Learn about FISA

Among the many contentious issues being discussed in this election season is the impending vote on a bill that would update the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act — you have probably heard it referred to in the news as “FISA.”

Issues like these tend to catch the attention of the American Library Association. As stated in a press release following House passage of the bill, “Protecting patron privacy and the confidentiality of library records are deep and longstanding principles of librarianship and guide ALA’s legislative activities on privacy, surveillance and other related issues.” Meanwhile, Loreine Roy, the president of the American Library Association, expressed her disappointment:

“There were far better versions of this bill that would more effectively protect our civil liberties from needless and illegal surveillance,” Dr. Roy said. “We have taken a woeful step backwards.”

The Senate is scheduled to vote on the FISA bill after the 4th of July holiday. Liberal groups have not been so happy with presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama’s take on FISA, and Republicans have insinuated that he is “spineless” on the issue.

It’s all enough to make your head spin. If you would like to learn more about FISA, and maybe get a better sense of what all the commotion is about, here are a couple resources that could be helpful:

• Here is the text of the proposed House bill
• Here is a wealth of documents pertaining to FISA collected by the Federation of American Scientists
• Here is what Russ Feingold — an opponent of the bill — has to say about FISA
• This is the American Civil Liberties Union’s take on FISA
• Just to give you the view from the other side of the aisle, here is The Heritage Foundation’s presentation of research on FISA

Happy reading.

Tags: ALA, Barack Obama, civil liberties, FISA, libraries, Loreine Roy