Call Your Elected Representative Today
After rejecting amendments that would have enhanced court supervision of electronic surveillance targeting people abroad who communicate with people in the U.S., the Senate has passed the FISA Amendments Act, S. 2248 and sent it to the House. Now, it is time for the House, which passed a much better bill last year, to stand firm for a balanced approach to government eavesdropping.
The Senate bill would permit warrantless surveillance of the Internet and telephone communications that people in the U.S. have with others abroad. It would also provide immunity to telecoms that assisted with illegal warrantless surveillance for more than five years after September 11, 2001.
The version of this legislation that the House of Representatives passed last year does not contain these flaws. The House bill, known as the RESTORE Act, H.R. 3773, would protect national security by allowing for interception in the United States of wire communications of targets abroad, but the surveillance program would be conducted with judicial supervision to protect the rights of Americans. And, the House bill does not undermine FISA's careful statutory scheme by granting telecom immunity.
Now, the House and Senate must resolve the differences between the two bills, and the Administration is going to use all of its fear tactics to pressure the House to accept the weaker Senate bill.
Call your Representative today. Tell your Representative that the House must reject the weak Senate bill and insist on the RESTORE Act. Tell your representative that if the Senate negotiators won't budge from their flawed legislation, that Congress should put off further consideration of the bill until next year, when there will be a new Congress and a new President.
Use the box to the right to find the Washington, DC telephone number of your Representative. Call and talk to a staffer (or the Representative if you know him or her personally). Personal calls really make a difference.
The government was caught red-handed, wiretapping Americans without a court order for more than 5 years, in violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978. With encouragement from activists like you, the House of Representatives voted in November to bring surveillance back under court supervision. However, the Senate passed legislation that would not establish adequate checks and balances but rather would give the President too much power. For that reason, the Administration supports the Senate bill and opposes the House bill.
Under the FISA Amendments Act passed by the Senate, the intelligence agencies - not a court - would authorize surveillance of communications between Americans and people abroad. The courts would lack sufficient authority to cut off surveillance of innocent Americans or to protect against the dissemination of their communications among intelligence agencies even when the government was engaging in indiscriminate wiretapping. And, the bill would do nothing to stop the President from authorizing a new program of warrantless surveillance outside of the law.
In contrast, the House version of this legislation -- the RESTORE Act -- would protect Americans' privacy and keep them secure. Under the House bill, a court would have to approve and supervise any program of surveillance that would be likely to affect the rights of Americans. The House bill would make it harder for the President to conduct surveillance outside the context of the statute.
And, unlike the Senate bill, the House bill does not provide immunity to telecoms that assisted will illegal warrantless surveillance. These service providers are the last line of defense against surveillance run amok. They should be immune from civil liability when they assist with lawful surveillance, but they should have an incentive to reject requests to assist with warrantless surveillance.
Tell your Representative to reject the Senate bill and vote for legislation that closely tracks the RESTORE Act, which the House already passed. Tell your Representative that if the Senate won't accept the RESTORE Act, Congress should extend current law and put off further consideration of the bill until next year.
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