Schakowsky Statement Against the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act

Press Release

SCHAKOWSKY STATEMENT AGAINST THE FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SURVEILLANCE ACT

U.S. Representative Jan Schakowsky (D-IL) spoke out against and joined the majority of the Democratic Caucus in voting against S. 1927, the Protect America Act, which will give the Bush Administration wide latitude in conducting warrantless surveillance. The bill, which passed the House on August 4 by a vote of 227 to 183, had been requested by President Bush and was signed into law on August 6. It will sunset after 180 days.

Congresswoman Schakowsky delivered the following remarks on the House floor in opposition to the bill:

"This bill is an offense to the Constitution that we are sworn to protect.

Let me tell you what we are voting on tonight. If we pass this bill, we are voting for the warrantless, that means no court order, warrantless surveillance of our phone calls, a warrantless collection of personal data, e-mails, and Internet usage, the evisceration of the power of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance court, and making it little more than a rubber stamp for Alberto Gonzales.

Are these the principles our Nation was built on? Our Founding Fathers knew better. John Adams: ‘A Constitution of government once changed from freedom can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever.'

We have Thomas Jefferson: ‘I would rather be exposed to the inconveniences attending too much liberty than to those attending too small a degree of it.'

And, finally, Ben Franklin: ‘They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.'

We can have liberty and safety. The House Democrats offered that plan. We should heed the word of our Founding Fathers and reject this legislation."

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