This is a deeply flawed bill, which does nothing more than offer retroactive immunity by another name. We strongly urge our colleagues to reject this so-called 'compromise' legislation and oppose any efforts to consider this bill in its current form. We will oppose efforts to end debate on this bill as long as it provides retroactive immunity for the telecommunications companies that may have participated in the President's warrantless wiretapping program, and as long as it fails to protect the privacy of law-abiding Americans.
"If the Senate does proceed to this legislation, our immediate response will be to offer an amendment that strips the retroactive immunity provision out of the bill. We hope our colleagues will join us in supporting Americans' civil liberties by opposing retroactive immunity and rejecting this so-called 'compromise' legislation.
Harry Reid added
"Unfortunately, the FISA compromise bill establishes a process where the likely outcome is immunity to the telecommunications carriers who participated in the President's warrantless wiretapping program. Sen. Reid remains opposed to retroactive immunity, which undermines efforts to hold the Bush Administration accountable for violating the law. Thus, he will cosponsor the amendment offered by Senators Dodd and Feingold to strip out the immunity provision, and support their efforts to strip immunity on the floor. "
Scarce edit: Russ Feingold with Amy Goodman yesterday.
SEN. RUSS FEINGOLD: It's not even a fig leaf; it's a joke. It does not in any way prevent the ruling from that court, basically automatically, of immunity, because it just involves saying, "Look, they've got a piece of paper from the government." This is nothing but Democrats trying to pretend that they're doing something here. They are doing nothing. They're giving in. Senator Kit Bond, a Republican from Missouri, is basically giggling at the fact that the Republicans and the administration got essentially everything they want on this. It's sadly a great failure on the part of the Democratic majority that was elected in 2006 primarily to get us out of Iraq, but also significantly to protect the Constitution of the United States. This is not a proud moment.
Here's Rep. Courtney with a message about FISA/PAA (Tip of the Hat: Darcy Burner):
Yes, we can protect the country legally, without giving immunity to those who helped Bush break the law.
BTW... did he film this in a ritzy bathroom or something?
Anyway, it's good framing. It's going to take continued education/communication with the public to keep the fight going, even with a lame duck Bush in office, some Dems (esp. in the Senate) are still too eager to cave in. Good to see Courtney not falling into that pattern. And also note the timing with just-elected Democrat/scientist Bill Foster who ran on an anti-telecom immunity, anti-Iraq war platform - and won - in a red district whose previous occupant was Denny Hastert.
Several weeks ago, when the FISA Amendments Act of 2007 (S. 2248) was up, I contacted both my Senators, urging them to oppose it, especially the telco immunity clauses. I need not have bothered; I knew one, Senator Dodd, would oppose immunity because his of past history on this issue. And I knew the other, Senator Lieberman, would favor immunity.
Today, I received an email letter from Holy Joe, to
Thank you for contacting me to express your views regarding extending the Protect America Act of 2007 (P.L. 110-55), which was signed into law by the President on August 5, 2007. I welcome the opportunity to share my thoughts with you on this serious issue.
Apparently the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which is a "nonprofit and historically nonpartisan" 501c(3) think tank has formed a 501c(4) issue advocacy group called Defense of Democracies (so there's, you know, no chance of getting the two confused) that's behind these ads. The advocacy group is run by Clifford May, who's also in charge of the Foundation (but, you know, the two organizations are totally independent; pay no attention to the fact that they work out of the same offices)... and May is also a former RNC Communications Director.
(I actually meant to post this as a comment to the Thursday Read 'Ems thread, but for some bizarre reason it wouldn't stick there. There's more below the fold...)
This morning at home after church we were literally inundated with a TV ad trying to instill fear in us to call our Congressperson (Joe Courtney in our case) to chastise him regarding the non-vote (didn't vote went on recess) on the retro-active immunity for telecom and the extension of the skirting of the FISA law. The ad was totally about making the average American who probably doesn't understand the FISA law afraid that the government cannot wiretap unless Congress passes this law. FALSE.
