Robin
February 12th, 2008, 8:16 pm
I received this via email today:
After rejecting amendments that would have enhanced court supervision of electronic surveillance targeting people abroad who communicate with people in the U.S., the Senate has passed the FISA Amendments Act, S. 2248 and sent it to the House.
Now, it is time for the House, which passed a much better bill last year, to stand firm for a balanced approach to government eavesdropping.
The Senate bill would permit warrantless surveillance of the Internet and telephone communications that people in the U.S. have with others abroad. It would also provide immunity to telecoms that assisted with illegal warrantless surveillance for more than five years after September 11, 2001.
The version of this legislation that the House of Representatives passed last year does not contain these flaws.
The House bill, known as the RESTORE Act, H.R. 3773, would protect national security by allowing for interception in the United States of wire communications of targets abroad, but the surveillance program would be conducted with judicial supervision to protect the rights of Americans. And, the House bill does not undermine FISA's careful statutory scheme by granting telecom immunity.
Now, the House and Senate must resolve the differences between the two bills, and the Administration is going to use all of its fear tactics to pressure the House to accept the weaker Senate bill.
Call your Representative today. Tell your Representative that the House must reject the weak Senate bill and insist on the RESTORE Act.
Tell your representative that if the Senate negotiators won't budge from their flawed legislation, that Congress should put off further consideration of the bill until next year, when there will be a new Congress and a new President.
Use the box to the right to find the Washington, DC telephone number of your Representative. Call and talk to a staffer (or the Representative if you know him or her personally). Personal calls really make a difference.
-----------------
Background
The government was caught red-handed, wiretapping Americans without a court order for more than 5 years, in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. With encouragement from activists like you, the House of Representatives voted in November to bring surveillance back under court supervision.
However, the Senate passed legislation that would not establish adequate checks and balances but rather would give the President too much power. For that reason, the Administration supports the Senate bill and opposes the House bill.
Under the FISA Amendments Act passed by the Senate, the intelligence agencies - not a court - would authorize surveillance of communications between Americans and people abroad. The courts would lack sufficient authority to cut off surveillance of innocent Americans or to protect against the dissemination of their communications among intelligence agencies even when the government was engaging in indiscriminate wiretapping. And, the bill would do nothing to stop the President from authorizing a new program of warrantless surveillance outside of the law.
In contrast, the House version of this legislation -- the RESTORE Act -- would protect Americans' privacy and keep them secure.
Under the House bill, a court would have to approve and supervise any program of surveillance that would be likely to affect the rights of Americans. The House bill would make it harder for the President to conduct surveillance outside the context of the statute.
And, unlike the Senate bill, the House bill does not provide
immunity to telecoms that assisted will illegal warrantless
surveillance. These service providers are the last line of
defense against surveillance run amok. They should be immune from civil liability when they assist with lawful surveillance, but they should have an incentive to reject requests to assist with warrantless surveillance.
Tell your Representative to reject the Senate bill and vote for legislation that closely tracks the RESTORE Act, which the House already passed. Tell your Representative that if the Senate won't accept the RESTORE Act, Congress should extend current law and put off further consideration of the bill until next year.
Statement from CDT on Senate passage of the FISA Amendments Act, S. 2248
http://cdt.org/press/20080212press.php (http://cdt.org/press/20080212press.php)
CDT chart comparing the Senate bill to the House bill
http://cdt.org/security/20080212FISAcompare.pdf (http://cdt.org/security/20080212FISAcompare.pdf)
-----------------
1. Call Representative Kilpatrick at 202-225-2261. Ask for the staffer who handles national security issues.
2. Tell the staffer that you are calling about the RESTORE Act, H.R. 3773. Explain that the Senate counterpart of the RESTORE Act does not provide adequate checks and balances for intelligence surveillance, and that the House should insist on its version of the legislation.
Staffer: Hello, Representative Kilpatrick's office.
