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Feingold Will Try to Strip Telecom Immunity from Surveillance Bill
Tomorrow morning is the long-awaited mark-up of the surveillance bill in the Senate Judiciary Committee. And Russ Feingold (D-WI), who voted against the bill in the intelligence committee, is going to redouble his efforts to rid the bill of its provision granting retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies that complied with the Bush administration's warrantless surveillance program. From a statement, via ThinkProgress:
Granting retroactive immunity for companies that allegedly went along with this illegal program is unjustified and undermines the rule of law. Not only would retroactive immunity set the terrible precedent that breaking the law is permissible and companies need not worry about the privacy of their customers, but it would likely prevent courts from ruling on the President’s illegal warrantless wiretapping program. This program was one of the worst abuses of executive power in our history, and the courts should be able to rule on it once and for all.
Recently, AT&T whistleblower technician Mark Klein said the provision was a cover-up, designed to prevent the public from learning the extent of what Klein called unbounded and "massively domestic" surveillance. Committee leaders Pat Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) have been critics of the immunity provision, so perhaps Feingold can quash the provision in Judiciary, even if he wasn't able to do so on the intelligence committee.
Comments (19)
Helen Rainier wrote on November 14, 2007 4:02 PM:Thank you, once again, Senator Feingold for standing up for the Constitution and for governance based on the laws that make up our country.
My only regret about moving from Wisconsin a year ago is that I am no longer able to vote for you and to proudly claim you as my Senator.
WI Resident wrote on November 14, 2007 4:19 PM:You go, Russ!
P J Evans wrote on November 14, 2007 4:25 PM:Someone gets it right, anyway!
DiFi, please retire soon, since you aren't representing your constituents anyway ....
moondancer wrote on November 14, 2007 4:52 PM:I called both my senators. This is a done deal. ATT bought everybody. They even bought the state houses. So much for one man one vote.
della Rovere wrote on November 14, 2007 5:13 PM:one dollar, one vote?
Habanero wrote on November 14, 2007 5:17 PM:Senator Feingold:
We need an inquiry such as the London Accord of August 8, 1945 where war crimes and in our case treason by the executive branch occurs.
Just my 2 cents
Dennis wrote on November 14, 2007 5:31 PM:Good luck to Senator Feingold, but he will lose.
The leadership of the Democratic Party who supported the nomination of judge Mukasey to be the Attorney General need to understand tht the American people are not fools, nor fooled.
Americans are well aware that the Democratic Party has now guaranteed that there will be no worth while invesigations, nor anyone held responsible for the fiasco of the Iraq war, what led up to it, nor the war crimes committed in the name of the American people by the Republican Party and affirmed by the Democratic party.
When all is said and done, protecting the wrong doings of the Bush administration and the leadership of the two political parties was what this vote was all about in the first place.
Further, one can already see that those responsible for the illegal spying on Americans prior to 9/11, and the corporations who conspired with that, will go unpunished.
If another nation tried to impose on us what our own government is imposing, we would all go to war.
You don't have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.
Diane wrote on November 14, 2007 6:13 PM:Go, Russ!!!!!!!!!! Dodd will filibuster - no done deal yet!!!!
dewey_m wrote on November 14, 2007 6:31 PM:Thank you Senator Feingold. You are a true American hero.
Anonymous wrote on November 14, 2007 6:59 PM:It's amazing what Congress will do -- by way of making a mess of things -- when they want to; but then, with the other foot refuse to do what is reasonably expected of them, and find a way to solve a problem.
If this DNC Congress is serious about its oath -- which it doe snot appear to be -- then it will find a way to defend the Constitution; ensure accountability; and end this bill:
Feingold Fan wrote on November 14, 2007 7:17 PM:- Appropriations can be held up;
- Dodd can filibuster -- oh, where was he on the AG non-filibuster;
- The Congress can refuse to provide the President funds until the telecom lobbyists back off;
- Congress can call for hearings to review the public statements/comments by the telecom lobbyists pushing for this immunity.