The FISA Law is a fine law and works well in cases of immediate need to spy using wiretap. I am sure all of you are aware that the FISA law was enacted after Nixon and his wiretapping crimes so that there would be a mechanism of law that allows the government to quickly act when they are sure a court will, after the fact, surrender a warrant. Proof only needs to be presented after the fact. There have only been a few times that the courts have not issued a warrant in these cases and there have been numerous FISA warrants issued.
The House Democrats won a big victory yesterday in the FISA fight, refusing to back down to the scare and fear tactics of the Bush Administration. Bush, Joe Lieberman and Republicans like Chris Shays wanted to grant immunity to telecommunications companies who may have been illegally monitoring our phone calls and emails, but the House Democrats led by Nancy Pelosi and Steny Hoyer successfully made the point that you don't have to tear up the Constitution to keep America safe. Senator Chris Dodd has been making the same point for months.
Today, Jim Himes acknowledged the House Democrats' important victory with the following statement:
"I am very proud of the leadership shown by Democrats yesterday in opposing retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies who may have illegally spied on American citizens without a warrant at the Bush Administration's request. No person or corporation should ever be above the law. Whether these companies broke the law is a matter for the courts to decide, not for Congress, and certainly not for President Bush.
"I've never been more proud to be a constituent of Chris Dodd, who has led on this important fight for months in the Senate. I am also proud of so many of our party's leaders - including Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, and Democratic Caucus Vice Chair John Larson - who stood up for the Constitution yesterday.
Senator Patrick Leahy to join Dodd in FISA filibuster.
Tuesday, February 12 is a critical day in our fight to stand up for American values and preserve our freedoms while protecting our national security. The Senate is voting on amendments to FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the law governing the use of wiretaps and other means to conduct surveillance of foreign threats.
Unfortunately, the new FISA bill we'll be voting on still has many problems. I will do everything in my power -- including joining my colleague Chris Dodd in a filibuster against this legislation -- to fix it.
Leahy is the Chairman of the Judiciary Committee and it is Jay Rockefeller's, Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, FISA bill that supports telecom immunity. I hope Leahy's opposition will help influence some of the more conservative Democrats.
By Wednesday night, the debate over government eavesdropping will end in the Senate. In less than three days, we will know who stood up for civil liberties and who failed freedom.
So far, Senator Dodd (D-CT) has been a champion of liberty. He vowed to filibuster any bill with retroactive telecom immunity. Thanks to his help, there was a temporary victory in the Senate this December, allowing the ACLU to keep fighting for a bill that brings spying in line with the Constitution and the rule of law.
The pressure in the Senate to cave in to the Bush administration -- and move on with business -- is intense and Senator Dodd has a lot to stand up for. With voting scheduled today and tomorrow, we are down to the wire. Please, thank Senator Dodd for all he has done and urge him to keep standing strong for the Constitution and the rule of law.
Call Senator Senator Dodd's office at (202) 224-2823 and say something like this:
I am a constituent calling to thank Senator Dodd for being a champion of liberty. I really appreciate his extraordinary efforts to block any bill with telecom immunity, defend the the rule of law and uphold the Constitution. I hope he keeps it up!
Your actions have made a difference in this fight. Together, we have jammed congressional switchboards, flooded the Capitol in a sea of email and buried lawmakers in a mountain of petitions.
Together, we sustained the momentum as Senator Chris Dodd fought to keep telecom immunity out of the Senate's spying bill. Now, after all the twists and turns in this debate, we are finally down to the wire. Every lobbyist, lawyer and organizer at the ACLU is determined to win this fight, whether we have to do it in Congress or in the Courts. But right now Senator Dodd needs to hear how much you appreciate all he's doing to stand strong for civil liberties.
Thank you for standing with us.
