Since the Smoky Mountain News profiled the three candidates seeking the GOP nomination for the 11th Congressional District House of Representatives seat, the race has heated up immensely. Carl Mumpower, Spence Campbell and John Armor have been debating and throwing jabs for months now and are likely to continue to do so right up to the May 6 primary.

The biggest topic of debate among the three candidates recently has been their views on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. FISA, established after the Watergate scandal in 1978, set provisions on how the government can eavesdrop on Americans in intelligence investigations. Recent amendments of FISA in the Patriot Act allow the government to get around the requirement that it must show a judge probable cause of involvement with a foreign country or terrorist organization before eavesdropping.

Mumpower has stood alone in opposition of the act, while Campbell and Armor are firmly in support of it. The candidates, who have similar platforms on many other key issues, have used FISA to differentiate themselves from one another.

Mumpower believes FISA is a violation of civil liberties, and faults the other candidates for wanting to violate basic American rights.

“Both of my colleagues are willing to sidestep the Constitution, and I’m not comfortable with that,” Mumpower said. “I do not believe that retroactive immunity or people who break the law is sound policy.”

Meanwhile, Armor accuses Mumpower of taking the same position on the FISA issue as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the ACLU — alignments of the worst kind in Republican eyes.

“That’s a fatal mistake by Carl Mumpower. I’ve practiced constitutional law in the Supreme Court for 33 years. His position is wrong and gets Americans killed,” said Armor.

Campbell said FISA is essential for allowing governments to immediately respond to threats, rather than getting a judge’s permission to collect intelligence.

“It’s a legitimate role of government to do those things in support of its number one responsibility — providing security — and because of that, it supports the constitution,” he said.

• The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), born after the Watergate scandal, establishes how the government can secretly eavesdrop on Americans in their own country in intelligence investigations

• Recent amendments in the Patriot Act authorized the government to use FISA to get around the constitutional requirement that it show a judge that it has probable cause of involvement with a foreign country or terror group before it eavesdrops on a communication.