The House of Representatives has suspended the rule requiring legislation be publicly available for at least three days before a vote is held.
This means the House leadership can put any bill on the House floor and vote on it before members have a chance to even read it.
And House leadership is already plotting to use this power to violate your liberties!
You see, shortly after the three-day rule suspension was passed, House leadership announced the House would be voting on H.R. 4478 reauthorizing Section 702 of the FISA Act.
This provision gives the government power to spy on virtually any American without a warrant.
>>> The House could vote on this as soon as tonight, so please call your representative now at 202-224-3121. Tell them to vote “NO” on H.R. 4478.
>>> The Senate is also expected to vote this week as well, so after you've called your representative, call your two senators at 202-224-3121 and demand they vote "NO" on S.2010.
Make no mistake, there is no need for government to spy on innocent Americans without a warrant, and there is certainly no need to rush this into law.
Section 702 has not prevented a single terrorist attack, but it has infringed on your rights and liberties.
Just like the USA Liberty Act, H.R. 4478 pretends to reform the FISA Act, but in fact it does little more than rubber-stamp the existing system of warrantless wiretapping and mass surveillance of innocent Americans.
The bill even gives the Attorney General the power to decide when evidence collected in violation of the Fourth Amendment can be used in court -- and his decision cannot be overturned!
Giving the Attorney General this type of power sets a dangerous precedent that could be used to expand the powers of bureaucracies like the IRS or EPA.
It is outrageous that Congress would even consider such a proposal, but is a particularly insulting that Congressional leadership would ram it through the House days before Christmas and in a week when Congress is preoccupied with tax reform and a potential government shutdown.
So please contact your representative and senators at 202-224-3121 now and tell them to oppose H.R. 4478 and S.2010.
Print 
PDF