Sincerely,
Caroline Fredrickson, Director
ACLU Washington Legislative Office
P.S. In the coming days, the Senate will have a series of votes on this legislation and will debate amendments to their eavesdropping bill. After that, the House and Senate will reconcile competing spying bills.
http://action.aclu.org/site/Pa...
Senator Harry Reid, the majority leader, seems intent on doing the president's bidding. That will leave Democratic senators like Christopher Dodd and Russ Feingold in the absurd position of having to stage filibusters against their own party's leadership to try to forestall more harm to civil liberties
.
Back in October, Chris Dodd made a stand on telecom immunity. Somehow it didn't strike him as right that Telecoms could break the law and then retroactively be forgiven. Because of his principled stance, a FISA bill WITHOUT the telecom immunity provision was passed in the Senate Judiciary Committee. You may recall the utter shock that Dianne Feinstein changed her vote (after California Dem activists called for her censure). At the time, we observed that another version of the bill in the Intelligence Committee still had the language.
These are not happy times. Today we hear from Tim Tagaris and DFA that Harry Reid is putting the Intelligence committee version, on the floor for a vote.
Effectively Reid is maneuvering past Dodd's hold on this bill and allowing it to be brought up for a vote. (I keep wondering if Reid is a Democrat today).
To quote Walter in the Big Lebowski (apologies to Bush Sr.), "This aggression will not stand, man."
What to do? How about a call Harry Reid's office to object to this maneuver?
Senator Harry Reid - 202-224-3542
Chris Dodd can't do this alone. Our senator needs all the help he can muster. Please call, and you're welcome to drop a comment in about the results of your call.
I will edit this diary with more information and background, but for now, I just wanted to alert supporters of Dodd's stance on blocking telecom immunity that IT'S TIME TO GET IN GEAR AGAIN.
BACKGROUND AND ADDITIONAL INFO BELOW THE FOLD - ADDED 5:7 PM 14 Dec
(Chris Dodd's threat to put a hold on the FISA bill, along with public outrage, seems to have helped put a stop to immunity ... for now - promoted by CaptCT)
It was a big surprise this afternoon when Diane Feinstein finally decided to do the right thing and oppose immunity for telecoms that capitulated in Bush's plan to spy on American's.
In a 10 to 9 vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee passed a FISA bill that does not include the immunity provisions demanded by the telecom lobbyists Bush Administration.
Now it goes to the Senate floor where just about anything can happen. Without the immunity provision, Bush will surely use the veto pen once again. But, at least we got our Dems to demonstrate some backbone, for now.
The Senate Judiciary Committee is going to mark up the FISA reform legislation tomorrow. They had originally scheduled to do it last Thursday, but we expect it to happen this time, though it's not clear that the SJC will complete mark up tomorrow.
The bottom line is that now is the time to call the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask them to oppose retroactive immunity for telecom companies that helped the Bush administration spy on Americans without warrant.
We want the Senate to hear your voice on this issue -- we think it's so important that we're paying for you to do the calls. Call today - and the Dodd campaign will do the dialing for you, making it free for anyone calling for a hardline to talk to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Four Senators on the Judiciary Committee have already said they oppose retroactive immunity. We need just six more Senators to oppose retroactive immunity to kill it in committee.
Christy Hardin Smith also brings up basket warrants and Emptywheel brings up minimization as other key issues that the FISA legislation needs improvement on.
Senator Dodd's speech Saturday night at the Iowa Jefferson Jackson Dinner was truly electric. What really blew me away was his opening remarks on restoring the Constitution and standing up for the rule of law. He dedicated six minutes - a third of his speech - to the issue. While I've heard him talk about why he cares about the Constitution literally hundreds of times, his speech struck a chord in me on Saturday night. Maybe you felt the same energy hearing him rattle off the wrongs he will right as President.
Maybe it's because our country deserves a President who will do the things he pledges to do when he takes the oath of office. Or maybe it's because Chris Dodd is the only person who's stepping up now to do something about the problems he's talking about...but I thought Senator Dodd defined himself on Saturday night as the person that our country needs to be our next President.
