Senator Dodd renews call against telecom immunity



Senator Dodd threatened to filibuster a bill that would give immunity to the Telecommunications companies that broke FISA wiretap laws.

Continuing his battle against retroactive immunity for telecommunication companies, Senator Dodd gave an impassioned speech against what he referred to as a "5-year concerted effort contrary to the law of the land."

Pointing out that not all telecoms complied with the request from the Bush administration to listen in on private conversation of American citizens unless they were given a court order to do so, Dodd also questioned where such violations would end, and warned the notion of Americans giving up rights in order to be safe was a "false dichotomy that is dangerous."

Senator Dodd also had high praise for the "brave whistleblower" who came forward with the wiretapping information, and said without that information the practice might have remained hidden.

Dodd ended the session calling for his collegues to support him when he returns to the issue at 9:30am EST Thursday morning, when he promises to continue to fight against telcom immunity with every means at his disposal.



This video is from C-SPAN 2, broadcast January 23, 2008.









