There were two major votes on the ‘Protect’ America Act (FISA) surveillance bill in the Senate today. Civil liberties lost both times. The fight now moves to the House. A 15-day extension is possible. mcjoan has more on Kos.
The first vote was on an an amendment to strike immunity for telecos, which went down 67-31. A “yea” vote is in favor of holding corporations responsible for unconstitutional activities; an “nay” vote is to give them immunity.
Democrats: 30 yea (including Obama and Reid), 18 nay (including Rockefeller and Feinstein), one not voting (Clinton)
Independents: 1 yea (Sanders), 1 nay (Lieberman)
Republicans: 0 yea, 49 nay (including McCain), 1 not voting (Graham)
Details here; mcjoan has a list of the 31 heroes. Hillary Clinton, who was campaigning in Texas
The next vote was on the bill itself. A yes vote approves warrantless surveillance; a ‘no’ vote is to uphold the Fourth Amendment. Yes, it really is that stark. Final results, thanks to TPM: 68 yes, 29 no (including Feinstein*), 3 no vote (including Obama and Clinton).
A sad day for civil liberties in the U. S.
The one silver lining here is that. A majority of the Democratic party and their Senatorial leadership squarely embraced civil liberties. So did both presidential candidates (Hillary Clinton didn’t vote, but her spokesperson issued a statement expressing strong opposition). Back in November and December, there were a lot of questions whether the Democratic party would roll over on this. While many individuals crossed over, the party as a whole did not. Whew. Chris Dodd, Patrick Leahy, and Russ Feingold for Congressional Medals of Honor!
* Update, 11:45 p.m.: comments on Calitics highlight that Feinstein’s “no” vote was after voting for cloture immunity. One out of three ain’t good; but it is better than zero out of three.
Update, 8:30 a.m.: clarifying that Obama voted on immunity, but not the bill itself
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