CDT: congressional action call - before Friday morning, October 12, 2001

[citizenQ]

Dear Activist:

Things are moving very fast on Capitol Hill.  Legislation to expand 
government surveillance will be considered by the Senate (and 
maybe the House) on Thursday, October 11.

In the Senate, Sen. Russ Feingold is planning to offer amendments 
Thursday morning that will address some of the privacy concerns 
raised by the pending bills, by requiring government surveillance to 
be more focused and subject to meaningful judicial controls.  CDT 
supports the Feingold amendments.

You can make a difference. Call your Senators in Washington right 
away and let them know that you think civil liberties should be part of 
the balance as we move forward to protect our country from terrorism.  
Urge them to support the Feingold privacy amendments

BACKGROUND

Following the horrendous attacks of September 11, it is clear that US 
anti-terrorism efforts need to be improved.  Unfortunately, there has 
been little time to develop a response that is effective and does not 
unnecessarily infringe civil liberties.  Legislation moving quickly 
through Congress involves some fundamental changes in the 
surveillance laws.  Most of the changes are not limited to terrorism 
cases, but concern all crimes and all intelligence investigations.

Among other things, the bills would:

* Allow FBI to seize any and all stored records (medical records, 
educational records, stored e-mail) in intelligence cases without a 
search warrant.

* Allow computer system operators to authorize government 
surveillance without a court order (the computer trespasser 
provision).

* Authorize roving taps in intelligence cases without clear guidelines, 
allowing government to monitor pay phones, library computers, cell 
phones without first determining who is using the device.

* Allow secret searches (searches without notice at the time of the 
search) in all criminal cases.

* Extend government surveillance under minimal standards to broad 
categories of Internet data  - all "routing, addressing and signaling 
information" (the "pen register" provision).

For full background the current civil liberties issues with the bill, 
please see CDT's latest policy post -- 
http://www.cdt.org/publications/pp_7.10.shtml

Also, the New York Times on October 10 explained the current 
situation in the Senate and Sen Feingold's concerns-- 
http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/10/national/10RIGH.html


WHAT YOU CAN DO--MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD

1. Call your your Senators

[www.vote-smart.org can tell you who your sens are (duh)]

Tell the person who answers the phone that you hope your Senator 
will support the Feingold privacy amendment to the terrorism bill, so 
that it adequately protects civil liberties when giving the government 
new surveillance powers.

Use these words if you feel tongue-tied:

Staffer: Hello, Sen. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX office.

You: Hello.  I'm a constituent calling to urge the Senator to support the 
Feingold privacy amendments to the anti-terrorism bill. Government 
needs to fight terrorism, but the bill fails to protect privacy.  I'm 
concerned about the provisions on Internet surveillance and roving 
wiretaps.  I support the Feingold amendments setting clear limits on 
government surveillance.

Staffer: I'll tell the Senator.  Thanks, bye!

2. Let CDT know how it went! Go to
   http://www.cdt.org/action/feedback.cgi?membid=casr
   and use the feedback form to tell us what happened. Or you can
   send an email back to me at mclark at cdt.org.

3. Lastly, please forward this message to other individuals interested
   in protecting privacy and free expression on the Internet. They can
   find information about their Senators at http://www.cdt.org/action/.
   But they need to act right away. Forward this message until
   Friday morning, October 12, 2001. 

PLEASE NOTE:  We are asking you to call your Senators in 
Washington because studies have shown that this is the most 
effective way to make a difference over a short period of time.  By the 
time the office reads your email or letter it will probably be too late 
and a call into the district office does not have the same impact when 
the Senator is in Washington.

--
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--
Michael Clark, Grassroots Webmaster
mclark at cdt.org
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Center for Democracy and Technology
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Washington, DC 20006
http://www.cdt.org/
voice: 202-637-9800
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