Do This

Doug Gibson’s been beating a drum that I’ve been meaning to bring up for ages. From his comments in the last Open Thread:

“let’s talk about the renewal of the Protect America Act. Right now, despite Chris Dodd’s pledge to filibuster the bill, the current Senate version (S 2248) – which will grant telecom companies retroactive immunity for giving the NSA access to pretty much every phone call made by every American citizen for no one knows how long - is probably going to pass. That’s right: telephone companies broke the law, and the Senate wants to give them a “get out of jail free” card.

So now we go to the House, which has passed a bill that allows you, me, and all 300,000,000 other Americans to sue the telecoms directly for failing to protect our privacy. Nancy Pelosi has two choices, essentially: 1) stand by the House legislation (HR 3773), or 2) bring the Senate bill to the floor, where it is almost certain to pass. She’s probably going to do (2), so that House Democrats can tell their base that they voted against telecom immunity before they voted for it.

Heath Shuler voted for HR 3773 (The “RESTORE” Act). (Thanks, Congressman.) I really can’t predict how he’d vote on the Senate bill, except to say that the more feedback he gets from his constituents, the less likely he is to let a handful of mega-corporations break the law with impunity. So I’ll leave you with his contact info. You know what to do.”

Doug updates us and provides you with a ridiculously easy way to make a difference. It’s the kind of simple thing that anyone who gives even half a proverbial turd can do.

“Well, the Senate passed their version of FISA. It’s god-awful. So now it’s time for the House to find a spine.

Here’s a sample letter to Heath Shuler, with talking points included. And here’s his contact info again.”

Here’s that letter that Doug provides:

” Representative Heath Shuler
512 Cannon House Office Building
Washington DC 20515

Dear Representative Shuler:

We the undersigned citizens of Buncombe County are writing to ask you to vote against Senate Bill 2248, the FISA Amendments Act of 2007, if the bill reaches the floor of the House. This is a deeply flawed bill that grants the President sweeping new powers and effectively circumvents any judicial oversight of surveillance of phone calls and other electronic communication by U.S. citizens

You have already voted for HR 3773, The RESTORE Act, and we applaud your vote. HR 3773 is a far superior bill, and we hope that it will eventually form the basis for any revision of FISA. But whatever happens, we ask that you do the following as Congress continues its work:

1. Vote against any bill that gives telecom companies immunity. Lawsuits must be allowed to proceed or we’ll never know the truth about what laws were broken and how many Americans rights were violated.

2. Vote against any bill that allows the government to spy on Americans without getting a warrant. America doesn’t need a bill that needlessly expands the President’s ability to spy on innocent Americans without a warrant.

3. Don’t let the Senate or President Bush steamroll the House of Representatives. Any bill to regulate spying on Americans must respect the Constitution and must not let phone companies off the hook for warrantless spying.

We thank you for your time and attention, and we trust that, once you investigate the issues involved, you will agree with our position.”

Do This. It’s an easy way to let Heath know you’re paying attention.