Action Alert: Call & Ask Your Senator to Vote AGAINST Telecom Amnesty

by Deb Cupples |   Last week, the House passed a FISA bill that included retroactive immunity for telecom companies (Telecom Amnesty) that had violated federal laws while helping the Bush Administration spy on Americans. 

Whatever I may generally think of Keith Olbermann, he did give a good explanation of why Telecom Amnesty would be bad public policy.  I embedded the video clip after the jump for those who are interested.

Please call your senator and ask him/her to vote against immunity for telecom companies.  A phone list is below (thanks to Firedoglake for compiling it), with local numbers through which Floridians can reach Sen. Bill Nelson.

Olbermann's video is at the end of the two lists.

Senators' Phone Numbers in DC:

Bayh (202) 224-5623
Byrd (202) 224-3954
Carper (202) 224-2441
Clinton (202) 224-4451
Coleman (202) 224-5641
Collins (202) 224-2523
Durbin (202) 224-2152
Feinstein (202) 224-3841
Inouye (202) 224-3934
Johnson (202) 224-5842
Kohl (202) 224-5653
Landrieu (202)224-5824
Leahy (202) 224-4242
Lincoln (202)224-4843
McCaskill (202) 224-6154
Mikulski (202) 224-4654
Nelson (FL) (202) 224-5274
Nelson (NE) (202) 224-6551
Obama (202) 224-2854
Pryor (202) 224-2353
Reid (202) 224-3542
Salazar (202) 224-5852
Schumer (202) 224-6542
Smith (202) 224-3753
Snowe (202) 224-5344
Specter (202) 224-4254
Stabenow (202) 224-4822
Stevens (202) 224-3004
Sununu (202) 224-2841
Webb (202) 224-4024
Warner (202) 224-2023

If you're not sure which senator is yours, go to this page , hit the drop-down menu labeled "choose a state," and your state's two senators' names will appear.

If your senator's DC phone number (202) is busy -- as my senator's was -- go to this page, click on your senator's name (which is a link to his/her home page), and check his/her contact information for the local office phone number.

That's how I got through to Sen. Nelson's office in Florida.  Incidentally, the lady who answered the phone said that the office was getting tons of calls, many of them about Telecom Amnesty.

For Floridians: Bill Nelson's Local Contact Info

Orlando
Landmark Two
225 East Robinson Street, Ste 410
Orlando, Florida 32801
Phone: 407-872-7161
Toll Free in Florida: 1-888-671-4091
Fax: 407-872-7165

Miami-Dade
2925 Salzedo Street
Coral Gables, FL 33134
Phone: 305-536-5999 Telephone
Fax: 305-536-5991

Tampa
Sam Gibbons Federal Court House
801 N. Florida Ave., 4th Floor
Tampa, Florida 33602
Phone: 813-225-7040
Fax: 813-225-7050

West Palm Beach
500 Australian Avenue Suite 125
West Palm Beach, Florida 33401
Phone: 561-514-0189
Fax: 561-514-4078

Tallahassee
US Court House Annex
111 North Adams Street
Tallahassee, Florida 32301
Phone: 850-942-8415
Fax: 850-942-8450

Jacksonville
1301 Riverplace Blvd, Suite 2218
Jacksonville, Florida 32207
Phone: 904-346-4500
Fax: 904-346-4506

Broward
3416 South University Drive
Davie, FL 33328
Phone: 954-693-4851
Fax: 954-693-4862

Fort Myers
Justice Center Annex Building
2000 Main Street, Suite 801
Fort Myers, FL 33901
Phone: 239-334-7760
Fax: 239-334-7710

Olbermann Video on Telecom Amnesty

Related Buck Naked Politics Posts:

* Law Prof Challenges the Spin and Tells Why FISA Bill is Frightening

* Domestic Spying & Telecom Amnesty: the Bigger Issues

* Domestic Spying Started Before 9/11, and Money Changed Hands

* Bush & Senate Republicans Protect Telecoms, Soil Privacy Rights

* U.S. Intel Chief Made False Statements re: Domestic Spying

 Memeorandum has commentary

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Comments

[Adam]

Here's the message I sent Ken Salazar:

"Subject:Please fight to oppose telecom immunity.

As a citizen of Colorado who supported your candidacy, I am writing to ask you to stand with your fellow Democratic senators such as Chris Dodd and Russ Feingold, and oppose a bill that grants retroactive immunity to telecommunication companies.

First, let us be clear: there is no great urgency in passing this bill. Intelligence services operated for years without this bill and can operate just fine if it expires. They are still allowed to tap international calls without this bill.

Furthermore, no matter what you may think of the need for intelligence services to have these powers, retroactive immunity for telecommunication companies does literally nothing to help our intelligence services. What it does is send the message to these corporations, which have extensive legal departments and knew full well that they were breaking the law, that they are above the law.

This vote is a vote about whether we are a nation of laws, and a nation that respects the civil rights of its citizens. A vote for the current bill is a vote that allows fear-mongering and corporate influence to undermine the core principles of our republic.

I was deeply disappointed to see you vote against senator Dodd's amendment to strip immunity in February. I hope you reconsider that vote this time around, and should that vote fail, I hope you will join other senators in supporting a filibuster so that a better bill can be drafted in conference committee.

Respectfully..."

[Deb]

Nice job, Adam!

Did you email, fax, or snail mail it?

I hope you'll consider posting it as an open-letter on the blog.

I also hope you'll call Salazar's local office and DC office to register your opinion. Nelson's local office had staff answering phones like crazy and keeping a tally.

Nelson's DC office line was busy. The switchboard lady told me it'd been busy most of the day. :)

[Adam]

I e-mailed it.

Glad you liked it. Your wish is my command; it's now a post.

I still intend to write a longer post about my disappointment with Obama's position, but that might not be until the weekend.

[Deb]

Adam,

Damozel and I are tres glad to have you aboard. And we DON'T expect a certain # of posts. Anything you want to contribute will be great.