Stop HR 6304, the FISA amendments act of 2008. Click the link, help support your rights as a citizen.
Tell Senator Obama: Hang up on Big Telecom
This week, Senators Dodd and Feingold won a battle in the fight to stop the FISA capitulation. In an attempt to stop retroactive telecom immunity, they delayed a vote on the bill until after the July 4th recess. This buys us more time to shore up the votes needed to defeat the bill. However, it’s unlikely we’ll succeed without real support from leaders in Congress, most of whom have already abandoned us.
Senator Reid caved in long ago, and Speaker Pelosi folded just last week. There is one leader left who could make a difference and support our cause: Senator Barack Obama.
Back in December, Senator Obama’s office released a statement that he “unequivocally opposes giving retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies.”1 On Wednesday, however, Obama said in a press conference that “My view on FISA has always been that the issue of the phone companies per se is not one that overrides the security interests of the American people.”2
Senator Obama still has time to make this right, but it won’t happen unless we all work together to hold him accountable.
The delay in the FISA vote gives senators a new chance to stand up for the Constitution — will Senator Obama stand with them? Sign this petition and urge Senator Obama to vote his conscience and stand by his previous statement: No retroactive immunity for telecoms. No caving on the constitution.
Sources:
1 Senator Obama’s statement on retroactive immunity from December 17, 2007.
2 Video and selected text of Senator Obama’s press conference from June 25, 2008.