Hill Blog: Walz on FISA

In FISA Compromise Bill Undermines Law, the Hill Blog has published Congressman Walz's statement about his no vote on FISA.  It's worth repeating here, since some of our readers might have missed it at the end of last week:

There are many parts of this bill that I support. It reaffirms that FISA is the exclusive means for electronic surveillance, and it strengthens protections for Americans at home and abroad.  If this was all that this bill included, I could support it.

Unfortunately, the bill also contains an unprecedented free pass for the Bush Administration’s past actions.  It does not allow judicial review of the Administration’s use of warrantless wiretaps, and the process it puts in place to review the telecommunications companies’ participation in that illegal program has a predetermined outcome – immunity.

Incredibly, this bill actually says that as long as the telecommunications companies can prove that the Bush Administration told them this action was legal, they can get off scot-free.  Today, my colleague Roy Blunt called the process of granting immunity to these telecoms “a formality.”

When Richard Nixon said that “when the President does it, that means it’s not illegal,” many Americans were horrified that any President would consider himself above the law.  This legislation is even worse, because it essentially says ‘if the President tells you do so something, it’s not illegal,’ even if it violates the plain letter of the law.  The process set out in this bill to rubberstamp the actions of the Bush Administration is contradictory to the rule of law in this country.

This free pass for the phone companies isn’t needed to protect Americans – in fact, it protects only those in the Bush Administration who knowingly broke the law. We can protect our security while protecting our shared values and our freedoms. Unfortunately, this bill does not do that, and I have no choice but to oppose it.

I have repeatedly said that I could not support a bill that provides a free pass for illegal behavior, no matter who committed it.  Our laws matter, and they should be applied equally and fairly to the President, Congress, telecommunications companies, and every other citizen.

We're also reposted our response to a statement issued on Friday by RPM Chair Ron Carey about the vote. It began:

"By voting against this bipartisan compromise on FISA legislation, Tim Walz has made clear he will side with national liberals and special interest groups....

We think Ron Carey is deeply confused about Southern Minnesota:

. . . Ron Carey, chair of the Republican Party of Minnesota, is seething--and very confused as well. Chairman Carey seems to have forgotten the special interests that paid real money to run those fearmongering ads that got severely ripped by Factcheck.org in  Fear and False Claims. Special interests opposed Walz's position--and spent thousands to trash him. The citizens in the First were appalled by the ads. Wow, Mr. Carey needs to get a firmer grip. Really.

Photos: Richard Nixon (top) and RPM Chair Ron Carey (bottom).

Comments

[MinnesotaCentral]

When did Congressman Walz become a member of the Bloggers fraternity ?

Actually, Minnesota had dueling bloggers yesterday, as Congresswoman Bachmann had a posting.

Your readers may not realize that they can make comments on our "new blogger's posts."