FISA Talks Continue Without Republicans

As congressional aides worked furiously on Thursday to broker a deal on controversial electronic surveillance legislation, there was only one thing missing from the talks: Republicans.

Democratic staffers from both chambers have been meeting throughout the week, trying to reach a compromise on an update to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act and invited their Republican counterparts to participate.

However, Republican lawmakers have instructed their staffers to boycott the talks, saying they are unnecessary.

Instead, they feel the House should vote on a Senate-passed FISA update, which includes retroactive immunity for telecom companies that aided the government. Last August, the House passed its own version of the FISA update which did not include immunity, a major issue for many liberal members of the caucus.

"Today's so-called bicameral staff meeting is nothing more than a partisan attempt by Democratic staff at the 11th hour to dismantle the bipartisan compromise that a majority of the Senate and the House support," said Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) referring to the Senate bill. 

"The time for excuses and more meetings is over," said Bond, who is the top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee. 

Democrats, however, have said they will conference the two versions of the bill and will produce a compromise sometime in the coming weeks.
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