 | Sheldon Whitehouse Votes for A Law He Knows Is Bad |
Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse took to the floor of the Senate to warn his colleagues about the FISA Amendments Act. He called the FISA Amendments Act “a naked intrusion into ongoing litigation. Where will that stop? Will Congress be able to rove at will through litigation anywhere in the judicial branch, picking winners and losers as we like?”.
“The Bush administration broke faith with the American people with its warrantless surveillance program,” Whitehouse said.
He said of the retroactive legal immunity provided for telecommunications by the FISA Amendments Act, “this section of the legislation is unconstitutional, in violation of the separation of powers, because we may not, as a Congress, take away the access of the people of this country to constitutional determinations heard by the courts of this country.”
Senator Whitehouse warned that the FISA Amendments Act “misapplies the substantial evidence standard, trespasses constitutional boundaries, and breaks dangerous new ground in American law.”
Do you know what Senator Whitehouse did next?
Sheldon Whitehouse voted for the FISA Amendments Act anyway.
Sheldon Whitehouse was against the FISA Amendments Act before he was for it, you see.
Now, on the morning after the passage of the FISA Amendments Act, there are a lot of Democrats who just want you to forget all about it. It’s a major embarrassment for the Democratic Party that so many of the politicians it elected helped to support George W. Bush’s spying against Americans. It’s very embarrassing to them that Barack Obama would join this betrayal. So, the Democrats want to sweep it under the rug.
Don’t let them. Don’t be a Sheldon Whitehouse. Don’t abandon your principles for the sake of political convenience.
Remember the FISA Amendments Act. Remember the Democrats who voted for it. Prepare to hold them accountable.
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