As a registered voter in Wisconsin,I am proud to have Senator Feingold represent me.
Other Senators should follow Feingold's lead and stand-up for what they believe in rather than worrying about how their actions might alienate some voters. If other Democratic Senators could only find their spines, we actually might be able to turn things around in this country.
Go Russ!
Sonny Slope
Got Milk? Make Cheese!
anon wrote on November 14, 2007 7:32 PM:...their actions might alienate some voters...
Other than ATT management, the WaPo and WSJ editorial boards, PJ media, and, of course, our fine representatives in both houses--say, a couple thousand people at most--I'm having trouble thinking of _anyone_ who supports telcom immunity.
Jim Bouman wrote on November 14, 2007 7:41 PM:The senior Senator from Wisconsin, Herb Kohl is guaranteed his Senate seat for life.
He's so rich, he brags he can't be bought. He cannot be "bought" by a bunch of rich guys. But, since he IS a rich guy, he's got all their values and concerns.
And, an absolute AIPAC toady.
He is timid, always allowing the junior Senator to lead the way. I have my doubts about Herb tomorrow.
Badgers deserve better. America deserves better.
Carl Nyberg wrote on November 14, 2007 8:01 PM:Is Russ Feingold some sort of alien life form that sucks the courage and insight out of his fellow Democrats and then uses it to make himself look good by comparison?
tpm devotee wrote on November 14, 2007 8:22 PM:Russ Feingold considered running for president a couple years back.
Thank goodness he's stayed in the Senate, working for We the People!
Stand up for We the People, Russ! And we will stand with you!
cjop wrote on November 14, 2007 10:42 PM:Arlen Specter. Boy what a relief to have him as a critic of the immunity provision.
Duck Soup wrote on November 14, 2007 10:43 PM:Thank you again Senator Feingold. So many of your colleagues have sold out.
And in the wake of the FBI's determination that Blackwater shot up 14 people without justification in one incident alone, not to mention the countless other cases of reckless use of force, Obama is out in front again asking the right question. God forbid Fox should stop attacking Obama with made up smears and slurs and join him in asking the right questions back here in the real world. (But we all know that's a fantasy because back here in the real world Fox and Murdoch are slime.) Why in the world would we give this contractor more business right now??? Shouldn't Blackwater be on probation at a minimum? Shouldn't its existing contracts be under review? That they are not is totally irresponsible.
It's predictable, if not understandable or justifiable, that the leading Fox Republican candidates are backing their fearless incompetent leaders on this one, but where is Hillary again? Where is she? She's knows better. Where is she? Hillary are you out there? Or are you in your little hole again like when you were voting to empower the President to go to war in Iraq, or voting to empower him to attack "terrorists" in the form of part of the Iranian military?
Man do we need a change. Our Fox Republican politicians and some Democrats have lost their moral compass.
http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Obama_calls_on_Pentagon_to_reconsider_1114.html
Me_again wrote on November 15, 2007 8:18 AM:Feingold, the Senator that nobody listens too, time and time and time again. The little partisan flag that wave, send me cash, I'm against something that the rest of Dems want to vote for anyway.
All with Feinstein (and many other Dems) waiting to grant retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications, AT&T and Verizon.
I grow tied of this game the Dems play, whereby they pretent to be against it, then they vote for it.
Hillary, I'm sure will pretent to not want to vote for it, and the miss the vote. Bush wants to torture and wiretap and Dems can be counted to help Bush keep right on doing it. Dems got no problem with any things Bush does.
So here we go again with Dems playing their voters for suckers. And of course Josh Marshall has no comment on the issue and could careless about wiretap, except to use it a bashing tool agains Bush, even as Dems sign on to it.
benjoya wrote on November 15, 2007 9:22 AM:feingold should point to mukasey's just-announced investigation into warantless wiretapping as a reason to sit on the bill.
and good on ya, senator!