Restoring the Constitution isn't just something Yale Law professors and liberal bloggers care about - Americans around the country of all political stripes are longing for leadership committed to returning our government to the rule of law. We saw that clearly Saturday night, as nearly 10,000 Iowans responded to Chris Dodd's commitment to act according to his oath as President. A desire to stand up for and preserve the Constitution is intrinsic in patriotic Americans, and we saw that patriotism come out at the Iowa JJ Dinner.
The bottom line is that when Senator Dodd campaigns on the Constitution, he's not making an argument about himself. The Constitution isn't about him and he's not so foolish as to think so. It's about who we are as a country and how our government is supposed to work. Saturday night, that humble understanding was rewarded with eruptions of applause.
Here's a transcript of what Senator Dodd commits to on the very first hour of his very first day in office:
"This much I commit to you here in Iowa this evening. On the very first hour, of the very first day on January 20, 2009, as I have fought for over the last number of years in this administration -- I will restore to the American people, the Constitution of the United States."
"You're gonna get your Constitution back! You're gonna get your Constitution back."
"No more Abu Ghraibs!"
"No more Guantanamos!"
"No more torture!"
"No more rendering!"
"No more providing retroactive immunity for companies that turned over their records to the Bush Administration without a court order!"
"No more waterboarding!"
"No more denying people habeas corpus in this country, a right that has existed for 900 years!"
"And there will be no more Attorney Generals of the United States who believe an American President is above the law."
The San Francisco Chronicle has reported that California Democratic Senator Diane Feinstein will support retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies. This puts the official tally at two votes in favor and four votes opposed to telecom amnesty. We still need to convince six more Senators on the Judiciary Committee to oppose retroactive immunity to ensure that it is killed in Committee and doesn't reach the floor of the Senate.
This means one of the "nay" votes has to come from a Republican member of Committee, which does not seem incredibly likely. The Republican who we'd previously targeted as most likely to vote the right was was Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Since Specter has also introduced a proposal that would indemnify the telecom companies by making the federal government sole defendant in all of the pending cases against the industry. This proposal - retroactive immunity by another name - makes it look unlikely that Specter will oppose other forms of immunity.
There are two paths from here:
First, we must continue to call all members of the Senate Judiciary who aren't currently opposed and ask them to oppose retroactive immunity. Everyone is not opposed needs to hear from the public on this issue - even conservative Republicans - because the Constitution and rule of law are not partisan issues, nor should they be.
Second, if you're feeling discouraged by the increased chances of amnesty for telecoms making it out of the Judiciary Committee, remember that Senator Dodd has vowed to stop any such legislation from becoming law, either through a hold or by filibuster if necessary. Dodd will stand up for the rule of law. He will defend the Constitution.
Now is the time to take action, though. Chris Dodd won't wait until 2009 to lead and we shouldn't wait until 2009 to stand up for what we believe in.
Call the Senate Judiciary Committee - we'll do the dialing for you through our Citizen Generated Whip Count calling tool: http://chrisdodd.com/immunity
I feel so strongly about this. It's part of my DNA, in a sense. Some of you may know, that I grew up in a household where my father was a prosecutor at the Nuremberg trials, here. And, Robert Jackson, the great prosecutor, the great Supreme Court Justice, made the case as others did. That we were going to stand up for the rule of law, even with some of the greatest violators of human rights in recorded history. That we were going to provide a trial for them, that which they never gave to their victims. So I heard all about the rule of law growing up, and how important it is. I didn't discover this a week ago, or year a go or two years ago. It's something I believed in very strongly when I served on the House Judiciary Committee...So my history on these matters go back a long way, here. They didn't come up recently, and I'm urging people to stand up.
If caring about the rule of law is in Senator Dodd's DNA, it's critically important to remember as citizens that the Constitution is our nation's DNA. And this administration's actions against our founding document risks fundamentally altering who we are as a nation.
