Congressional Visits—Make a Difference on Warrantless Wiretapping
During Congress’s next recess (July 1 to 9), you and your community allies have an opportunity to meet with your Representative and Senators in a local district office to demonstrate to them the groundswell of public outrage over this breach of fundamental governmental structure. We must take every opportunity to insist that Congress take on its role as the law-making and oversight branch of government.
If your representative or one or both of your senators is on the House or Senate Judiciary or Intelligence Committee (click to view members of the House Judiciary Committee, House Intelligence Committee, Senate Judiciary Committee, or Senate Intelligence Committee, below), it is particularly important for them to hear from constituents about the issue of NSA warrantless wiretapping. Having our phone calls potentially listened to by the government without any evidence of wrongdoing is just one of the dangerous outgrowths of having a president who refuses to stay within the confines of his role in a three-branch government. It is imperative that Congress re-establish itself as the law-making body of our government, so that we don't have a runaway executive making his own laws and ruling as a solitary government.
If you've already passed a resolution or organized in your community,
this is a good opportunity to reactivate the alliances you made as
you began your campaign—such as friendly city councilors, business,
church and other organizational allies, as well as prominent members
of the community who may be influential in a meeting with a Congressional
representative.
The Bill of Rights Defense Committee has some tools that can help:
- On Thursday, June 29, at 5:30 p.m. PDT, 6:30 p.m. MDT, 7:30 CDT, 8:30 EDT join other local activists around the country in a teleconference with a panel of experts to talk about Congressional visits and how to build those important relationships with our elected representatives. Rebecca Raiser is the legislative assistant to Congressman Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Corey Saylor is Government Affairs Director for the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and Nancy E. Young is a grassroots organizer for the New York City Bill of Rights Defense Campaign. They will guide us towards making better links with our Congressional representatives so that we can convey to them the local urgency for their federal action on these important matters. I hope you can join this important call. Please contact us for details.
- Our 470-page book of civil liberties resolutions, organized by state, is a great leave-behind resource for congressional visits. After you’ve organized your meeting, request a copy or download it as a PDF from our web site.
- Click here for talking points on the NSA warrantless wiretapping program and other resources on our web site.
But for now, it's important that voters in these key Congressional
districts do all they can to set up meetings with their representatives
or senators or learn where the town hall meetings will be held during
the July 4 recess and get as many members of the community as possible
to participate. Besides voting, this is another significant point
of access. Please join other Bill of Rights Defense groups around
the country in asserting our voices on the issue of NSA warrantless
wiretapping. Let us know when you’ve set up a meeting, so we
can post it on our web site.
And please let us know if we can provide assistance or support, or
if you just want to talk about how to proceed. Thanks for all you
do!
Linda (lstone@bordc.org) and Hope (hmarston@bordc.org)
James Sensenbrenner Jr.
Chairman
(R) Wisconsin, 5th
Henry Hyde
(R) Illinois, 6th
Howard Coble
(R) North Carolina, 6th
Lamar S. Smith
(R) Texas, 21st
Elton Gallegly
(R) California, 24th
Bob Goodlatte
(R) Virginia, 6th
Steve Chabot
(R) Ohio, 1st
Dan Lungren
(R) California, 3rd
William L. Jenkins
(R) Tennessee, 1st
Chris Cannon
(R) Utah, 3rd
Spencer Bachus
(R) Alabama, 6th
Bob Inglis
(R) South Carolina, 4th
John N. Hostettler
(R) Indiana, 8th
Mark Green
(R) Wisconsin, 8th
Ric Keller
(R) Florida, 8th
Darrell Issa
(R) California, 49th
Jeff Flake
(R) Arizona, 6th
Mike Pence
(R) Indiana, 6th
Randy Forbes
(R) Virginia, 4th
Steve King
(R) Iowa, 5th
Tom Feeney
(R) Florida, 24th
Trent Franks
(R) Arizona, 2nd
Louie. Gohmert
(R) Texas, 1st
John Conyers Jr.
Ranking Member
(D) Michigan, 14th
Howard L. Berman
(D) California, 28th
Rick Boucher
(D) Virginia, 9th
Jerrold Nadler
(D) New York, 8th
Bobby Scott
(D) Virginia, 3rd
Melvin L. Watt
(D) North Carolina, 12th
Zoe Lofgren
(D) California, 16th
Sheila Jackson Lee
(D) Texas, 18th
Maxine Waters
(D) California, 35th
Marty Meehan
(D) Massachusetts, 5th
William Delahunt
(D) Massachusetts, 10th
Robert I. Wexler
(D) Florida, 19th
Anthony D. Weiner
(D) New York, 9th
Adam Schiff
(D) California, 29th
Linda T. Sánchez
(D) California, 39th
Chris Van Hollen
(D) Maryland, 8th
Debbie Wasserman Schultz
(D) Florida, 20th
(http://intelligence.house.gov/)
Peter Hoekstra
Chairman
(R) Michigan, 2nd
Ray LaHood
(R) Illinois
Terry Everett
(R) Alabama
Elton Gallegly
(R) California
Heather Wilson
(R) New Mexico
Jo Ann Davis
(R) Virginia
Mac Thornberry
(R) Texas
John McHugh
(R) New York
Todd Tiahrt
(R) Kansas
Mike Rogers
(R) Michigan
Rick Renzi
(R) Arizona
Darrell Issa
(R) California
Jane Harman
(D) California
Alcee L. Hastings
(D) Florida
Silvestre Reyes
(D)Texas
Leonard L. Boswell
(D) Iowa
Robert E. (Bud) Cramer, Jr
(D) Alabama
Anna G. Eshoo
(D) California
Rush D. Holt
(D) New Jersey
C.A. Dutch Ruppersberger
(D) Maryland
John Tierney
(D) Massachusetts
(http://judiciary.senate.gov/)
Arlen Specter
Chairman
Pennsylvania
Orrin G. Hatch
Utah
Patrick J. Leahy
Vermont
Charles E. Grassley
Iowa
Edward M. Kennedy
Massachusetts
Jon Kyl
Arizona
Joseph R. Biden, Jr.
Delaware
Mike DeWine
Ohio
Herbert Kohl
Wisconsin
Jeff Sessions
Alabama
Dianne Feinstein
California
Lindsey Graham
South Carolina
Russell D. Feingold
Wisconsin
John Cornyn
Texas
Charles E. Schumer
New York
Sam Brownback
Kansas
Richard J. Durbin
Illinois
Tom Coburn
Oklahoma
(http://intelligence.senate.gov/)
Pat Roberts
Chairman
Kansas
John D. Rockefeller, IV
Vice Chairman
West Virginia
Orrin G. Hatch
Utah
Carl Levin
Michigan
Mike Dewine
Ohio
Dianne Feinstein
California
Christopher S. Bond
Missouri
Ron Wyden
Oregon
Trent Lott
Mississippi
Evan Bayh
Indiana
Olympia J. Snowe
Maine
Barbara A. Mikulski
Maryland
Chuck Hagel
Nebraska
Russell D. Feingold
Wisconsin
Saxby Chambliss
Georgia