Kagen: ‘Protecting The Constitution Protects The Nation’
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Saying that protecting the Constitution protects the nation, Congressman Steve Kagen, M.D. today voted against the newest version of the FISA Amendments Act, which would have granted the Attorney General and the President legal cover to ignore the founding document’s 4th Amendment.
“I take seriously my sworn duty to protect America by defending our Constitution,” Kagen said. “Our intelligence community has the tools it has asked for to defend national security without forfeiting the rights we have always cherished.”
Many observers viewed the administration’s proposed changes to the Foreign Intelligence Security Act as an effort by the administration to extend legal immunity to telephone companies that may be suspected of violating personal privacy laws.
Under the proposal, telephone or Internet companies asked by federal authorities to spy domestically on U.S. citizens would be be immune from any subsequent lawsuits. The new act would have also provided standards and procedures for immunity for telephone companies that may have previously broken the law at President Bush’s request by assisting the federal government with warrant-less wiretapping activities.
