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

[Declan McCullagh]

CDT is on the right track, but I'd be hesitant to call my senators and
endorse Feingold's amendments until I knew what they said. The CDT
alert is silent on details. That's a shame, since they could have
easily included a summary of the amendments (which I really will put
online soon, along with their text).

-Declan


On Wed, Oct 10, 2001 at 11:14:37PM -0700, citizenQ wrote:
> 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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> 
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> --
> Michael Clark, Grassroots Webmaster
> mclark at cdt.org
> PGP Key available on keyservers
> 
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