The House will soon vote again on the Protect America Act, a revision to FISA that includes retroactive immunity to telecoms that have helped the Bush administration spy illegally on innocent Americans. I've written and called Ander several times about this asking him to vote against retroactive immunity for lawbreaking and against giving the government expanded powers to spy on citizens. Ander stands firm that the telecoms should not be punished for this lawbreaking stating falsely that if they are not allowed to break the law, they will not be inclined to provide surveillance to help stop terrorist attacks in the future. This is a lie because the telecoms are required to respond to lawful court orders to wiretap when a warrant is issued.
I won't write all the details of the Protect America Act here as mcjoan at DailyKos, Glen Greenwald, digby at Hullabaloo, and others have written extensively and more eloquently than I could. Please read them for background if you are unfamiliar with this issue. The issue is really retroactive immunity for the Bush administration. If Congess passes this legislation with retroactive immunity, the current lawsuits will be dismissed, and we will never learn the extent of the lawbreaking the Bush administration has committed in spying on us.
Ander thinks we're stupid. Call him. Tell him to vote no on any legislation that includes retroactive immunity. Ander is supposed to represent his constituents, not AT&T. Let him know we're on to him. There may be a vote this week or next. He has already voted YES on a previous vote...he'll do it again.
