Letter to Nancy Pelosi congratulating House Democrats on their defeat of legislation to reauthorise F.I.S.A. on 02/13/2008

PETER'S NEW YORK, February 17, 2008. The House of Representatives defeated the Senate version of a bill that would have reauthorized spying on Americans without proper judicial oversight. The legislation would also have given amnesty to telecommunications companies for cooperating with the Bush administration to illegally spy on Americans. What follows is a letter I wrote to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi following the House vote.

February 17, 2008

Dear Speaker Pelosi:

CONGRATULATIONS!

I was heartened to hear that the House of Representatives on February 13, 2008, rejected the Senate version of a bill to reauthorize F.I.S.A. in its current form that would have also illegally prevented telecommunications companies from being judged in a court of law for their cooperation with the Bush administration to illegally spy on Americans.

Any law preventing full adjudication of legal breaches by telecommunications firms is illegal in itself, and a vote to support such legislation is an illegal act and constitutes collusion with the Bush administration to subvert law and order in the United States.

I APPLAUD YOUR LEADERSHIP IN OPPOSING THE SENATE VERSION OF THE REAUTHORIZATION OF F.I.S.A. I recommend that you let the law expire, and that you make no deals whatsoever with a Senate that has shown itself to be in collusion to subvert the rule of law in the United States of America.

We have been very disappointed in the past with  laws that continue to support the subversion of the power of Americans to oppose the illegal war in Iraq and Afghanistan. But I hope that now the Democrats are getting a handle on this situation. Now is the time to use the full force of your office and the full force of the body of the House of Representatives to stop and discredit the Bush administration for its illegal acts.

I will support the Democratic congressperson in my district, Rep. Gillibrand, for re-election, as she has opposed the Bush administration and the evil measures that it has garnered from Congress to destroy democracy in our country. I will also support with my donations Congresspeople of any district who have outright opposed the illegal invasion and occupation of Iraq, [and] the reauthorization of F.I.S.A., and [who support] the rollback of all bogus legislation passed to supposedly protect Americans from a fake terrorist threat. I am particularly proud of Representatives Jerrold Nadler and Robert Waxman for the leadership they have shown of late in opposing reauthorization. Let's hope they and the congress don't back down. This is an historic opportunity to set things right. It can only be done in the House of Representatives.

Once again, thank you for your leadership. Please do not capitulate one iota on your stand. Do not reauthorize F.I.S.A. Expose the Republican agenda for what it is--a subversion of our democratic principles and of the protections afforded by the Constitution.

Yours truly.

Peter Duveen

We should make sure that the Democrats do not capitulate once again to the Bush administration by letting this legislation pass in any form. Write your representative in Congress. Reward congresspeople who oppose the Iraq war and the illegal psuedo-security measures of the Bush administration by donating even a small amount to their re-election campaigns. Supporting the Democrats in the House of Representatives is one of the few options we have to stop the Bush administration, since the Democrats are in the majority. They only have a quasi-majority in the Senate.

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