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Here is an email from the Political Director of DFA, Charles Chamberlain. Please read and pass on the message. Also call Rep. Reyes if possible. 1922 calls, really is not that many. 10K or 100K would be better.
Intelligence Committee Chairman, Rep. Silvestre Reyes (202) 225-7690
Suggested Script:
"As the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Reyes must stand with Speaker Pelosi and the majority of House Democrats against telecom immunity.
I am depending on Chairman Reyes to stand up to President Bush and protect America without granting a get-out-of-jail free card to companies that broke the law."
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Our campaign demanding Chairman Reyes stand up to President Bush is working. After 1,922 reported calls, the Chairman's Chief Counsel, Jeremy Bash, contacted DFA and insisted that we were "shooting the wrong target."
Our answer was simple: Prove it.
This morning, DFA received a letter that the Chairman asked we post on our website. Sadly, the Chairman still gets it wrong:
"The issue is how to craft legislation that only protects companies that acted lawfully."
Chairman Reyes: they don't need immunity if they didn't break the law. America doesn't need parsed words and legalese, America requires leadership.
Chairman Reyes got your calls; let's make sure he gets the message. Contribute $25 right now, so we can run ads that turn up the heat on Chairman Reyes.
www.DemocrayforAmerica.com/FISAads
Chairman Reyes has stood up to President Bush before, he must do it again.
On Feb 12, the Chairman wrote "it is an insult to the intelligence of the American people to say that we will be vulnerable unless we grant immunity for actions that happened years ago."
Last August, he voted against the Administration's bill, the Protect America Act. Last month, he insisted that Congress stand firm and not simply rubber-stamp the Senate FISA bill, despite over-heated rhetoric from the President that doing so would somehow endanger the country. He knew better, and he called out the President on his false rhetoric.
But last weekend, Chairman Reyes said "after receiving documents from the Bush administration and speaking to the companies" a deal was likely "within the next week."
Rep. Reyes doesn't need to make a deal with President Bush and Vice President Cheney. He must hold the Bush administration accountable and not let AT&T and Verizon off the hook for spying on innocent Americans. Contribute $25 right now and send a clear message to Chairman Reyes to stand up to President Bush.
www.DemocrayforAmerica.com/FISAads
In the Chairman's letter , he also says:
"So the issue isn't whether someone is 'for' or 'against' telecom immunity. We are all 'for' telecom immunity if the compliance is consistent with the law."
Rep. Reyes still doesn't get it. The issue is very simple:
* If the phone companies did nothing illegal, the courts will make that determination. * If the phone companies did something illegal, they should be held accountable in the court of law. * This is America's last chance to hold the Bush administration accountable for their illegal warrantless wiretapping. Ending these lawsuits before a trial has even begun will forever let George Bush and his cronies off the hook.
Sen. Dodd and other Democrats with backbone have stood up against any and all forms of telecom immunity. Here's what Senator Dodd had to say:
"I believe that cases against the telecoms are best handled in our standard federal courts -- which, by the way, have shown time and time again that they know how to protect state secrets."
Don't sit this campaign out. Let's turn up the heat on Chairman Reyes together. Contribute $25 right now.
www.DemocrayforAmerica.com/FISAads
Thank you for everything you do.
-Charles
Charles Chamberlain Political Director
P.S. A complete copy of the Chairman's letter to DFA is available on the home page of our website.
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