Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act--Motion to Proceed --

Floor Speech

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT--MOTION TO PROCEED -- (Senate - December 17, 2007)

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Mr. BROWN. Mr. President, I join the senior Senator in Connecticut in rising in strong opposition to the retroactive immunity provisions contained in the bill before us today. I thank Senator Dodd for his strong opposition and leadership and courage to make this fight.

Earlier today, I opposed the cloture vote because I don't believe we should consider providing immunity to corporations that broke the law, breached the Constitution, and trampled on Americans' civil liberties. It is pretty much as simple as that.

As Senators Dodd, Feingold, and others have made clear throughout this day, this is a matter of law, this is a matter of basic civil liberties, and this is a matter of accountability.

The decisions we make when we vote on this bill have bearing on every single American because the rights and protections the Constitution provides are precious to every single American. That is what we stand for as a nation.

No individual or corporation can breach the Constitution and break the law. No individual or corporation can breach the Constitution and break the law, even if the Federal Government tells them to do it.

Corporations cannot rely on a piece of paper handed to them by the administration that says that an act on the very face of it sounds illegal but it is, in fact, legal. They have, and they had, an independent obligation as corporations to assess the legality of wiretapping before engaging in it. That is why some telecommunications companies refused to comply when the administration asked them to wiretap. All of them should have taken that step.

The Constitution does not allow companies to rely on the executive branch to interpret the Constitution for them. When the fundamental constitutional rights of Americans are at issue, corporations have one--and only one--course of action: they must act in accordance with the law; they must act in accordance with the Constitution.

Some in this body have suggested that these companies were compelled to go along with the administration's illegal wiretapping program because of 9/11 and because of the very real danger of foreign terrorist attacks. Mr. President, while all of us--every 1 of the 100 Members of this body--wants to protect America at all costs, these companies went along with this program absent a legal warrant or court order for over 5 years after 9/11.

These multibillion-dollar corporations have teams of lawyers that assess the meaning and implication of Federal law as it relates to every move they make. But this time, now, we are asked to accept that highly trained lawyers working for these companies could not clearly understand and interpret the Constitution or interpret the requirements of FISA, a law that is more than 30 years old.

It would be a total and absolute assault on the Constitution to allow a small group of companies to ignore Federal law simply because they were asked to by the President--whoever the President is.

It is important for all those listening to take a good look at whom the administration is fighting for and whom it is representing.

President Bush has threatened to veto this bill unless it contains the retroactive immunity provisions but not because the protections for citizens are too weak. The President will veto this bill, he says, frankly, because he is concerned about the bank accounts of a handful of telecommunications companies.

Since when did money trump constitutional freedom? Since when did corporate connections matter more than the rule of law?

Congress has the responsibility to protect the freedoms and the rights of all citizens. Our Government should be open and transparent and, when rights are infringed, there should be an opportunity to seek legal redress in a court of law.

That is why our system of government contains a judicial branch: to litigate infringements of rights, to assess the constitutionality of laws and programs.

The retroactive immunity provisions in this bill will make it impossible to hold those who broke the law accountable for their illegal actions. That is wrong, Mr. President, and that is dangerous.

We must remember that by protecting our civil liberties we protect our Nation and our values.

I urge all my colleagues to vote for the Dodd-Feingold amendment.

I yield the floor

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