I just received a (mass) e-mail from Senator Carl Levin's office with the subject, "Why I Voted Against Retroactive Immunity". It begins,
Retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies is not fair. It is not wise. And it is not necessary.
Senator Levin did the right thing yesterday, voting with Sens. Dodd and Feingold to uphold the rule of law and protect Americans' privacy and civil rights. I haven't always been happy with his leadership as chairman of the Senate Armed Services committee this past year, but I want to give him credit when it is due, and it surely is today. More of the letter below the fold.
I'm going to quote extensively from Sen. Levin's letter. Since we pay his salary, and since he has sent this out as a mass e-mailing, I don't believe this should cause any concern.
Retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies is not fair. It is not wise. And it is not necessary.
That's why yesterday I voted against the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act.
The Senate had a number of opportunities to amend the FISA law and ensure that American citizens who were harmed by unlawful collection of their personal information could have their day in court. Unfortunately, all of these amendments were rejected.
(The emphasis is his, in the original.)
As everyone who followed the FISA bill through the Senate knows, the Democrats tried to work out a version of the bill that addressed all the genuine concerns about wiretapping actual foreign terrorists. The Republicans in the Senate were bound and determined to obtain retroactive immunity from the law for their corporate friends.
Yesterday saw the outrageous outcome of votes losing with as many as 57 votes in favor. Obviously, the Republicans do not believe in an "up or down" vote when it comes to the unlawful collection of the personal information of ordinary Americans.
Make no mistake, I supported the bipartisan agreement that provided the Intelligence Community the authority it needs to collect intelligence information on suspected terrorists. The collection of that intelligence is important to our national security and merits congressional support.
However, I could not support the section of the FISA legislation that granted retroactive immunity for telecommunications providers who disclosed communications and other confidential information about their customers at the behest of government officials.
(Again, the emphasis is his.)
Retroactive immunity for lawbreaking on the part of large corporations, laws that were broken at the request of a government run amok, is nothing but the very worst kind of crony capitalism.
Indeed, it is a strike at the very rule of law. When the king can waive the laws on behalf of his powerful friends and allies, then we are no longer a nation of laws, but a nation of men.
The telecommunications providers did this despite a law specifically making it illegal to do so. Additionally, retroactive immunity would require dismissal of lawsuits by anyone who was the victim of illegal interception and disclosure of their communications.
It is my hope that the Senate will have another opportunity to consider this legislation and eliminate unfair, unwise, unnecessary retroactive immunity provisions following conference with the House of Representatives.
Not only would the dismissal of the lawsuits prevent Americans harmed by this lawbreaking from having their day in court, but it will help to sweep the wrongdoing of the Bush administration under the rug, and it may encourage further lawbreaking by other corporations in the future.
The only way to stop the unconscionable outrage of retroactive immunity now is to make sure that when the language is reconciled between the House and Senate versions of the bill, immunity winds up on the cutting room floor.
Carl Levin stood up for the rule of law yesterday. I commend him for it, here, and I've also called his office to let him know. You can contact him at (202) 224-6221.
Sen. Levin included a link in his e-mail to his full remarks on the FISA Amendments Act of 2007 (S. 2248).
Unfortunately, the junior Senator from Michigan did not see fit to vote for the rule of law yesterday. You can contact Sen. Stabenow at (202) 224-4822.
You can also call your House member to let them know how important it is to you that the House of Representatives stand firmly against retroactive immunity and keep it out of the final version of the bill. The House switchboard is at (202) 225-3121. I've called my Representative, have you called yours?
It is vitally important that we stop retroactive immunity. It sets a dangerous precedent. We lost some important votes yesterday, but we aren't done fighting yet, because retroactive immunity isn't law yet!
And we didn't lose those votes yesterday without a fight. We had some powerful fighters on our side standing up for what is good and right, for the will of the people, and for the rule of law. And Carl Levin is one of them.
Thank you, Senator Carl Levin!
Update: If your House member is on this list of Blue Dog Dems who are prepared to support retroactive immunity, it is extremely important that you call them now to tell them not to!