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Dick Durbin: FISA declassification bill will be “ill-fated”

Tue, 11 Jun 2013 20:30:00 +0000

Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., said that although he supports a new piece of legislation to declassify FISA court opinions, it will be "ill-fated" without way more support from Congress and the White House.

"I encourage this, though I think it is going to be ill-fated," Durbin, the Senate majority whip, told the Hill. He continued that even if the bill, which has bipartisan support, makes it through Congress, he doesn't see Obama signing it. "I think they are going to eventually turn us down," he said, adding: "They are [just] going to say no."

"I have been offering these amendments for years ... and losing them, regularly," Durbin said.

The bill would require Attorney General Eric Holder to declassify opinions issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which authorizes domestic intelligence operations, like those NSA phone surveillance programs revealed last week by the Guardian and the Washington Post, under FISA and the Patriot Act.

Five anti-immigrant GOP amendments to immigration reform

Thu, 09 May 2013 17:42:00 +0000

As the Senate moves towards voting on immigration reform, Republicans have been introducing amendment after amendment that would gut the legislation, or in general place additional restrictions on undocumented immigrants. A total of 300 amendments have been introduced, mostly from Republicans (including 77 from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, himself).

Here are five noteworthy offenders, in no particular order:

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, proposed an amendment that would ban any immigrant "who is or has previously been willfully present in the United States while not in lawful status" from ever becoming a citizen - effectively eliminating the legislation's pathway to citizenship for those undocumented immigrants currently living in the United States.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, he of the 77 proposed amendments, would allow federal law enforcement "to take into account an individual’s country of origin" when considering whether to allow them into the country, also referred to as "profiling."

Republican opposition downs UN disability treaty

Tue, 04 Dec 2012 22:40:00 +0000

WASHINGTON (AP) — Led by Republican opposition, the Senate on Tuesday rejected a United Nations treaty on the rights of the disabled that is modeled after the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act.

With 38 Republicans casting "no" votes, the 61-38 vote fell five short of the two-thirds majority needed to ratify a treaty. The vote took place in an unusually solemn atmosphere, with senators sitting at their desks rather than milling around the podium. Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, looking frail and in a wheelchair, was in the chamber to support the treaty.

The treaty, already signed by 155 nations and ratified by 126 countries, including Britain, France, Germany, China and Russia, states that nations should strive to assure that the disabled enjoy the same rights and fundamental freedoms as their fellow citizens. Republicans objected to taking up a treaty during the lame-duck session of the Congress and warned that the treaty could pose a threat to U.S. national sovereignty.

"I do not support the cumbersome regulations and potentially overzealous international organizations with anti-American biases that infringe upon American society," said Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla.