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The Senate plans to vote this week on H.R. 6304, the FISA Amendments Act of 2008. We are encouraging you to tell your senators to oppose this expansion of the government's spying powers. It allows for warrantless surveillance of Americans' overseas communications and gives immunity to telecommunications companies that engaged in illegal surveillance in the past.
We are asking senators to vote IN FAVOR of the Dodd-Feingold Amendment (S.A. 5064). This amendment would remove retroactive immunity from the bill and allow a federal judge to decide how to proceed with the lawsuits. Congress should trust the judiciary to uncover the truth and resolve these issues fairly without unnecessarily short-circuiting due process of law.
Telecom immunity is not the only critical issue. The bill does not prohibit the practice of reverse targeting, wiretapping a person overseas when the government is really interested in listening to someone in the U.S. An individualized court order based on probable cause is not needed when the focus of the surveillance has shifted from a target abroad to a person in the U.S. It also does not protect the privacy of Americans whose communications will be collected in large quantities.
As a New York Times editorial observed today, "Congress has been far too compliant as President Bush undermined the Bill of Rights and the balance of powers. It now has a chance to undo some of that damage - if it has the courage and good sense to stand up to the White House and for the Constitution."
Tell your senators to reject all efforts to grant retroactive immunity to telecom companies that assisted in the administration's illegal wiretapping and vote NO on the FISA Amendments Act.
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