Stop Senate Bill to Expand Warrantless NSA Program

It's up to each of us to stop Congress from acting out of fear. After five years of the administration's illegal spying on Americans outside of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the secret FISA court has finally put its foot down and refused to accept the administration's position on its self-proclaimed spying powers.

The Bush administration is now using a recent National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) to frighten Congress into "modernizing" (read: weakening) the FISA law in order to make the administration's once-illegal secret spying program(s) legal.

Many Senators on both sides of the aisle have been voicing their concerns that they must "do something" to fix so-called "loopholes" in FISA before they begin their August recess. Republicans have sponsored the administration's bill, S 1927, and Democrats are negotiating with the White House on another bill. But details about the negotiations remain murky, and the American people are likely to lose key Fourth Amendment privacy protections if Congress rushes a bill through before recess begins on August 3, 4, or 5.

Please phone your senators today and ask them to oppose the Wilson FISA modernization bill if it comes up for a vote before recess.

Call the Capitol switchboard, (202) 224-3121, 24 hours and ask the operator to connect you, or
Look up both your senators' direct number here

Suggested talking points against FISA modernization:

We have seen from the FBI's abuses of its warrantless national security letter power that warrantless searches lead to abuses. There should be no warrantless wiretapping of Americans. Checks and balances are necessary.
President Bush and others continuously mislead the public by stressing that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act was written in 1978, and it fails to mention that it has been updated dozens of times in order to give the impression that it is outdated. Congress needs to be informed of what the President has been doing to circumvent FISA requirements that were designed to protect Americans' privacy.
Congress needs to complete its investigation of the administration's warrantless wiretapping program, or programs, and force the administration to reveal documents the Justice Department prepared at the onset of the program. (See Center for Democracy & Technology's Most Wanted Surveillance Documents and Most Wanted Surveillance Answers.)
The administration has not complied with congressional subpoenas seeking critical information about the program. It's too soon to pass legislation involving that program.
Other than reiterating that foreign-to-foreign communications are not subject to FISA, Congress should not take any action in the short time remaining before recess. Acting in haste risks a permanent negative impact on Americans' hard-won privacy rights. If the administration has any suspicions about potential terrorist attacks, FISA allows wiretapping for several days before approaching FISA for a warrant.

Visit BORDC's legislation page for more information on this bill. Find more information on warrantless domestic surveillance here.

Thank you for all you do!

Bill of Rights Defense Committee

Nancy Talanian, Director
Hope Marston, West Region Organizer
Ben Grosscup, East Region Organizer
Susan Heitker, Administrator
Lauren Tomkiewicz, Haywood Burns Fellow
Sam Litton, Intern