Wyden to Oppose Cloture for Wiretapping Bill

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), a senior member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, announced today that he would oppose new legislation amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) due to his continued opposition to a provision that would grant blanket retroactive immunity to any telecommunications company that participated in the President’s warrantless wiretapping program.

“This is not the first time that the President has pressured Congress into interfering in federal court cases to cover-up his attempts to secretly rewrite the law. Congress’s previous attempts to bail-out the President—from the Detainee Treatment Act to the Military Commissions Act—have not only failed to solve the legal mess, but have often provided cover for the Administration’s failed counterterrorism policies,” said Wyden.

“I see no reason for Congress to grant blanket immunity to companies that went along with the President’s wiretapping program for the better part of six years, even as it became increasingly clear that the legal foundation for this program was built on sand,” Wyden continued. “It is not the role of Congress to substitute its judgment for the judgment of the courts. And while this bill offers the illusion of a fair judicial process, in reality, as the House Republican Leadership has noted, this is a mere ‘formality.’”

Wyden was one of two members of the Senate Intelligence Committee to vote against the FISA Amendments Act in committee, due to his opposition to the telecom immunity provisions. During the committee mark up, Wyden offered an amendment that would for the first time extend warrant protections to Americans who travel overseas. Despite initial opposition to the “Wyden Amendment,” it is included in the current version of the legislation.

“In the digital age, an American’s relationship with his or her government should not depend on physical geography,” Wyden said. “While I have serious concerns about other parts of this legislation, I think history will recognize this amendment as an important achievement and a major step forward for privacy rights.”

http://wyden.senate.gov/newsroom/record.cfm?id=299642&

Ooops. I said Wyden would filibuster when I meant oppose cloture.

Glenn, I'm not surprised that Poltico has still not corrected the quote. They've proven over and over that they are an unethical outfit so I look at this as just more evidence of that fact.

In case you haven't seen it yet, there is a FISA piece by Barbara Boxer on the HuffPo site. There are currently only 2 comments and 14 in queue. I'd say that it needs some more comments.

We Need to Know the Truth About the NSA Spy Program

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sen-barbara-boxer/we-need-to-know-the-truth_b_109007.html

Two new blog postings up on HuffPo

The Harry Reid Razzle Dazzle, forget I'm the one who will call up the FISA bill and allow a vote to take place piece.

Reid Won't Support FISA Compromise, At Odds With Obama

Sam Stein

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/06/24/reid-wont-support-fisa-co_n_109036.html

And the FISA will happen because of traitorous Dems, Impeachment will not happen because of traitorous Dems. piece

Time for a Grand Inquest into Bush's High Crimes

Robert L. Borosage

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-l-borosage/time-for-a-grand-inquest_b_109021.html

dday has a diary up on Kos

We May Have Just Gotten The FISA Debate Extended

Tue Jun 24, 2008 at 10:38:21 PM EDT

(the operative word here is "may". It's entirely possible that the Senate could finish all of the bills they want to push out by Friday.)

Anyone watching C-SPAN? Senator Reid just informed his colleagues that, because of all the other bills in the queue (like the housing bill, and the Iraq supplemental), FISA may not get a vote until after the July 4 holiday recess.

This is honestly the best we can hope for with this bill. Sens. Dodd, Wyden and Feingold are ready to filibuster and gamely trying to get colleagues to do the same (Sen. Dodd's speech tonight was a bravura performance), but realistically there aren't the numbers to stop cloture. However, that could change if the delay continues. And getting this to the recess means being able to get in a lot of Senator's faces on their trips back home. In addition, there's going to be a very short window in August where a ton of must-pass bills have to get through Congress, and throwing FISA in with that mess means that anything can happen.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/6/24/223033/176/554/541517

I wonder if there will be any protests outside and in the Senate halls tomorrow to remind Senators there are consequences to their vote. It would be great if there were and if those of us who can't make it to Washington do similiar protests at our Senators's local offices - kind of a coordinated attack if you will.

It would also be great if we could organiize protests at our local telecom offices considering they are bribing our reps to vote against our rights. We could also jam their phones for a change and let them know that they may be spying on us but we know what they're doing too.

Yes, I know that this is pretty much a done deal but I still think we need to do everything possible to create our own miracle. I'm not much good at sitting back just hoping something will happen. I think we need to make it happen or at least do everything humanly possible to do so.

Leahy is encouraging his fellow Senators to read the documents they have before their vote.