The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to consider reforms to the Foreign Intelligence Surveilance Act (FISA) this Wednesday (Oct.31). This follows the Senate Intelligence Committee's passage of S.2248. The committee's report on the bill highlights what occurred during their closed door mark up hearing. The report states that telecommunications companies participating in the surveillance program received regular letters affirming that President Bush authorized the program. During the markup, Senator Bill Nelson (D-FL) offered an amendment to strip the provision granting immunity to telecommunications companies from the bill, but his amendment was rejected 3-12. Scheduled to testify at the Judiciary hearing's is Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein of the Department of Justice's national security division. A second panel will hear from Edward Black, president and CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association; Patrick Philbin, partner at Kirkland & Ellis and former DOJ deputy assistant attorney general for national security; and Morton Halperin, director of U.S. advocacy at the Open Society Institute. Beforehand, the committee's leaders, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Senator Arlen Specter (R-PA) will be able to review confidential documents that the White House Counsel's Office previously showed to members from the Senate Intelligence Committee. For an excellent breakdown of the bills before Congress to amend FISA, read this from the Center for Democracy and Technology. Act Now! Tell your Senators to reject efforts to grant retroactive immunity to telecom companies that assisted in the administration's illegal wiretapping.