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American Civil Liberties Union : ACLU Blog

American Civil Liberties Union : ACLU Blog: "As expected, President Bush played the fear card in his State of the Union address last night. Once again, he's trying to scare the public into thinking that come February 1, the phone lines will be burning up with terrorist-to-terrorist phone calls that our intelligence agencies won't be able to listen to, because Senate Democrats want to debate FISA legislation instead of blindly accepting the White House's demands:

To protect America, we need to know who the terrorists are talking to, what they are saying, and what they're planning. Last year, Congress passed legislation to help us do that. Unfortunately, Congress set the legislation to expire on February the 1st. That means if you don't act by Friday, our ability to track terrorist threats would be weakened and our citizens will be in greater danger. Congress must ensure the flow of vital intelligence is not disrupted. Congress must pass liability protection for companies believed to have assisted in the efforts to defend America.

The ACLU certainly agrees that U.S. intelligence agencies need the ability to listen to terrorists' phone calls. And the secret FISA Court that authorizes wiretap warrants seems to agree: From 1979 through 2006, out of the 20,000-plus warrant requests that were submitted to the FISA Court, only five requests for warrants"

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