Chris Dodd Wins on FISA Spying Bill

A victory against Bush's spying programs? Well, at least a delay. Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd has forced the Senate to postpone a vote on a bill that would give immunity to the telecommunications industry for its assistance in helping Bush domestic spying programs.

Ryan Singel at Wired has the writeup:

Christopher Dodd's threatened filibuster of a bill giving immunity to telecoms that helped the government spy on Americans unexpectedly carried the day Monday, as Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid decided to postpone the vote on the measure until after the winter break.

The announcement was an unexpected victory for civil liberties groups, whose anti-immunity fortunes looked grim this morning as the Senate looked primed to pass an expansive spying bill that would free telecoms like AT&T and Verizon from privacy lawsuits.

Dodd showed his moxie and determination all day, as he held the floor for long stretches, railing against an administration-backed bill that would have freed telecoms from 40-odd lawsuits pending against them in federal court.

... Dodd spent nearly 10 hours on the Senate floor Monday, assaulting the administration's secret warrantless wiretapping program and channeling Senator Frank Church, whose investigation in the 1970s of the nation's intelligence services clandestine led to Congressional limits on government spying.

Those limits, which included the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, will be loosened by all of the spying bills moving through Congress.