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Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT), an ardent and vocal opponent of granting retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies that may have participated in the Administration's warrantless wiretapping of American citizens, today offered an amendment that he co-sponsored with Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) to strip the egregious retroactive immunity provisions from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act.  This amendment would ensure that courts have the ability to fulfill their constitutional duty to determine whether or not these companies should be held accountable for their actions. 

“This is not about a Democratic Senator trying to cause trouble for a Republican Administration,” said Dodd on the floor while introducing the amendment. “That argument is offensive. This is a serious debate about a serious issue. This is about protecting the rights and liberties of our citizens while simultaneously protecting our country from those who would do us harm.”

For months, Senator Dodd has led the effort to remove retroactive immunity from the FISA Amendments Act. When the Senate first considered this legislation on December 17, Dodd took to the floor for almost ten hours, speaking against the bill and standing up for the rule of law and the Constitution.  Due to Senator Dodd's objections, the bill was pulled from consideration in December.  As the Senate has renewed debate on this issue, Senator Dodd has continued to passionately speak out against providing retroactive immunity; his statements can be found here.

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