Update on Military Commissions and NSA Wiretapping Bills

Military Commissions Bill to Become Law

Last night's Senate vote (65-34) in favor of the White House-supported Military Commissions bill (S. 3930) did monumental damage to the U.S. Constitution. As Georgetown Law Professor Neal Katyal explains, the bill's creation of a separate system of justice for foreign nationals may violate the 14th Amendment to the U.S Constitution, which prohibits denying "any person within its jurisdiction the equali protection of the laws." Today the House is expected to vote in favor of the Senate Military Commissions bill, which is nearly identical to the bill the House passed on Wednesday (H.R. 6166) by a vote of 253-168. The President may sign the bill into law as early as this weekend.

Summary of what the Military Commissions bill does.
See how your Senators voted on the bill and five amendments, which were all defeated, here (votes numbered 254-259).
See how your Representative voted.
Tell your congressional representatives how you feel about their votes on this issue, by phone or while they're on the campaign trail, starting Saturday. Dial the Capitol Switchboard at 202 224-3121 (24 hours) and ask the operator to connect you or look up your senators’ and representative's direct numbers.

Stop Legalization of Domestic Warrantless Surveillance

We still have work to do to stop Congress from legalizing the President's warrantless wiretapping program before it recesses at the end of the day Saturday. Yesterday the House passed Heather Wilson's Electronic Surveillance Modernization Act, H.R. 5825, 232-191. Although the Senate leadership claims its vote on a Senate bill will wait until the "lame duck" period following the elections, there is still a danger that either a bill or part of a bill will be introduced or tacked on to another bill.

Don't let that happen. Call both your Senators' offices right away and tell the person who answers the phone that you want Senator _____ to do everything possible to block the NSA bill (S. 2453) or any part of such a bill to legalize the president's warrantless wiretapping program from being rushed through before the recess. No president should be allowed to monitor Americans' private telephone calls and emails without court warrants, and Congress should not consider abridging our Fourth Amendment rights.

Find your Senators' telephone numbers or dial the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 (24 hours) and ask the operator to connect you.
Read a summary of the Specter bill below.

In these dark hours following Congress's unbelievable rubber-stamping of the President's military commissions bill, we at the BORDC want all our supporters to know that your existence and your commitment to defend and restore our Constitution give us hope. Millions of Americans are in shock over Congress's unconscionable, un-American surrender of the values we cherish. We now have an opportunity to find and mobilize those people in our communities toward restoring our Constitution and Bill of Rights.

Thank you for all you do!

Nancy Talanian, Director
Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Summary of Specter bill to legalize warrantless wiretapping (S. 2453)

allows Americans to be wiretapped without a warrant, and without individualized suspicion or probable cause of criminal or terrorist activity,
paves the way for extensive data-mining of Americans with no oversight,
suspends our Fourth Amendment rights whenever the president declares “an imminent threat of attack likely to cause death, serious injury or substantial economic damage,”
releases communications providers who illegally cooperated with the NSA from legal liability. This may result in dismissal of current court cases, and forever bar Americans from learning what the President authorized under his warrantless wiretapping program.