Daily Sentinel quoted Allard attacking Dems over wiretapping legislation, omitted that House GOP voted against extension of law

Summary: In reporting February 25 on the dispute between U.S. House Democrats and the Bush administration over the expiration of legislation amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction quoted Republican Senator Wayne Allard's criticism that Democrats "appear[] to be choosing politics over our national security." But the article failed to mention that despite overwhelming approval from House Democrats, all Republicans voting on an extension of the measure rejected it, and the bill failed.

A February 25 article in The Daily Sentinel of Grand Junction about the dispute between the Bush administration and Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives over the expiration of the Protect America Act (PAA) reported that "President Bush and other Republicans are attacking House Democrats, including Rep. [John] Salazar [D-CO], for not voting on the permanent upgrading of FISA [the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act]." The article also quoted U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard (R-CO) as saying that "the Democratic leadership in the House appears to be choosing politics over our national security." The Daily Sentinel, however, omitted that on February 13, House Democrats, including Rep. Salazar, voted overwhelmingly (191 to 34) to extend the PAA for 21 days, but all of the House Republicans voting on the proposal opposed it, and it failed, as Colorado Media Matters has noted.

The PAA, which expired on February 16, amended FISA and, among other things, expanded the government's authority to eavesdrop on Americans' domestic-to-foreign communications without a warrant.

The Daily Sentinel article by Gary Harmon reported that "U.S. Rep. John Salazar's office said he has been under no pressure in Colorado's 3rd District to a vote on a measure that would update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act." The article further reported:

"Coloradans have been very supportive of Rep. Salazar for standing in favor of stronger civil liberty protections under FISA, and he believes they deserve their privacy rights to be protected by their member of Congress," said his Washington, D.C., spokesman, Eric Wortman.

[...]

President Bush and other Republicans are attacking House Democrats, including Rep. Salazar, for not voting on the permanent upgrading of FISA. Temporary legislation that upgraded the act expired recently.

One bone of contention between the president and House has been retroactive lawsuit immunity for telecommunications companies that cooperated with the federal government in tapping calls from suspected al-Qaida operatives to the United States.

Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said also that he hoped the measure could be approved soon.

"I'm very disappointed that the Democratic leadership in the House appears to be choosing politics over our national security by refusing to even allow a vote on the Senate's anti-terrorism bill," Allard said.

While the Daily Sentinel reported Allard's criticism of House Democrats, it failed to point out that all 195 House Republicans who voted on the Democratic-sponsored 21-day extension of the PAA (H.R. 5349) -- which Bush had said he would veto -- opposed it, and the measure failed 229-191, as Media Matters for America repeatedly has documented.

—C.H.