We have seen strikes made against the Eighth Amendment, which bans cruel and unusual punishment; the Fourth Amendment, which mandates searches be conducted with warrant; and the Fifth Amendment, which demands due process for all persons.
Habeas corpus. Warrantless wiretaps. Torture. Extraordinary rendition. Secret Prisons. The Military Commissions Act.
Now we see the pernicious idea of retroactive immunity or amnesty for telecom companies who helped the Bush administration spy illegally on innocent Americans without warrant. If this dangerous move becomes law, the courts will never be able to discover what the Bush administration asked these companies and on what grounds. We will never learn what was perpetrated against the American people by its own government, in contravention to the laws of our land.
The efforts we have seen to change the DNA of America do not stop with the Bill of Rights, but tragically have extended into dangerous revisionism when it comes to the purview of the legislature and the executive. Article I and Article II of the Constitution.
The system of checks and balances between the three branches of government is being cast out of balance. The Vice President has gone so far as to suggest he's a previously undiscovered fourth branch of government.
Our Constitution -- and our nation -- may represent a great experiment in the power for representative democracy to make the world a better place. But the erosions and invasions of our Constitution and Bill of Rights -- the DNA of our country -- under President Bush threaten to turn America into a modern island of Doctor Moreau. What we get will not be what our Founders intended.
And so while Senator Dodd ties the roots of his passion for the Constitution and rule of law to the household he was raised in and the hard work of his father, we can all find our passion in a need to defend the document that most fundamentally defines who we are as a nation. And with our passion, we can move to act -- today -- by calling the Senate Judiciary Committee and ask them to oppose retroactive immunity for telecom companies in the latest FISA legislation.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Reid are complicit in the crimes perpetrated against the American public, POWs, and the world by the Bush administration. They both had adequate information about crimes that had taken place when they were elected to their positions, but chose to do nothing about them. With each additional revelation of torture, spying, etc. they become more culpable for their inaction.
Greg Sargent over at TPM's Election Central notes that tomorrow MoveOn.org will begin spearheading a movement to get Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to back Chris Dodd's threat to place a hold on and filibuster the Senate telecom immunity FISA bill.
MoveOn spokesman Adam Green tells me that the group will send out an email to "thousands" of its members tomorrow morning, and thousands more throughout the day, asking them to call the offices of Hillary and Obama and demand that they publicly affirm their support for Dodd.
"We'll be asking Obama and Clinton to publicly get Chris Dodd's back and say in a statement that they will explicitly support his hold and filibuster," Green tells me. "Pretty much this is the exact same ask made to Joe Biden in a Washington Post chat. The question was, Will you join Chris Dodd? He said Yes."
Green says that the following bloggers will also be directing their readers to call Hillary and Obama's offices and press them on this:
This is cool. Maine's Kennebec County Democratic Committee passed a resolution last night in support of Senator Dodd's hold on FISA legislation that includes amnesty for telecommunications companies who enable the Bush administration to violate Americans' civil liberties. Eddie in ME reports on the vote in a DailyKos diary.
The text of the resolution is as follows:
Be it resolved that the Kennebec County Democratic Committee endorses the effort by Senator Christopher Dodd to defend and preserve the Constitution of the United States. On October 18th, Senator Dodd placed a hold on the bill to amend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. This bill would grant retroactive immunity to the telecommunications industry for participating in President Bush's warrantless wiretapping program. We applaud the senator's determination to protect our civil liberties.
This resolution passed unanimously. The KCDC thanks Senator Dodd for standing up for the Constitution, and the rule of law.
Eddie closes his post with this note:
It is my personal hope that Senator Dodd will continue to take similar actions to defend the rights of Americans, and will put his effort into reversing the trampling of the Constitution performed by the Bush Administration. Whether it is as President or Senator, I hope Chris Dodd will lead the way.
Thank you for your voice of support Eddie in ME and thanks to the Kennebec County Democratic Committee for resolutely passing their support Dodd's leadership.
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