Congress should not rubberstamp executive power grab
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: ( 202) 675-2312, media@dcaclu.org
Washington, DC – With the Senate debate continuing and a vote expected on the FISA Amendments Act of 2008 this Wednesday, the American Civil Liberties Union once again urged senators to vote against the unconstitutional bill, which will allow the government to monitor calls and emails without a warrant and without meaningful court review.
The following can be attributed to Caroline Fredrickson, director of the ACLU Washington Legislative Office:
“After two and a half years of outrage over warrantless wiretapping and an ever-expanding executive branch, it’s untenable that Congress would be on the verge of sanctioning the lawless behavior of the Bush administration. The ramifications of this legislation are enormous. No president should have this power.
“Congress is poised to strip the courts of their authority and, in doing so, not only frustrate citizens but eviscerate the Fourth Amendment and the constitutionally mandated separation of powers. Americans have been making their voices heard by calling and emailing their senators. So our question to the Senate is: Are you listening? We do not want the government in our living rooms.
“Though there are several amendments being offered that would improve this bill, the most important vote cast will be that of final passage. There must be as many ‘no’ votes as possible. Senators need to remember that not only is America watching, but history is as well. The legacy of the 110th Congress should not be that of bowing to and granting vast spying powers to the executive branch. Senators must step back and either fix this unconstitutional bill or vote it down.”
To read the ACLU’s letter to the Senate, go to:
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/35782leg20080625.html
For more information about the ACLU’s work on FISA, go to:
www.aclu.org/fisa
Take Action
Tell your senators the bottom line: no immunity, no warrantless spying.
5 comments:
well it gives an idea about the American government and the voting system...and peoples' interests in political business..
For a long time I look here in regular intervals by and read the interesting and well written contributions. Here I would like to thank you for it once and leave greetings from Bavaria!
@charles-Thanks for your comment. For some reason, your link did not work. I am a do-follow blogger and I could not visit your blog.
@matti-I think you have hit all my blogs with your comment. Comments are supposed to be a statement about the post. I wish I knew your language so I could explain this more clearly.
This issue is a tossup for me. Being as the wire tapping being discussed is involving calls that either originate overseas or are received there, I feel that it is potentially a good thing. Is it losing a right? Perhaps. And we have heard much about those who are willing to trade their rights for security. We all have a price, don't we?
Consider the last post extolling the virtues of government land grabs to restrict private industry. If one is against federal takeover of citizens rights, I suppose they should be against all plays at our freedoms, and not just the ones that support our articular agenda.
So perhaps I need to look a little closer at this issue. Anyhow, good food for thought. Nice post.
@steve-I am tired of the erosion of our constitutional rights under the guise of the "fight against terrorism." This law, "which will allow the government to monitor calls and emails without a warrant and without meaningful court review," means Americans like you and me are being spied upon.
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