Tell Congress to revoke Bush's unlimited wiretap authority

This past summer, Congress passed the so-called "Protect America Act", which legalized Bush's illegal warrantless spying program. So now Bush can spy on you, your mother, your grandmother, and your kids, without having to demonstrate due cause. And Congress calls it "Protection".

But Congress might be waking up.

Please read the following alert from OMB Watch, which provides some updates on this issue, and then click the link at the bottom of this alert to tell your Senators and Representatives to reconsider their actions and revoke Bush's unlimited wiretap authority.

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On Aug. 6, President Bush signed the Protect America Act of 2007 (PAA), S. 1927, granting the government the authority to wiretap anyone, including U.S. citizens, without any court approval as long as the "target" of the surveillance is located outside the U.S. The legislation will expire in six months, but we can not wait that long to correct this serious invasion of privacy and erosion of civil liberties.

The PAA amended the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and permits the Attorney General and Director of National Intelligence (DNI) to wiretap without court approval:

* An immigration group calling a foreign country to help a client;

* A church that calls Kenya to arrange for members to volunteer at an orphanage; or

* An association holding its convention in Toronto that calls a hotel to make arrangements.

This expansion of government authority to collect information without judicial oversight was fast-tracked into law without sufficient congressional oversight. Only five days separated the introduction of the bill to Congress, on Aug. 1, and it's being signed into law by the president. No committee hearings, no reports, no serious debate of the issues. The impacts on personal privacy and people's right to due process were never sufficiently considered or discussed.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) have agreed to ask Congress to take a second look at S. 1927 right away and consider important privacy protections that were not in the bill. Pelosi has released a letter to key committee chairs calling for legislation to re-amend FISA as soon as possible.

The letter states, "Many provisions of this legislation are unacceptable, and, although the bill has a six month sunset clause, I do not believe the American people will want to wait that long before corrective action is taken."

Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. has already responded to Pelosi with a Sept. 5th hearing to review the PAA. Hearing witnesses expressed unease with the White House for not explaining to the public the constitutional basis for the changes. Democrats have clearly made reconsidering the FISA amendments a top priority, but increased pressure from you will help advance the much needed changes.

Let Congress know that the public will not wait until the bill sunsets. Tell Congress the sweeping, unchecked surveillance powers in the Protect America Act must be cut back.

Tell Congress to reconsider the Protect America Act of 2007!