Dodd, Clinton, Obama and Biden Unite Against TelCo Amnesty

TelCo amnesty for illegality committed in the Bush Administration's Warrantless Wiretapping Program will be debated in the Senate soon.

There are 2 competing bills:
The Intelligence Committee's, which includes TelCo Immunity, and
The Judiciary Committee's, which does not.

Harry Reid will decide which bill or bills will be sent to the floor for consideration.  If the Intelligence Committee's Bill is debated, it will likely be approved.  If not, then Amnesty will be separated from FISA update and will require it's own bill.  This latter outcome would require those supporting amnesty to show their colors, and passage would be much less certain.

Today, all of the Democratic Presidential Candidates who are Senators signed a letter urging Reid not to advance the Intel Committee's Amnesty Bill.

This is a dramatic victory for progressives.

The text of the letter is below.

Dear Majority Leader Reid:

We understand that the Senate will shortly be considering amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. As you know, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Judiciary Committee have reported very different versions of the FISA Amendments Act, S. 2248, and it is up to you, as Majority Leader, to decide how the Senate considers this legislation.

We urge you to make the version of S. 2248 reported by the Senate Judiciary Committee the base bill to be considered by the full Senate. While the structure of Title I of both bills is the same, and both make improvements over the Protect America Act, the reasonable changes to Title I made in the Judiciary Committee ensure that the FISA Court will be able to conduct much-needed oversight of the implementation of these broad new surveillance authorities, and help to better protect the rights of innocent Americans. While we appreciate the hard work that the Intelligence Committee has done on this legislation, the process by which the Judiciary Committee considered, drafted, amended and reported out its bill was an open one, allowing outside experts and the public at large the opportunity to review and comment. With regard to legislation so directly connected to the constitutional rights of Americans, the results of this open process should be accorded great weight, especially in light of the Judiciary Committee’s unique role and expertise in protecting those rights.

We also believe that the Judiciary Committee bill is preferable because it does not provide immunity for telecom companies that allegedly cooperated with the administration’s warrantless wiretapping program. As this is such a controversial issue, we feel it would be appropriate to require the proponents of immunity to make their case on the floor.

Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,

Russell D. Feingold (D-WI)

Christopher J. Dodd (D-CT)

Barack Obama (D-IL)

Bernard Sanders (I-VT)

Robert Menendez (D-NJ)

Joseph R. Biden, Jr. (D-DE)

Sherrod Brown (D-OH)

Tom Harkin (D-IA)

Benjamin L. Cardin (D-MD)

Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY)

Daniel K. Akaka (D-HI)

Jim Webb (D-VA)

Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA)

Barbara Boxer (D-CA)

This is a monumental precipice; the Gantlet is thrown:
Democratic Presidential Candidates are standing strong on an issue clearly important to progressives.  This is a victory.

In contrast, if Reid advances the Intel Bill in the face of every leading Democratic Presidential candidate urging not to do so, The Democratic Party is as anemic as the GOP characterizes it.  Furthermore, if Reid Advances the Amnesty Bill, it would show that the current crop of Democratic Party Candidates are ineffective as leaders, and do not deserve to be President.