WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Ahead of an expected vote in the Senate on amendments to reform expired FISA surveillance authorities, a coalition of over 30 groups from across the political spectrum, led by FreedomWorks, Demand Progress, and the ACLU, joined together on a letter to the Senate demanding strong reforms to protect their constituents’ civil liberties.
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- In response to Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s, decision to cancel its hearing today on FISA reform at the behest of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Jason Pye, FreedomWorks’ Vice President of Legislative Affairs, commented:
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- FreedomWorks Foundation is proud to announce its partnership with the Demand Progress Action Fund in a report on Section 215 of FISA, a key component of the USA PATRIOT Act, detailing how the federal government abused its authority.
America is in a paradoxical situation regarding personal and private intrusion by national and local government agencies. While it is true most citizens want police to respond promptly to distress calls, few are aware that there are instruments of surveillance that do indeed threaten civil liberties.
If you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear, you just need to trade a little liberty for security against the bad guys. After all, what good is freedom when you’re dead?
FreedomWorks has joined the Sunlight Foundation and Demand Progress in publishing a coalition letter in support of the Massie amendment to stop warrantless spying on American citizens. The letter is signed by 26 organizations from across the political spectrum.
As one of our over 6.9 million FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your senators and ask them to vote NO on the McConnell amendment #1452, which would remove a crucial transparency section from the USA Freedom Act.
UPDATE: Senator Paul is standing firm on his promise to hold out for better surveillance reforms. Since Senator McConnell has thus far shown no indication that he will allow the amendment votes that Rand has asked for, there is a good chance that Section 215 of the Patriot Act will be allowed to expire Sunday night.
Set to expire at the end of May, Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act is only one of a number of authorities the government uses to defy the 4th Amendment and spy on millions of Americans without a direct warrant. Nevertheless, its upcoming sunset date provides defenders of liberty a strong chance to make serious move back towards our founders’ intention that:
As one of our over 6.9 million FreedomWorks members nationwide, I urge you to contact your representative and ask him or her to vote NO on both the Protecting Cyber Networks Act (H.R. 1560) and the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act (H.R. 1731).