It would be difficult to find a dkoser who would not agree that Sheldon Whitehouse - our new Democratic Senator from Rhode Island - has distinguished himself as a remarkably brilliant, valuable and persuasive member of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Yesterday, when he took to the floor of the Senate he made fine points about the importance of protecting the privacy rights of American citizens travelling abroad. But then he departed from his prepared remarks and argued for the Intelligence Committee version of the FISA legislation - the version that provides retroactive immunity for the telelcoms.
I'm not saying that I agree with him. I just think that it's useful to review his reasoning, because we all know that this fight is far from over.
[please follow me below the jump for a transcription of his statement]
I have great respect for Senator Whitehouse. After I watched his floor speech, I searched for a copy to review. Emptywheel posted a copy over at FireDogLake, but it seemed truncated - it lacked the case that the Senator made in support of the Intelligence Committee version of the legislation. Today, I discovered why. On the Senator's own website, his prepared remarks end prior to the words he spoke in support of telecom immunity. So I followed the link to a video clip of his floor speech, and I transcribed the extemporaneous remarks that he appended to his prepared speech:
With respect to the question of how we deal with the litigation that presently involves certain telephone communications carriers
I think everybody in this chamber should remember the impossible predicament in which those companies have been placed.
There are litigants – private litigants in court in an ongoing action. And the government has come in and told them, "You may not defend yourselves."
It has told them, "You may not say one word in defense of this litigation."
National security is asserted as the reason and all of the threats that come with violations of national security are in play.
So there they are. Private litigants in private litigation and the government has stepped in and said, "You may not defend yourselves."
I think we have to do something about that. And along with what the ranking member of the judiciary committee said earlier – the distinguished senator from Pennsylvania – Senator Specter – I think the only decent thing that we can expect the government to do is to at least step in itself for these litigants.
If they’re going to tell the carriers, "You can’t defend yourself in court in ongoing litigation", the least that this government should be able to do is to step in and say, "We will step in and substitute ourselves for you."
— Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
December 17, 2007
The video clip stops just before the Senator goes on to state his support for the Intelligence Committee's version of the legislation.
Does he make a persuasive case? I hope that our senators will put there heads together and figure out a solution to the dilemma set forth by Senator Whitehouse, but it must also uphold our Constitution and provide for meaningful accountabilty. I would love to see Senators Whitehouse, Kennedy & Dodd come up with a new version of the bill - if one is really needed at all.
````
peace