Use the same Toll free numbers to Oppose Alito.
** PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY **
This is the endgame -- our final chance to roll back the PATRIOT Act.
Either we "kill the beast" now, or we live with consequences -- which
includes a barely noticed provision that would give the Secret Service
new powers to harass and arrest protesters (see accompanying email).
Please join the impressive coalition of organizations -- civil liberties and
civil rights, anti-war groups and labor unions -- which has come together
behind the National PATRIOT Act Call-in Day, Wednesday, Jan. 25.
Make your voice heard by calling your two Senators and your member
of Congress.
Read the Action Alert and press release that I'm forwarding below
(and the 2nd email message on the Secret Service provisions).
Then make those phone calls!
Craig Gingold
(near) Midpines CA
The TOLL-FREE US Capitol switchboard phone numbers are
(866) 340-9281 & (866) 220-0044 -- 24 hours/day
If you want more info on the subject (and related issues), check out
the Bill of Rights Defense Committee's excellent website at:
http://www.bordc.org/involved/resourcesdefending.php
------- Forwarded message follows -------
From: "BORDC Info"
To: "Craig Gingold"
Subject: Action Alert: January 25, National PATRIOT Act Call-in Day
Date sent: Mon, 23 Jan 2006 15:41:22 -0800
National Call-in Day to Repair the USA PATRIOT Act
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Thank you for all your calls and visits to Congress, your resolutions,
and your other actions to defend civil liberties. In December,
a bipartisan group of senators stopped a bill that would have
reauthorized expiring PATRIOT Act provisions from coming to a vote
because it failed to safeguard essential civil liberties. In anticipation
of the new February 3 deadline for the PATRIOT Act's reauthorization,
the Bill of Rights Defense Committee has designated January 25, 2006,
as National PATRIOT Act Call-In Day. Dozens of other organizations
are joining us (see below).
What to do: Please join this effort by calling Congress this
Wednesday, January 25th, and ask your friends to do the same.
* Dial the Capitol switchboard, 202-224-3121, and ask the operator
to connect you (24 hours a day) or
* Enter your zip code here http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/
to find your legislators' direct Washington office phone numbers.
To find their district office numbers, click on their names or
call your local library.
Please phone both your Senators and your Representative. Ask your
member of Congress to work for a PATRIOT Act reauthorization bill that
truly preserves free speech and privacy, and that restores checks and
balances, including judicial review and much greater congressional
oversight.
Other talking points: If you want to make additional points, here are
a few suggestions:
* Prevent the FBI from "fishing" through our private purchase, medical,
and library records by requiring a statement of fact linking persons
whose records are sought to a terrorism investigation.
* Allow businesses and libraries to pose a meaningful challenge to a FISA
Court order or a National Security Letter demanding customer records.
* In light of warrantless wiretapping of domestic email and phone
communications authorized by the president, make sure there are
sufficient privacy safeguards and oversight on all parts of the PATRIOT Act
involving the executive branch (which includes the Department of Justice
and the FBI).
* Protect our first amendment rights by removing a proposed provision
that would subject anyone who protests in cordoned-off areas at presidential
appearances to prison sentences up to 10 years.
* Eliminate proposed new death penalties from the reauthorization.
* I'm not fooled by the administration's fear-mongering or its arguments
that there are partisan differences on these issues of security and liberty.
Americans conservative and progressive know that our actions must
be constrained by the rule of law, the Constitution, and checks
and balances.
* Now that we know the president has secretly authorized illegal,
warrantless wiretaps and spying on peaceful protest groups, Congress
must immediately stop those actions and hold much more detailed
investigations over the whole Patriot Act (not just the sunsetting provisions)
before reauthorizing any part of the Patriot Act.
* Although the Senate reauthorization bill is insufficient, it is a much
better starting point than the House version or the Conference Report.
* While I'm concerned about terror, if America becomes a fear-ridden
police state, the terrorists will have won, so we must protect our fundamental
rights and privacy above all.
Can't get through right away? Many people must be phoning Congress.
Keep your calls coming! If you prefer not to wait, call the next day
or phone the district office.
Find additional resources at the Bill of Rights Defense Committee web
site: http://www.bordc.org/involved/resourcesdefending.php
#############################################################
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 23, 2006
CONTACT:
Nancy Talanian, director, Bill of Rights Defense Committee director,
413-582-0110 Emily Sheketoff, executive director, American Library
Association Washington Office, 202-628-8410
January 25th: National Call-In Day on PATRIOT Act
Tens of thousands to tell Congress, “Repair the PATRIOT Act!”
Northampton, MA Tens of thousands of Americans will phone their
members of Congress on Wednesday, January 25, to urge them to repair
the USA PATRIOT Act. The Bill of Rights Defense Committee (BORDC)
organized the National Call-In Day in response to a draft PATRIOT Act
reauthorization bill that its network of grassroots allies nationwide
strongly oppose. The American Library Association (ALA) and dozens
of other national organizations are supporting the national call-in day.
A Senate filibuster last month over concerns that the reauthorization
bill failed to protect civil liberties temporarily prevented it from becoming
law. The House and Senate agreed to extend until February 3rd the
16 PATRIOT Act provisions that would have expired on December 31,
2005.
“Four years ago, Congress’s passage of the PATRIOT Act expanded the
executive branch's surveillance powers and limited oversight of those
powers by the courts and Congress,” according to Nancy Talanian,
director of the BORDC. “People began to fear that Big Brother was
violating their privacy and First Amendment rights. The President’s
authorization of warrantless wiretaps is one of many revelations that
have validated those fears. Therefore, it is imperative that the
American people serve as the ultimate check on their government by
calling on their members of Congress for redress.”
Emily Sheketoff, executive director of the ALA's Washington Office
agreed. "Librarians have led the fight to protect the public's privacy,"
she said. "We need them once again to call their elected federal
representatives to stress the importance of the Senate version of
the PATRIOT Reauthorization Act." The ALA and the state library
associations of all fifty states have passed resolutions calling for
more congressional oversight on the PATRIOT Act and related
measures that have a chilling effect on library users' free inquiry.
The BORDC has encouraged and supported community education and
debate about the PATRIOT Act and other post-9/11 anti-terrorism laws
and policies in living rooms, churches, union halls, and town halls
nationwide. Concerns over new threats to civil liberties discussed in
those nonpartisan debates have led to the passage of more than 400
resolutions upholding the constitutional rights of their jurisdictions’
62 million residents, including seven statewide resolutions.
The BORDC, ALA, League of Women Voters, American Civil Liberties
Union, and many other groups are urging their members and contacts to
make phone calls to their congressional representatives on Wednesday,
January 25, to demand safeguards to prevent the FBI from “fishing”
through private purchase, medical, and library records without a
statement of fact linking persons whose records are sought to a
terrorism investigation, and to permit businesses and libraries to
pose a meaningful challenge to a FISA Court order or a National
Security Letter demanding customer records, among many other changes.
The Capitol switchboard number is 202 224-3121 (24 hours).
See http://bordc.org for more information.
Other organizations supporting the call-in day (partial list) include
the Alliance for Justice, American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee,
American Civil Liberties Union, American Library Association, Amnesty
International USA, Campaign for Reader Privacy, Center for Democracy
and Technology, Code Pink, Council on American-Islamic Relations,
First Amendment Foundation, Friends Committee on National Legislation,
Global Exchange, League of United Latin American Citizens, League of
Women Voters, Liberty Coalition, MoveOn.org Political Action, National
Lawyers Guild, People For the American Way, Rights Working Group,
San Francisco Labor Council, Unitarian Universalist Association, and
United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America. |