You: Hi. I am a constituent and I am opposed to warrantless surveillance of Americans' international telephone calls and e-mails. The House already passed a bill, the RESTORE Act, which would provide for judicial supervision of surveillance programs that could intercept American's international communications with targets abroad. The Senate version of the bill doesn't provide adequate protection of our civil liberties. It allows for surveillance without judicial supervision. And, it immunizes telecoms from liability for assisting with unlawful surveillance.
This would tell them they could do it again. I ask that my
Representative insist that the House stand firm with it's bill, and reject the Senate bill.
If the Senate won't compromise, Congress should simply extend current law, and put off this legislation until next year when there will be a new Congress and a new President.
Staffer: I'll pass along your message. Thanks!
-----------------
3. Tell Others
Tell your family and friends to call their members of Congress as well. You can refer them to this URL:
http://www.cdt.org/action/snooping/ (http://www.cdt.org/action/snooping/) so they can look up their Representatives' phone numbers. Feel free to include links to that page in blogs as well.
Sample Text for a Blog:
The Senate just passed a bill that would continue the warrantless surveillance that it authorized under intense Administration pressure in August 2008. But the House of Representatives has passed a strong bill, the RESTORE Act, which would do just what its name implies: It would RESTORE much of the privacy we lost when Congress temporarily authorized warrantless surveillance last year.
The RESTORE Act isn't perfect, but it's a good first step.
It would subject to prior judicial authorization the surveillance of international communications of Americans, and the court would supervise implementation of the program to protect Americans.
Whenever a significant purpose of the surveillance was to acquire the communications of an American in the United States, the government would have to get a full, individualized court order based on Constitutional standards. It's time for the House to stand up for checks and balances -- and our rights -- by insisting on its bill. If the Senate won't accept the stronger House protections, maybe the best thing to do would be to put off the issue until next year, when there is a new President and a new
Congress. Maybe together, they can do better.
For more, visit http://www.cdt.org/action/snooping/ (http://www.cdt.org/action/snooping/).
--
Brock N. Meeks
Director of Communications
Center for Democracy and Technology
1634 Eye Street NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20006
http://www.cdt.org/ (http://www.cdt.org/)
After rejecting amendments that would have enhanced court supervision of electronic surveillance targeting people abroad who communicate with people in the U.S., the Senate has passed the FISA Amendments Act, S. 2248 and sent it to the House.
Now, it is time for the House, which passed a much better bill last year, to stand firm for a balanced approach to government eavesdropping.
The Senate bill would permit warrantless surveillance of the Internet and telephone communications that people in the U.S. have with others abroad. It would also provide immunity to telecoms that assisted with illegal warrantless surveillance for more than five years after September 11, 2001.
The version of this legislation that the House of Representatives passed last year does not contain these flaws.
The House bill, known as the RESTORE Act, H.R. 3773, would protect national security by allowing for interception in the United States of wire communications of targets abroad, but the surveillance program would be conducted with judicial supervision to protect the rights of Americans. And, the House bill does not undermine FISA's careful statutory scheme by granting telecom immunity.
Now, the House and Senate must resolve the differences between the two bills, and the Administration is going to use all of its fear tactics to pressure the House to accept the weaker Senate bill.
Call your Representative today. Tell your Representative that the House must reject the weak Senate bill and insist on the RESTORE Act.
Tell your representative that if the Senate negotiators won't budge from their flawed legislation, that Congress should put off further consideration of the bill until next year, when there will be a new Congress and a new President.
Use the box to the right to find the Washington, DC telephone number of your Representative. Call and talk to a staffer (or the Representative if you know him or her personally). Personal calls really make a difference.
-----------------
Background
The government was caught red-handed, wiretapping Americans without a court order for more than 5 years, in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. With encouragement from activists like you, the House of Representatives voted in November to bring surveillance back under court supervision.
However, the Senate passed legislation that would not establish adequate checks and balances but rather would give the President too much power. For that reason, the Administration supports the Senate bill and opposes the House bill.
