[RP TownTalk] Md senator helps pass Telecom immunity

Fri Feb 15 15:57:55 UTC 2008

The destruction of the World Trade Center, the attempted destruction
of the Pentagon, and the killing of 3000 people, was an act of war
against the United States.

During the period between September 11, 2001 and January 17, 2002, the
President sought intelligence on the actions of foreign agents under
the authority given in Article II of the Constitution. That is to say,
the executive branch acted directly and without delay under the
President's powers as Commander in Chief during a time of war.

The only retroactive immunity for telecoms in the Senate bill are for
that period between September 11 and January 17.  See  here in Ttitle
II (see especially section 202):

   http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?c110:1:./temp/~c110sDZdgs:e51894:

The House is taking up the bill which originated in the Senate.

The Foreign Intelligence Court of Review (FICR), which sits above the
Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (commonly called the FiSA
court, after the act that created it), affirms that the President
holds such broad powers of surveillance under Article II

   http://www.fas.org/irp/agency/doj/fisa/fiscr111802.html (see down
around footnote 26)

and

   http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/constitution/article02/

Congress created the FICR in 1978 for the precise purpose of reviewing
such questions.

The Senate bill also provides that immunity is only granted in cases
that are designed to prevent a terrorist attack, and properly
communicated in writing by the Attorney General.  The immunity is not
"blanket"; it requires some levels of review.  Read the bill.  When a
lawsuit is brought, the immunity only applies if the currently sitting
Attorney General certifies it.

In other words, if Barack Obama is elected President, his Attorney
General will be the one to determine whether the immunity applies in
any particular case, the principal test being whether the intelligence
sought was in the interest of preventing a terrorist attack.

I wish to be protected from harm.  I do not wish for companies to be
swamped with expensive/nuisance lawsuits for complying with entirely
lawful requests for information in the immediate aftermath of an act
of war.

The sole subject of civil immunity is 13-week period in the immediate
aftermath of 9/11.

R

On Wed, Feb 13, 2008 at 10:10 PM, Robert Oppenheim
<rob.oppenheim at comcast.net> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  Are you outraged about the recent Intelligence Authorization Act passed by
> the Senate?
>  It gives retroactive immunity to the telecom industry for participating in
> past illegal warrantless wiretaps.
>
>  The Washington Post called this senate vote a key victory for the White
> House.
>
>  How Maryland Senators voted on this...
>
>  Maryland Senator Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) voted with the Republicans and
> voted FOR the telecom immunity provision. She also voted with the
> Republicans for the final passage of the bill.
>  You can let her know your concern here:
> http://mikulski.senate.gov/mailform.html
>
>  Conversely, Maryland Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) opposed the telecom immunity
> provision and voted against it and against final passage of the bill.
>  You can thank him here http://cardin.senate.gov/contact/
>
>  The corresponding house bill does NOT contain immunity for the telecom
> industry. So it still may not become law!
>
>  You can contact our Rep Steny Hoyer (D-MD) at
> http://www.hoyer.house.gov/contact/email.asp
>  and thank him for his stand and ask that he continue to stand firm on no
> telecom immunity.
>
>  Rep Hoyer's statement
>
>  Rep Hoyer said: "...Finally, this legislation is silent on the issue of
> retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that possibly violated
> privacy laws in turning over consumer information because Congress does not
> have full access to information about what the companies did. Simply stated,
> it would be grossly irresponsible for Congress to grant blanket immunity for
> companies without even knowing whether their conduct was legal or not. And,
> importantly, this view is shared by the Chairman and Ranking Republican on
> the Senate Judiciary Committee." [Extract from a speech given by Rep Hoyer
> to the Georgetown law school in Oct. 2007.]
>
>  The full text of his speech is available here:
>
> http://www.washingtoncontinent.com/TWCstories/TWCnewspages2007/hoyer_visits_georgetown_07_091000144.htm
>
>  How the presidential candidates voted on this...
>
>  Both the democratic presidential candidates have said they oppose telecom
> immunity. Sen. Obama was present and voted against the immunity provision.
> Sen. Hillary Clinton was out campaigning and did not vote on the immunity
> provision. Both candidates were not present for the final vote on the bill.
>
>  The Republican candidate, John McCain, voted for the immunity provision and
> for the final bill.
>
>  Sources:
>
>  Washington Post article:
>
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/12/AR2008021201202.html?wpisrc=newsletter
>
>  The official US Senate site:
>  The immunity provision was in senate bill S.2248 passed on 2/12/08.
>
>  Votes to remove the immunity provision:
>
> http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00015
>
>  Vote on the final bill (the Intelligence Authorization Act renewal):
>
> http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=110&session=2&vote=00020
>
>  [end]
>
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