[update] this from Dodd’s website:
As they say … Breaking News from the Senate.
Forgive me if some of this is in the weeds, I’ll try and make the parliamentary process as painless as possible.
1. Within the last hour, the Senate Judiciary Committee just reported out a FISA bill that DOES NOT include retroactive immunity for the telecom companies that helped the Bush Administration spy on Americans.
2. This means the Judiciary bill moves to the full Senate WITHOUT the
dangerous language included.3. Retroactive immunity will, however, surely be introduced as an amendment to the FISA bill.
4. If needed Senator Dodd will filibuster any amendment seeking to add retroactive immunity to the underlying bill. By filibustering, he will force the opposition to find 60 votes to pass the provision. It will be a lot more difficult for those who would enable the erosion of our
Constitution to find the 60 votes necessary to stop immunity on its own than it would be for us to find the 40 needed to sustain a filibuster of the bill as a whole if it included immunity.Today is a great victory for all of us — and another example of Chris Dodd’s leadership.
If it wasn’t for our efforts, together, retroactive immunity would be well on its way to sailing through the Senate … largely unnoticed.
The fight continues, for sure, but this was a big victory today.
Visit www.ChrisDodd.com for more updates as they happen.
We’ll be in touch.
Tim Tagaris
Chris Dodd for President
props are in order, well done!
and telecon immunity is still on the table.
According to the ACLU, it will be ‘marked-up’ by the judiciary committee tomorrow morning. according to an email from the ACLU:
The Democratic Judiciary Committee staff is floating substitution language that would make the government responsible for illegal activity committed by the telecom companies.
Congress must reject any attempts to provide immunity to those that broke the law. If the government assumes legal responsibility for lawbreaking for the telecoms, the companies will be let-off the hook for their illegal actions. It also means the taxpayers will be responsible for any damages. The ACLU strongly and firmly opposes the substitution, which is, in essence, telecom immunity.
If this substitution language gets enacted, we know that the government will stop the lawsuits by arguing: states secrets, executive privilege, and sovereign immunity in order to stop the people from having their day in court against the telecom giants.
.
.
h/t C&L
So, it would appear that the demoRATs are about to make it possible for the government to not only direct the telecoms to do their bidding without oversight, but to place the onus of any financial losses, via lawsuits…in the unlikely event they ever get to trial…on you as well.
By the way, this lovely piece of legislation, if approved, won’t sunset for six years: 31 December 2013…two presidential elections out, not to mention the mid-terms.
Christy at FDL has compiled a contact information list, and
Chris Dodd has a whip count posted on his Dodd for Pres. site as well, that shows the current positions of the members of the committee.
A detailed, section by section analysis is availabe at the ACLU site HERE as well as a one-page synopsis HERE.
Additional contact information, including web contact addresses, may be found for the senate HERE.
Another day, another outrage.