Dear Congresswoman - Encore

Re: Telecom Immunity

What does the public have to do to get through to the Democratic leadership on FISA?

"CongressDaily is reporting that House Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes is “fine” with “a Republican-brokered deal to rewrite the nation’s electronic surveillance laws.” The GOP compromise, written by Sen. Kit Bond (R-MO), “would leave it up to the secret FISA court to grant retroactive legal immunity” to telecoms that helped the Bush administration’s warrantless conduct surveillance on U.S. citizens." (Via Think Progress)

After grabbing headlines by standing up to the president in February, House Democrats are quietly acquiescing to a GOP plan to hand their oversight duties over to a secret court?

How does this happen?

What public interest is served by Congress avoiding this issue? More to the point – what public interest is served by immunizing the telecom industry *without* a detailed understanding of what actions have taken place?

If the FISA court is to be the arbiter of this issue – what guarantee does the public have that their privacy concerns will be addressed? Every single member of this court was appointed by the same President who has demanded that this immunity be given. Even if the FISA court should rule against immunity, it would surely be appealed, and every member of the FISA Court of Review was also selected by this President.

The public or their elected representatives deserve to know the full extent of what surveillance has been taking place. Those who are given this information should not be merely informed and then sworn to secrecy. A powerless advocate is no advocate at all.

The President has asserted that no wrongdoing has occurred, but if immunity is given – there will be no way for the public to verify this. The check on this extraordinary assertion of Presidential power surely should not be a secret court of Presidential appointees.

Do something – tell the House leadership that sidestepping their responsibility in unacceptable. This is a debate that should take place in the full light of day – not hidden away so that the public's concerns can be dismissed by actors who are beyond their reach.