"Now to me, the idea that we are supposed to extend the Bill of Rights to a bunch of noncitizens overseas, let alone terrorists, wasn't only dangerous, but the height of stupidity," said McConnell, R-Ky.

He said the updated law takes into account new telecommunication technologies. As a result, "we are safer" for it, McConnell said.

...

The Senate minority leader, who spoke before an estimated 6,000 from 45 states and four foreign countries, stressed the need to support local law enforcement as the "first line of prevention" against terrorism.

"The only way we will detect and smash terror cells is by working across city, state and federal lines to pick up and act on tips that we receive," McConnell said.

He also expressed support for President Bush's war policies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The war that we are fighting against terrorism is real and we will not have a shot at winning unless we have a strong defense," McConnell said. "But we have got to have a potent offense as well. And I guarantee you that because we have gone on offense in places like Afghanistan and Iraq that we haven't been hit again at home" since Sept. 11, 2001.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell told a national police conference Monday that congressional action to expand the government's eavesdropping powers against suspected foreign terrorists was needed to make the United States safer.

Speaking to the national Fraternal Order of Police conference, the Kentucky Republican hailed the recently passed update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, saying "we're safer for it." He ridiculed concerns from some critics that the changes went too far.

"Now to me, the idea that we were supposed to extend the Bill of Rights to a bunch of noncitizens overseas, let alone terrorists, wasn't only dangerous, it was the height of stupidity," McConnell said, drawing applause from the police group.

...

McConnell, a leading supporter of President Bush's Iraq war policies, included the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq as part of the offensive against terrorism.

"The war we are fighting against terrorism is real, and we will not have a shot at winning unless we've got a strong defense," he said. "But we've got to have a potent offense as well. And I guarantee you that it's because we've gone on offense in places like Afghanistan and Iraq that we haven't been hit again at home since Sept. 11."

The sorry spectacle that took place on Capitol Hill in recent days was an outbreak of Bush Derangement Syndrome (Charles Krauthammer's term) that has threatened to cripple our ability to intercept international terrorist telephone calls. In the end, coalitions of responsible Republicans in the House and Senate were able to pass legislation that met the minimum recommendations of Director of National Intelligence Adm. Mike McConnell: modernizing the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) to ensure that our intelligence agencies can intercept jihadist telephone calls abroad without having to get judicial approval. But it only happened after an ugly scorched-earth campaign by congressional Democrats who suggested that Adm. McConnell and the Bush administration were negotiating in bad faith and that the changes they wanted would undermine Americans' constitutional rights. Both assertions are false.

Video

“The principle behind our electronic surveillance has not changed since 1978. But the terrorist threat has. As we’ve tried to adapt to this asymmetrical threat, the terrorists have adapted too — by using increasingly modern and increasingly lethal tools and technologies against us. They’ve used planes and, if they get their wish, they’ll use chemical and even nuclear weapons. They’ve killed our citizens and our soldiers by the thousands. And they’ve shown their intent to continue to kill at an even larger scale.

“We must not let these enemies of America exploit a weakness that we can clearly see. Didn’t we learn this lesson after 9/11? Some have blamed our failure to prevent those attacks on a failure of imagination. Some have said it was because we didn’t connect the dots. Well, we’ll never be able to connect the dots if we can’t collect them. And failure to pass this legislation would suggest an indifference on the part of Congress about our ability to connect the dots.

“This threat is real, this threat is urgent, and we must not, we will not, leave for recess until we pass this urgent and necessary law.”

But as it hastens to make that adjustment, Congress should postpone more significant changes in FISA until it has time to scrutinize not only the administration's broader proposals but also those offered by members of Congress with a better reputation for protecting civil liberties.

The Bush approach, reflected in a bill sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Sen. Christopher S. Bond (R-Mo.), is clearly objectionable. It would allow the executive branch -- originally the attorney general, now the attorney general and the national intelligence director -- to decide whether a target is "a person reasonably believed to be located outside of the United States." The privacy protections of FISA would come into play only if the surveillance were primarily aimed at gathering information about a U.S. resident.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell and House Republican leader John Boehner want Congress to remain in Washington to enact the relatively modest and sensible FISA reforms pushed by the Bush administration. Mr. Reid and Mrs. Pelosi have made statements indicating a willingness to compromise, but they are being pounded from the left-wing bloggers who are instructing them not to yield an inch. The Democratic leadership faces a critical decision: Will it pander to the lunatic fringe or behave like responsible adults and work out a sensible FISA overhaul before Congress leaves town? This much is certain: Al Qaeda won't be taking an August vacation.

A Democratic proposal that would expand federal surveillance powers for six months avoids the sensitive question of whether telecommunications companies should be absolved of legal liabilities for aiding the government's intelligence activities.
[Jay Rockefeller]

The interim legislation, proposed yesterday by Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D., W.Va.), chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, would give the Bush administration expanded powers to monitor telecommunications traffic as part of its counterterrorism efforts.

The proposal, which still is being negotiated with the administration and doesn't yet have the full support of some key Democrats such as Sen. Russell Feingold of Wisconsin, would need to gain sweeping approval from the Senate and House this week to be approved before Congress leaves for its August recess. Last night, senior Republicans, led by Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and Kit Bond of Missouri offered their own interim fix to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act on behalf of the administration. Their plan differed from the Democratic plan in key elements, including how much say Attorney General Alberto Gonzales would have in devising rules for surveillance.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other groups have pursued civil cases against telephone companies, including AT&T Inc. and Verizon Communications Inc., alleging that the companies violated privacy laws by turning over customer information to federal investigators. At least one company, Qwest Communications International Inc., resisted the surveillance requests because they came without court orders.

The Bush administration has proposed that telecom companies be protected from liability for aiding government surveillance, including the National Security Agency's controversial warrantless-wiretap program. The Rockefeller plan doesn't address the question of liability.

The proposed interim law would let a secret court that administers the 1978 FISA law, not the attorney general alone, as the Bush administration would prefer, approve procedures governing surveillance of telecommunications between people abroad, and in the U.S., Democrats say they will update FISA later this year with a more permanent solution.