On, June 20, 2008, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on H.R. 6304, the FISA Amendments Act, a terrible new law that will allow the President of the United States to conduct dragnet electronic searches of Americans' private emails, listen to our telephone calls, and track the movements of Americans with cell phones and GPS devices. The law also permits the secret physical search of an American home or business without a search warrant or judicial approval.
If sent to the desk of George W. Bush, the FISA Amendments Act will extend the Protect America Act, and expand that law's powers, giving retroactive legal immunity to telecommunications corporations that broke the law by helping George W. Bush spy on their customers - even though none of those customers were criminal suspects.
The following members of the U.S. House of Representatives did the right thing. They voted against the FISA Amendements Act. They may rightly be regarded as:
The FISA Amendments Act is now being considered by the United States Senate, with a vote scheduled for Friday, June 27, 2008.
Please call your state's two U.S. senators as soon as you can. Tell your senators to stand up for the bill of rights and vote NO on the FISA Amendments Act. Call (202) 224-3121, and tell them your state. They'll connect you to your senators' offices.