Progressives Vow To Oppose Immunity
For Immediate Release: February 7, 2008
Contact: Cleve Mesidor, (202) 225-2661 (Lee)
Chris Shields, (202) 225-5161 (Woolsey)
Congresswomen Barbara Lee, Lynn Woolsey & ProgressivesTarget Bush Spying Program with Telecomm
(Washington, DC) – Declaring that telecommunications companies involved in President’s Bush’s domestic spying program “undermined [the] fundamental civil protections and privacy rights of Americans,” twenty-nine House Members today wrote to President Bush to warn him that they will oppose any legislation that grants the companies retroactive immunity.
The telecommunication firms in question, including Verizon and AT&T, surrendered confidential account information without demanding a court order to do so. In their letter, which was organized by Congressional Progressive Caucus Co-Chairs Rep. Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) and Barbara Lee (D-CA), the House and Senate Members cited the need for a comprehensive judicial revue of the companies’ involvement, and faulted the Administration for failing to properly brief the Congress on the extent of the program’s activities.
The full text of the letter is below:
February 7, 2008
The Honorable George W. Bush
President
United States of America
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20500
Dear Mr. President:
We are writing to inform you that we will not support legislation reauthorizing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that grants retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications companies that cooperated with your Administration’s wiretapping program in violation of the Constitution and applicable federal law.
Corporations that handed over their customers’ records without a valid court order or other legal instrument authorized by statute undermined fundamental civil protections and privacy rights of Americans. Congress as a whole was kept in the dark for years about these activities, and to this day, the overwhelming majority of House Members and Senators have never been briefed on these activities. We cannot be asked to immunize these actions before we know the full extent of what occurred. Retroactive immunity sets a dangerous precedent by placing companies that are legally required to respond only to legitimate government requests for assistance based on the issuance of valid legal instruments above the law.
It is our responsibility to protect innocent Americans who expect that their communications will remain private except in circumstances provided under the law. The courts should not be prevented from ruling on the legality of the actions taken by these companies, and where appropriate, hold them accountable.
Sincerely,
Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT); Lynn Woolsey (D-CA); Barbara Lee (D-CA); Rosa DeLauro (D-CT); Raúl Grijalva; Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); Sheila Jackson-Lee (D-TX); Hank Johnson (D-GA); Jan Schakowsky (D-IL); Peter DeFazio (D-OR); Bob Filner (D-CA); Peter Welch (D-VT); Dennis Kucinich (D-OH); Linda Sánchez (D-CA); Fortney Pete Stark (D-CA); James McGovern (D-MA); Jesse Jackson, Jr.(D-IL); Jim McDermott (D-WA); Betty McCollum (D-MN); Maurice Hinchey (D-NY); Donald Payne (D-NJ); Luis Gutierrez (D-IL); Keith Ellison (D-MN); Danny Davis (D-IL); Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC); Phil Hare (D-OH); Barney Frank (D-MA); Melvin Watt (D-NC); Neil Abercrombie (D-HI).
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