Stop Congress from Making the Protect America Act
Permanent

This is a target:

But
the "Protect America Act" makes the whole world a target
for surveillance - and that includes you.

If you are outraged at the vast new spying powers that Congress granted
to the President, now is the time to act. Two new bills in the House
would roll back some or all of the new powers granted by the PAA.
(Find information on the two bills here.)

• The FISA Modernization Act (H.R. 3782), introduced by Rep. Rush
  Holt, would repeal the PAA and restore the requirement for individualized
  warrants for wiretapping Americans.
• The RESTORE Act (H.R. 3773), introduced by House Judiciary Committee
  Chair John Conyers and House Intelligence Committee Chair Sylvestre
  Reyes, would repeal the PAA and add significant judicial and congressional
  oversight. While it would not reinstate the individualized warrant
  requirement before Americans' international communications could
  be seized in the US, it would limit surveillance so that it could
  not be used whenever the government simply claims "national
  security."

On Wednesday, the House Judiciary Committee and the House Intelligence
Committee approved H.R. 3773 and added more civil liberties protections
while rejecting proposals to make the PAA permanent and to immunize
past illegal warrantless wiretapping of Americans. No votes on H.R.
3782 have been scheduled. We expect the full House to vote
on the Conyers-Reyes bill as early as next Wednesday, October 17.

But President Bush wants Congress to make the PAA permanent,
and he has made it clear that he will not sign a bill unless
it grants retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies
that enabled the government to wiretap their customers here in the
US without the warrants required by law.

Don't let that happen!

THIS WEEK, tell your representative to protect Fourth Amendment
guarantees against warrantless searches:

• Repeal the Protect America Act. The PAA legalizes
  warrantless wiretapping of U.S. residents, which the Bush Administration
  secretly began in 2001, and violates the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance
  Act (FISA) and the Fourth Amendment. (H.R. 3773 and 3782
  would repeal the PAA.)
• Restore the requirement for individualized warrants for
  wiretapping of U.S. communications and email. U.S. Intelligence
  agencies cannot oversee themselves. The judicial branch has a necessary
  role in preventing abuses of power. (H.R. 3782
  would restore individualized warrants for any wiretap of U.S. calls
  or emails, whereas H.R. 3773 would permit the wiretapping
  of some international calls and emails of Americans without individual
  warrants.)
• No immunity for telecommunications companies that broke
  the law by permitting the government to conduct surveillance of
  their customers' phone and email records. To grant those
  companies retroactive immunity condones presidents and private industry
  collaborating to ransack the public trust. (Neither H.R. 3782 nor
  H.R. 3773 currently grants immunity, but administration allies may
  introduce amendments that do so.)
• Let the public see the text of Congress's bills BEFORE
  they're passed. Fourth Amendment rights to privacy are
  among our fundamental and inalienable rights. The specific text
  of any bill that may affect these rights must go before the American
  people for comment.
• Follow the will of this community by upholding the Bill
  of Rights! [The town of ______, or ______ county, or the
  state of ______] has passed a resolution opposing laws that violate
  the Bill of Rights. We expect that you will follow the resolve of
  our community. (Click here
  for a list of resolutions.)

Join with people and organizations across the country by
phoning your representative to urge him or her to stand up for the
Fourth Amendment. Look up your rep's direct
telephone number or dial the Capitol switchboard, 202-224-3121,
and ask the operator to connect you.

Thank you for all you do.

Bill of Rights Defense Committee