"Dodd worked to protect freedom"

In today's Iowa City Press-Citizen, there's a great letter to the editor in support of Chris Dodd's leadership to win a victory in the FISA fight last week.

Recently Connecticut Sen. Chris Dodd won a great victory for the U.S. Constitution. Almost single-handedly, he prevented passage of a bill that would have granted blanket immunity to the Bush administration, and some of the largest companies in the nation, for spying on American citizens. We still don't know exactly what they did, but we do know that they took technology and legal authority to spy on foreigners, and abused them by spying on Americans.

This bill was not about spying on terrorists. The FISA Act of 1978 already gave the government broad powers to eavesdrop on suspected spies and terrorists.

These powers were expanded even further by the Patriot Act. The bill that was debated yesterday began as a simple technical fix to clarify how surveillance powers would apply to new technologies, like cell phones. But it became a vehicle for retroactive amnesty for the Bush administration, and its allies who exceeded their authority by eavesdropping on the phone calls and emails of ordinary, law-abiding Americans.

We have been presented with the false choice that we must give up some of our freedoms in order to gain security. But Dodd knows that in the long run, we can only be secure if we defend our freedoms.

The world has always looked to America as the well spring of freedom, and I'm supporting Dodd because he has done the most to protect our freedoms.

Dale Shultz
Iowa City

As we've endeavored to show throughout this campaign, restoring the Constitution and defending the rule of law are issues that Americans all around the country care deeply about. Literally everywhere I have gone on the campaign trail with Senator Dodd - Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, Florida, Michigan, Utah and more - people have asked him what he will do to restore the Constitution...what he will do to honor the balance of powers between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches...how he will treat our detainees...how he will handle conflicting intelligence reports. Everywhere we go, people ask for leadership that will restore America's moral authority and standing in the world by standing up for the rule of law here at home.

I say this in hopes that this brilliant letter to the editor can once again be offered up as proof for those that care that the Constitution is not an issue that only law professors and high school civics teachers care about. Instead, it strikes to the fabric of who we are as a nation and can surprise no one that so many people nationwide will be voting for the candidate who's stood up for the Constitution and who is getting results through principled leadership in the Senate...Chris Dodd.

read more