FISA Sentate Showdown

From Working Assets:

The bill to update the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) continues to advance in the Senate, and now it has reached another critical juncture. Because the issue is so urgent -- the legislation will likely be voted on during the week of December 3rd -- we're sending faxes to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asking him to act now to protect Americans' privacy rights.

In past weeks, the U.S. Senate has debated several specific provisions of the legislation. The Intelligence Committee passed a version that would grant retroactive amnesty to big telecom companies who colluded in Bush's illegal program to spy on Americans.

In response to citizen outcry, the Judiciary Committee passed a version that did not include the amnesty provisions. Now, Majority Leader Reid will decide which version gets put up for a final vote by the whole Senate. He has the power as Majority Leader to stand up for civil liberties and protect the constitutional privacy rights of all Americans -- or he could cave in to the White House's demands to let its telco cronies off the hook. [My bold.]

We must not become a nation that willingly, silently sacrifices our freedoms. They are the very foundation of our nation. Working assets has set up an easy-to-use form to tell Senator Reid not to include telecom immunity in the FISA bill. I urge you to make your wishes known today.

30 November 2007