House Approves Unconstitutional Surveillance Legislation

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House Approves Unconstitutional Surveillance Legislation

American Civil Liberties Union , June 20, 2008

Following a vote in the House of Representatives sanctioning warrantless

wiretapping and handing immunity to telecommunications companies for their role

in domestic spying, the American Civil Liberties Union expressed outrage at

representatives who voted for the unconstitutional legislation. The bill, H.R.

6304, or The FISA Amendments Act of 2008, passed the chamber by a vote of

293-129, and is expected to be voted on in the Senate next week.

The following may be attributed to Caroline Fredrickson, director of the

ACLU's Washington Legislative Office:

" It's Christmas morning at the White House thanks to this vote. The House

just wrapped up some expensive gifts for the administration and their buddies

at the phone companies. Watching the House fall to scare tactics and political

maneuvering is especially infuriating given the way it stood up to pressure

from the president on this same issue just months ago. In March we thought

the House leadership had finally grown a backbone by rejecting the Senate's

FISA bill. Now we know they will not stand up for the Constitution.

" No matter how often the opposition calls this bill a 'compromise,' it is

not a meaningful compromise, except of our constitutional rights. The bill

allows for mass, untargeted and unwarranted surveillance of all communications

coming in to and out of the United States. The courts' role is superficial at

best, as the government can continue spying on our communications even after

the FISA court has objected. Democratic leaders turned what should have been

an easy FISA fix into the wholesale giveaway of our Fourth Amendment rights.

" More than two years after the president's domestic spying was revealed in

the pages of the New York Times, Congress' fury and shock has dissipated to an

obedient whimper. After scrambling for years to cover their tracks, the

phone companies and the administration are almost there. This immunity

provision

will effectively destroy Americans' chance to have their deserved day in

court and will kill any possibility of learning the extent of the

administration's lawless actions. The House should be ashamed of itself. The

fate of the

Fourth Amendment is now in the Senate's hands. We can only hope senators will

show more courage than their colleagues in the House. "

For more information, go to:

_www.aclu.org/fisa_ (http://www.aclu.org/fisa)

To read the ACLU's letter on H.R. 6304, go to:

_http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/35735leg20080619.html_

(http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general/35735leg20080619.html)