The "Protect America Act," as it was called, allowed unwarranted spying on innocent Americans. Bush fed several lies about the legislation to the Congress and the American public. He said that the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) needed to be updated to account for new technology. In fact, FISA was specifically created to be neutral to technological advancements. There is absolutely NO new technology immune from interception with a warrant. The key word here is "warrant." Bush wanted the ability to spy on Americans without a warrant. He wanted to completely circumvent the court so that no one would know on whom his administration was spying or why.
Bush has also claimed that the "Protect America Act" only authorizes spying on foreigners. This is another lie. Any American communicating with any person in a foreign country can be monitored without a warrant. Any phone call or email leaving the United States is fair game under this act. The fact is that spies and terrorists were already aware that they were being monitored. The difference that this act made is the ability to spy on Americans without a warrant.
This act also protects companies like AT&T and Verizon from prosecution for their parts they played in the monitoring of U.S. citizens. No U.S. company or officer of said company should be exempt from prosecution if they violated the Constitution of the United States, no matter how wealthy or powerful.
The Constitution should be obeyed. The falsely named "Protect America Act" should be repealed. Please send Congress a message. Visit http://action.downsizedc.org/wyc.php?cid=81 to take action and keep this terrible piece of legislation from being renewed.
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