Hopeless Geek

Namely, Republicans in the Senate. Observe the following form letters I received:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA). I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this important national security matter.

Gathering communications intelligence is one of America’s front lines of defense in the War on Terror. As you may know, Congress passed the Protect America Act (P.L. 110–55) in August 2007, modernizing FISA to give intelligence professionals the tools they urgently need to gather information, while still protecting the civil liberties of Americans. Senator John Rockefeller introduced the FISA Amendments Act of 2007 (S. 2248) on October 26, 2007, in an effort to continue this vital work. S. 2248 would expand the role of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, empowering the Court to have more scrutiny over surveillance procedures and acquisitions. This legislation also increases congressional oversight of surveillance matters by increasing reporting requirements and requiring audits by the Inspector General.

Changes to FISA included in S. 2248 would further provide civil immunity for communications carriers that assisted the government with surveillance in the past, as well as create civil immunity for future assistance. Communications carriers are currently facing billions of dollars in lawsuits for their role in assisting the National Security Agency’s Terrorist Surveillance Program, instituted after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The Terrorist Surveillance Program worked to thwart terrorist attacks by intercepting communications between suspected terrorists overseas and potential operatives within the United States. Though acting without a court warrant, the program was conducted under the President’s broad authority to protect and defend the nation. Communications carriers provided invaluable assistance, relying on official assurances of legality. While the process of litigation is integral to our system of laws, I believe it is unfair to punish the communications companies for patriotic compliance with the federal government’s War on Terror.

Providing civil immunity for communications carriers that assist government surveillance in the future is important to ensuring the effective collection of intelligence. Communications technology has become increasingly complex, requiring the voluntary cooperation of carriers to effectively gather information. Without this cooperation, the intelligence efforts of the United States will be severely debilitated. Providing immunity allows communications carriers to rely on official assurances of necessity and legality and guarantees their much needed cooperation. It is important to note that the bill does not grant immunity to government officials. Additionally, I was pleased that S. 2248 was overwhelmingly approved by the Senate Intelligence Committee, by a bipartisan vote of 13–2. On February 12, 2008, the Senate approved S. 2248 by a vote of by 68-29, proving that members can work together in a bipartisan manner to improve our national security.

As a member of both the Senate Armed Services and Judiciary Committees, I am committed to ensuring that we appropriately balance our national security needs and the protection of our civil liberties. I believe that the amended FISA bill, including the immunity provision for communications carriers, strikes this much needed balance. I appreciate the opportunity to represent the interests of Texans in the United States Senate, and am thankful for your comments as the Senate considers this important legislation.

Sincerely,

JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator

Thank you for contacting me regarding the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. I welcome your thoughts and comments on this issue.

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978 provides the basic framework for the use of electronic surveillance in the context of foreign intelligence gathering. Over time, FISA has been amended to expand intelligence gathering to physical searches and access to certain business records. Following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, the USA PATRIOT Act made significant changes to some FISA provisions in order to aid in the capture of suspected terrorists.

On August 5, 2007, the President signed the Protect America Act of 2007 into law. The Protect America Act updated FISA to close a critical gap relating to the surveillance of suspected terrorists and to address limitations on surveillance created by a 2007 FISA Court. The Protect America Act was a temporary measure that expired on February 16, 2008 after one 15-day extension. After months of careful analysis, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence reported S. 2248, a comprehensive bill reforming FISA and extending critical collection authorities for a period of six years. The bill includes important safeguards to protect privacy and civil liberties, including procedures to prevent the dissemination of information about U.S. citizens that has been collected incidentally during certain surveillance activities.

S. 2248 contains a number of other provisions, including an extension of liability protection to electronic service providers that may have cooperated with the federal government after 9/11. Many of these firms face class action lawsuits in which the government may assert its privilege in order to protect sources and methods of intelligence collection. This privilege limits the ability of the companies to provide evidence to defend their alleged conduct. I recognize that some oppose the liability protection, but I joined 67 of my Senate colleagues in supporting the Senate Intelligence Committee bill because I believe that it is untenable to allow the lawsuits to proceed at the same time that we limit the ability of the defendants to produce evidence critical to their cases. The potential liability awards that might result could be catastrophic, negatively affecting the broader economy and signaling to these companies, and to other private entities that we may need to rely upon in the War on Terror, that their cooperation carries major risks. On a bi-partisan basis, the Senate passed S. 2248 with the liability protection provisions. The Senate now awaits action by the House.

Please know that I will continue to work with my colleagues in Congress to safeguard the security of our nation while upholding our personal privacy rights and civil liberties.

I appreciate hearing from you, and I hope that you will not hesitate to keep in touch on any issue of concern to you.

Sincerely,
Kay Bailey Hutchison
United States Senator

Depressing, isn’t it? “The towel-heads are threatening violence so no one in American can have privacy until we’ve stopped every last person on Earth with evil thoughts!”

While Hutchinson has the first reasonable argument for “liability protection” (immunity from prosecution) I’ve heard yet, I’m still not buying it. They did something wrong, as did the government, and it needs to be rectified.

I have my own form letter. I presume it will be read with as much care as I read theirs.

Senator:

I believe you misunderstand your position in government. Your role is not to do as you please and/or do the president’s bidding. Your role is to represent people like me, your constituents. You are not doing that if you are supporting the overly-broad FISA additions and telecom immunity for their illegal actions.

The president does NOT have the authority to take the actions he’s taken under the Constitution, a document you swore to protect as well as he. You are not doing your job and you have performed several disservices to the People as result of supporting this and similar legislation violating our civil rights in the name of a military state the People do not need or want.

Do not support the FISA additions and do not support telecom immunity. These are things any reasonable American would be against because of the unchecked power the government would then have against the People. You must understand, the point of government is to aid the people and work with them, not to tower over the people and invade their lives. This is what Americans wanted to escape when the nation was starting and people with visions of America like yours are bringing us back to that state we fought so hard to leave — worse, in fact.

The American thing to do, which is what you should be striving for, is to defend Liberty, defend the checks and balances of the government, and restrict the power of the president to those things given in the Constitution. If you want to give the president these powers, the proper way to go about changing such things is via a constitutional amendment, not hotly-contested patchwork legislation of dubious legality.

As a constituent, I ask you to represent my views and my vote in Congress and do not support letting companies get away with violating our civil rights, no matter who asked. Further, I ask that you support existing legislation that attempts to hold the Executive Branch responsible for those violations in addition to the telecom companies by impeaching the president and vice-president.

We will no longer have the America we love if we refuse to defend it from the real threat: an imbalanced government due to an overly-powerful Executive Branch. Please do not support this violation of the Constitution and American Way.