Legislative Update: H.R. 952 and H.R. 418

In the House:

As of today, 59 members of the House of Representatives support H.R. 952, which is written simply and exactly to end the Bush administration’s practice of extraordinary rendition, in which people are sent abroad to be tortured. Unfortunately, that’s the same number as a week and a half ago — there aren’t any members of the House who are budging on this, and that’s simply unconscionable. Click here for a complete list of who’s supporting H.R. 952 and who’s still soft on torture. Then contact the softies and tell them to get on board.

And now playing in the other chamber of Congress, the U.S. Senate:

Do you believe in the rule of law? Do you believe in checks and balances? Do you believe that dictatorship is a bad idea? Do you believe in democracy? Readers who believe these things may be disturbed to find that the House of Representatives passed a bill, H.R. 418, which says “the Secretary of Homeland Security shall have the authority to waive, and shall waive, all laws such Secretary, in such Secretary’s sole discretion, determines necessary” to secure America’s borders. The bill further prohibits judicial or any other review of the Secretary’s decisions. In short, H.R. 418 puts an end to the rule of law and replaces it with arbitrary bureaucratic dictatorship. (Read More Here)

Now it is the U.S. Senate’s turn to consider H.R. 418, and since February this bill has been thankfully sitting in Senate committee, doing nothing. That’s where the bill needs to stay, but we shouldn’t be surprised if and when the Republicans dredge up the text of the bill, stick it onto the end of another bill buried in a pile of Whereases and Wherefores, and try to sneak it through in the dead of night without public debate. Before they even think of such a maneuver, it is vital that you contact both of your U.S. Senators, let them know you’re still paying attention to the bill, and tell them in no uncertain terms that H.R. 418 deserves to sit and rot in committee.

The Powers that Be want to inform us that, in case you hadn’t heard by now, the Pope is dead. They want us to focus on individual cases like Terri Schiavo. What they absolutely do not want is for us to be focusing on the actual policy changes they’re trying to sneak through. We can’t let them play us for fools. We need to keep our eyes on the ball.

What other policy initiatives out there are you aware of that are not receiving sufficient attention? What else are they trying to sneak through before we wake up and notice? Share the word…