Pacific Views

Patriot Act Update 3 - Your Calls Made a Difference

Russ Feingold reports that there was enough of a push back that the bill voted out by the conference committee could not get the votes to pass. Your calls made a difference!

I'm pleased to announce that early this afternoon, Senate leaders threw in the towel on their plan to jam a Patriot Act reauthorization bill through the Senate before Thanksgiving. Bipartisan resistance to the tentative agreement reached by conference committee Republicans stopped them in their tracks. We will come back in December and have a real debate on the Patriot Act, and in the meantime, we can keep up pressure on the conferees to move closer to the unanimously supported Senate bill from this summer.

Your support in this effort was crucial. In the past 36 hours, I've had conversations with dozens of Senators that led me to believe that we would have won a vote to block the bill if it had come up. They were obviously hearing from back home that there was no need to act in haste.

Just over four years ago, the Senate passed the Patriot Act without adequate debate and without really knowing what was in it. It didn't take long for the American people to realize that something bad had happened. I voted against that bill, and I have been fighting ever since to try to change it. This reauthorization process is our best chance to make modifications that will protect our rights and freedoms while still giving law enforcement important tools to fight terrorism.

The delay we achieved today is only a temporary victory. To get my vote, the conference committee must follow the approach taken by the bill the Senate passed by unanimous consent this past summer. If it ignores the protections for innocent Americans we achieved in the Senate bill, I will do everything I can to stop the final bill. From my travels around the country, and from reading the comments posted on this and other blogs, I am pleased that so many people are behind me in this endeavor. Thank you.

It looks like I'll make it home for Thanksgiving after all. Hope you all have a great holiday.

It's not over yet, but as you can see, the Bush administration is on the rocks - they aren't as free to slip these poison pills into our politics. These fights will no longer fly under the radar. The Republican majority will have to vote for these anti-American laws under the bright lights of open accountability. Thank you for helping make it happen!

Posted by Mary at November 19, 2005 03:24 AM | Activism | Technorati links |