FISA Vote - Tell Congress to Protect Civil Liberties

Tuesday is a critical day in our fight to stand up for American values and preserve our freedoms while protecting our national security.

Tuesday the Senate will vote on amendments to FISA, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, the law governing the use of wiretaps and other means to conduct surveillance of foreign threats.

Unfortunately, the new FISA bill we'll be voting on Tuesday still has many problems. I will do everything in my power -- including joining my colleague Chris Dodd in a filibuster against this legislation -- to fix it.

Now I need your help to encourage more of our House and Senate colleagues to stand with us.
Tell Congress that any new FISA bill must both protect our national security and preserve our civil liberties. Please email your home state Senators and Member of Congress now!

I strongly support surveillance targeting foreign threats and terrorists who wish to do us harm -- but we must take care to protect Americans' liberties in the process. That's what the FISA amendments we passed through the Judiciary Committee would have done.

Our Judiciary Committee amendments also would have given the existing FISA Court a more meaningful role in overseeing law enforcement's expanded surveillance activities, providing a crucial independent check on potential government excess. We must not forget that earlier abuses of power are the reason FISA was enacted in the first place.

Unfortunately, the Bush-Cheney Administration and its allies oppose these safeguards. They are voting in lockstep to kill all of our efforts to improve the new FISA bill, basically telling Senate Democrats to "take it or leave it."

Here's what they need to know: Passing legislation through the U.S. Senate isn't a "take it or leave it" enterprise. Not when they want to park Americans' civil liberties in a blind trust. They lost their credibility on "just trust us" long ago. Will you help convince Senators and Members of Congress to agree to our common-sense changes to improve this bill and protect the rights of all Americans?

Tell Congress that any new FISA bill must both protect our national security and preserve our civil liberties. Please email your home state Senators and Member of Congress now!

In addition, the Bush-Cheney Administration is trying to avoid any and all accountability for conducting illegal, warrantless surveillance for the past 5 years. They are insisting on granting blanket retroactive immunity to phone companies for their warrantless surveillance activities beginning in 2001, activities which explicitly violated existing FISA law and violated the privacy rights of Americans.

Clearly, the Bush-Cheney Administration does not want their law-breaking to be exposed. Retroactive immunity would assure that they get their wish.

When the public found out that the Bush-Cheney Administration was violating FISA and spying illegally on Americans without warrants, the Administration and phone companies were sued by citizens whose privacy rights were violated. These lawsuits may be the only way that the Bush-Cheney Administration is truly held accountable for its flagrant disrespect for the rule of law.

Well, no one -- no citizen, no company, no Senator, and no President -- is above the law. By offering blanket immunity to telecom companies, the Administration is trying to avoid accountability -- and that is unacceptable.

Tell Congress that any new FISA bill cannot grant blanket retroactive immunity to phone companies. Please email your home state Senators and Member of Congress now!

I'm going to do everything I can to fix the FISA bill on Tuesday -- but I need your help to do it.
Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Patrick Leahy
U.S. Senator

P.S. The first votes are just hours away. Please email your home state Senators and Member of Congress now -- so I can show my colleagues the strong support that exists for fixes to this FISA bill!