Tell Harkin to stand firm Against Warrantless Wiretapping

I got this letter in an email this morning. The Senate is debating the Warrantless Wiretapping issue and it is very important that they Senate doesn't give in and grant Bush the Presidential Authority that he doesn't have. I have covered this issue over at Iowa for Feingold here, here, and here. Here is the email...

The NSA spying bills are making their way through the Senate. Senator Specter has sponsored a bill that legalizes Bush's lawless surveillance of American citizens, but he has also co-sponsored a bill that, according to the ACLU, restores the rule of law. Both bills were reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee last week. The good man from Pennsylvania is a bit confused, it seems.

The bad bill is S.2453. It would give Bush the option of getting court approval to spy on American citizens. The good bill is S.3001. Under it, the President would still have to go through the FISA court to spy on us. A third, bad bill passed through committee as well: S.2455. The ACLU's press release summarizes the three bills.

Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid has vowed to do everything necessary to stop the whitewash bills, including a filibuster- see this blog post by activist and attorney Glenn Greenwald.

That means we have to get Tom Harkin's back, and quickly. The right wing has probably already got a call-in effort underway to scare Harkin and Democrats into allowing the whitewash bills to pass the Senate.

Call Tom Harkin's office, and tell him to use all means necessary to block S.2453 and S.2455, and to support the Specter-Feinstein bill, S.3001. It's important to state your support for a filibuster, if that's what it takes to prevent a rubber-stamping of the assault on civil liberties.

It's a bit confusing to name all these bills, but it is necessary. If you tell Harkin to oppose "the Specter NSA bill," it may not be clear which one you mean. Call, and then follow up with an e-mail. And, of course, LTTEs are much needed as well!

And here is Harkin's contact information:

WASHINGTON OFFICE
731 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-3254 Phone
(202) 224-9369 Fax
(202) 224-4633 TDD

DES MOINES
210 Walnut Street
Room 733, Federal Building
Des Moines, IA 50309
(515) 284-4574 Phone

Here is a video on Domestic Spying that asks what are the checks on Presidential Power.