Today’s Downsizer Dispatch . . .
Recruit more Downsizers. Forward this message to others.
Quote of the Day:
“It does not require a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen to set brush fires in people’s minds.”
– Sam Adams
Subject: Join the FISA flood
More than 60 organizations are working together to flood Congress with messages and phone calls demanding that our representatives restore America’s 4th Amendment protections. DownsizeDC.org is one of those organizations.
A vote is due soon on legislation that could either roll back the 4th Amendment violations embodied in the so-called “Protect America Act,” or make them permanent. The “Protect America Act” amended the “Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act,” (FISA) to legalize spying on American citizens without the need for a warrant.
Please send Congress a message requesting the repeal of the “Protect America Act.”
You can use one or more of the following points in your personal comments . . .
- Congress should not make any permanent changes to FISA until the Bush administration provides Congress with the documents it has requested about the illegal NSA wiretapping program.
- Any legislation to permanently amend FISA must restore judicial review and protect the privacy rights of innocent Americans.
- The government should receive only the information it is authorized to intercept by law, it should not be given direct and unfettered access to telecommunications infrastructure.
- And the legislation must not grant amnesty to telecom companies that broke the law by illegally releasing Americans’ phone calls and records to the government.
Please follow your message with phone calls to the Congressional leadership telling them you want the “Protect America Act” repealed. Lots of other people are also calling, so you won’t be alone. Here are their numbers . . .
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi: (202) 225-4965.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid: (202) 224-3542.
And please make a contribution or start a monthly pledge to keep Downsize DC healthy and growing.
Thank you for being a DC Downsizer.
Perry Willis
Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org, Inc.