Senators seek end to telecom's immunity for spying program

Sens Christopher Dodd (D-CT, Patrick Leahy (D-VT), Russ Feingold (D-WI) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR) will introduce a bill to repeal a provision protecting telecommunications carriers from lawsuits due to their assistance to a controversial US National Security Agency surveillance program. The Retroactive Immunity Repeal Act would repeal telecom immunity provisions in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act, passed by Congress in July 2008. "I believe we best defend America when we also defend its founding principles," Sen Dodd said. "We make our nation safer when we eliminate the false choice between liberty and security. But by granting retroactive immunity to the telecommunications companies who may have participated in warrantless wiretapping of American citizens, the Congress violated the protection of our citizen's privacy and due process right and we must not allow that to stand." Sen Leahy, chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he was pleased to sponsor the bill. "Last year, I opposed legislation that stripped Americans of their right to seek accountability for the Bush administration's decision to illegally wiretap American citizens without a warrant," he said in a statement. "We can strengthen national security while protecting Americans' privacy and civil liberties. Restoring Americans' access to the courts is the first step toward bringing some measure of accountability for the Bush-Cheney administration's decision to conduct warrantless surveillance in violation of our laws."