcast is CHARGING negate their position that they are only giving out confidential info in the name of PATRIOSTISM?!?!?!


  25. Witch1 says:

    PLEASE GO TO TOM PANES.COM SITE. READ THE ARTICLE OF YESTERDAY, PALOSI AND THE NSA…..THEN JOIN ME TO HELP GET PALOSIS ASS OUT OF OFFICE….GET REAL AND MAKE A DIFFRENCE.


  26. Chocolate Jesus says:

    >Since when is a comedian considered a reliable source?

    Since John stewart starting running all the clips of ever single self-contradictory thing these jackals have said while almost no other “news” organization would.


  27. Chocolate Jesus says:

    Beefeater can you point to any other news media which ran clips of all the self-contradictory statements gonalzes made, other than the Daily show?


  28. rockyroad says:

    Yes, disappointing as it may seem, delaying RESTORE may be in the best interests of the American people. Too quickly, we have passed the Patriot Act and the FISA renewal only to find out later skanky bits of legislation, slipped in while our legislators were snoozin’ that deprived us of our Constitutional rights.

    This time, lets not rely on our snoozing elected reps and vet it ourselves. They will hate that. But it will be better.


  29. impeachcheneythenbush says:

    Comment by Witch1 — October 17, 2007 @ 10:21 pm

    I just went to the Tom Paine website and read (and printed out) the article about Pelosi and the NSA that you referred to. Indeed, we, the American people, are being sold down the river by the Democrats as well as the Republicans. The Senate is now agreeing to give immunity to the telecoms, in their version of the bill.

    I’m seriously beginning to doubt that there is a political solution to what is wrong in this country. As long as fear and profit are the ruling motivators, I don’t think so. The problem is the paradigm that Americans operate under; the myth about our country that we refuse to see as myth. The truth is that the ruling class has viewed the American “masses” as potential enemies from the start, and have always tried to repress dissent. Beginning with the Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798 (only 9 years after the U.S. Constitution was ratified in 1789), followed by among others, the Sedition Act of 1918. The NSA survellience of Americans is only the latest and most technogically advanced method to control dissent.

    And I was shocked to see that when I began to post this comment today, there were only 31 comments….on a progressive board!!



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