Under the FISA Amendments Act passed by the Senate, the intelligence agencies - not a court - would authorize surveillance of communications between Americans and people abroad. The courts would lack sufficient authority to cut off surveillance of innocent Americans or to protect against the dissemination of their communications among intelligence agencies even when the government was engaging in indiscriminate wiretapping. And, the bill would do nothing to stop the President from authorizing a new program of warrantless surveillance outside of the law.
In contrast, the House version of this legislation -- the RESTORE Act -- would protect Americans' privacy and keep them secure.
Under the House bill, a court would have to approve and supervise any program of surveillance that would be likely to affect the rights of Americans. The House bill would make it harder for the President to conduct surveillance outside the context of the statute.
And, unlike the Senate bill, the House bill does not provide
immunity to telecoms that assisted will illegal warrantless
surveillance. These service providers are the last line of
defense against surveillance run amok. They should be immune from civil liability when they assist with lawful surveillance, but they should have an incentive to reject requests to assist with warrantless surveillance.
Tell your Representative to reject the Senate bill and vote for legislation that closely tracks the RESTORE Act, which the House already passed. Tell your Representative that if the Senate won't accept the RESTORE Act, Congress should extend current law and put off further consideration of the bill until next year.
Statement from CDT on Senate passage of the FISA Amendments Act, S. 2248
http://cdt.org/press/20080212press.php (http://cdt.org/press/20080212press.php)
CDT chart comparing the Senate bill to the House bill
http://cdt.org/security/20080212FISAcompare.pdf (http://cdt.org/security/20080212FISAcompare.pdf)
-----------------
1. Call Representative Kilpatrick at 202-225-2261. Ask for the staffer who handles national security issues.
2. Tell the staffer that you are calling about the RESTORE Act, H.R. 3773. Explain that the Senate counterpart of the RESTORE Act does not provide adequate checks and balances for intelligence surveillance, and that the House should insist on its version of the legislation.
Staffer: Hello, Representative Kilpatrick's office.
You: Hi. I am a constituent and I am opposed to warrantless surveillance of Americans' international telephone calls and e-mails. The House already passed a bill, the RESTORE Act, which would provide for judicial supervision of surveillance programs that could intercept American's international communications with targets abroad. The Senate version of the bill doesn't provide adequate protection of our civil liberties. It allows for surveillance without judicial supervision. And, it immunizes telecoms from liability for assisting with unlawful surveillance.
This would tell them they could do it again. I ask that my
Representative insist that the House stand firm with it's bill, and reject the Senate bill.
If the Senate won't compromise, Congress should simply extend current law, and put off this legislation until next year when there will be a new Congress and a new President.
Staffer: I'll pass along your message. Thanks!
-----------------
3. Tell Others
Tell your family and friends to call their members of Congress as well. You can refer them to this URL:
http://www.cdt.org/action/snooping/ (http://www.cdt.org/action/snooping/) so they can look up their Representatives' phone numbers. Feel free to include links to that page in blogs as well.
Sample Text for a Blog:
The Senate just passed a bill that would continue the warrantless surveillance that it authorized under intense Administration pressure in August 2008. But the House of Representatives has passed a strong bill, the RESTORE Act, which would do just what its name implies: It would RESTORE much of the privacy we lost when Congress temporarily authorized warrantless surveillance last year.
The RESTORE Act isn't perfect, but it's a good first step.
It would subject to prior judicial authorization the surveillance of international communications of Americans, and the court would supervise implementation of the program to protect Americans.
Whenever a significant purpose of the surveillance was to acquire the communications of an American in the United States, the government would have to get a full, individualized court order based on Constitutional standards. It's time for the House to stand up for checks and balances -- and our rights -- by insisting on its bill. If the Senate won't accept the stronger House protections, maybe the best thing to do would be to put off the issue until next year, when there is a new President and a new
Congress. Maybe together, they can do better.
For more, visit http://www.cdt.org/action/snooping/ (http://www.cdt.org/action/snooping/).
--
Brock N. Meeks
Director of Communications
Center for Democracy and Technology
1634 Eye Street NW, Suite 1100
Washington, DC 20006
http://www.cdt.org/ (http://www.cdt.org/)