I sent the following email with Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy. We are urging the Senate to support the House FISA legislation that does not include retroactive telecom immunity. I hope you can join us in this effort.
Last month, the U.S. House of Representatives passed a strong and
balanced FISA bill, legislation that protects America’s national
security while defending civil liberties – without granting retroactive
immunity to phone companies. Retroactive immunity would abet the
Bush-Cheney Administration’s efforts to avoid accountability for its
actions.
This was a tremendous accomplishment -- and would not have been
possible without the hard work and support from engaged citizens like
you. The fight for a fair FISA bill has been waged all across the
country: in the halls of Congress, on progressive political blogs, in
newspaper editorial pages, on the public airwaves, and around dinner
tables and water coolers from coast-to-coast.
But there’s still much work to do. Now that the
House has passed a fair FISA bill, it’s time to turn our attention back
to the Senate – and we hope you’ll join us in urging our Senate
colleagues to sign on to the strong FISA legislation the House passed
just last month.We’ve already seen the impact of grassroots activity on the FISA
debate. Your emails, phone calls, blog posts, and letters-to-the-editor
– including more than 1,600 letters written [by you and other friends]
in response to our call last month alone – really do make a huge
difference. Thank you so much!Now we need your help to make sure that our colleagues in the Senate
know that the American people are watching – and that they want a FISA
bill that protects our national security, preserves our civil
liberties, and refuses retroactive immunity to telecom companies.
[2]First the Bush-Cheney Administration tried to bully the House into
accepting its own deeply flawed FISA legislation. Then White House
officials and Congressional Republicans refused to meet with us to
hammer out a better bill. And then the President and his allies blocked
our attempts to temporarily extend existing surveillance legislation –
incredibly blaming Democrats for their own efforts to let the
legislation expire.Despite all of this bullying, cajoling, and foot-dragging, we’re
proud that our House Democratic colleagues stood firm, refusing to
water down the strong, balanced FISA bill that passed the House and is
now on its way to the Senate.
Now we need your help to encourage our Democratic colleagues in the Senate to stand firm as well.
[4]Thank you, once again, for your continued support on this critical issue.
Sincerely,
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