House Rejects Short Term Extension of Protect America Act

The House of Representatives today rejected a three-week extension of the Protect America Act – the legislation it passed in August at the request of the President to expand NSA surveillance authorities. Although the Protect America Act expires in just three days, the President had threatened to veto any extension of the law in an effort to pressure the House to accept deeply flawed legislation passed yesterday in the Senate. In a statement released yesterday, CDT criticized the Senate bill because it fails to provide adequate protections for the international communications of Americans, and because it grants immunity to telecoms that assisted with illegal warrantless surveillance.