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While the House of Representatives is on recess this week, the Republican Party, with its paid political operatives, PR professionals, and associated corporate lobbyists, is not on recess. They’re using this time to put pressure on Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives to vote in approval of the Senate version of the FISA Amendments Act.

So, don’t you be on recess either. It’s time to spread the word about what the FISA Amendments Act really means.

First of all, the controversy isn’t just about retroactive legislative immunity for telecommunications corporations that broke the law at the request of the Bush White House. The main controversy is that the FISA Amendments Act gives the Executive Branch the power to spy against anyone it wants to without having to give anyone any reason for doing so. Think about what warrantless spying really means. A search warrant is a confirmation that’s given by another branch of government, the Judicial, that there is a justifiable reason the spying needs to take place. If there’s no more search warrants, there’s no more need to justify spying. It can be done for any reason, whether it fits the law or not, and there’s no one to stop it from taking place.

Secondly, the FISA Amendments Act doesn’t just target foreigners. It also targets Americans. When Russ Feingold proposed an amendment outlawing reverse targeting of American citizens for warrantless spying, the Senate’s Republicans and some right wing Democrats made sure that the amendment was voted down. Also see the paragraph above. If there’s no judge to check on the spying, and if Congress can no longer conduct oversight of spying, the government becomes able to spy against anyone anywhere.

Third, the FISA Amendments Act doesn’t just authorize electronic spying. It also authorizes physical searches of Americans’ homes and offices without any search warrant. Those searches can remain secret from you, so you’ll never know if government agents have been snooping around in your stuff while you’re not looking.

Fourth - and this should be obvious by this point - the FISA Amendments Act is not about Homeland Security. It’s about attacking the United States of America from within, by removing the Constitution’s guarantees of freedom. The FISA Amendments Act is not just unconstitutional. It’s anti-constitutional.

By taking away the protections for citizens that are in the Constitution, the FISA Amendments Act makes Americans less secure, not more secure.

Call your member of the House of Representatives, please, and urge a vote against any version of the FISA Amendments Act when it comes up for a vote next week. The number of the Congressional Switchboard is (202) 224-3121. Call.