Laws are for Poor People, Not Corporations…or Presidents

Peter Roskam is Mr. Law and Order when it comes to migrant workers who come to our country seeking a better life for themselves and their children. But Roskam draws the line at telling the big corporations he represents in Congress, or even the President that they need to obey the law. In fact, Roskam wants to give the President and the telephone companies a pass. This is a pattern with Roskam: giving free rein to Bush’s lawless administration while promoting the interests of corporations over those of ordinary citizens.

George W. Bush broke the law by directing the National Security Agency to start eavesdropping on American citizens without warrants by listening in on their phone calls and reading their email messages He did this despite having the legal means at his disposal to obtain warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Bush solicited the cooperation of some large telephone companies in his criminal enterprise and they cheerfully complied.

Once Bush’s illegal program was uncovered, he started pressuring Congress to cover his own ass and the collective asses of the telephone companies by granting the companies retroactive immunity from prosecution for their complicity.

Now the question of immunity is coming to a head. Under consideration now are two competing revisions of a revision of the FISA legislation: the Senate version provides retroactive immunity to the telephone companies, the House version does not.

Bush and Roskam and other Republicans are trying to intimidate legislators and scare citizens into accepting the Senate’s bill, even presenting television commercials with a ticking time bomb implying that the bill is the only thing than can prevent another terrorist attack. Citizens should not let themselves be cowed by the likes of Bush and Roskam. It is possible to be secure and at the same time require that the President and the corporations obey the laws and observe due process when their is a real need for surveillance.

Residents of the 6th Congressional District can help Democrats in Congress ensure that the final bill supports the rule of law and protects citizens from warrantless surveillance by doing 3 simple things:

• Call the White House at (202) 456-1111 and tell President Bush to quit trying to scare the public into accepting a bad FISA bill including immunity
• Call Peter Roskam at (202) 225-4561 and tell him the same thing. Remind him of his own words: “we are a nation of laws.”
• Visit the Fix FISA website of Rep John Conyers and Senator Patrick Leahy and use their simple tool to help you send a letter to the editor of a local newspaper

The need is urgent Please do these 3 things today and let men like George Bush and Peter Roskam know that laws are for everyone.