Feingold: Restoring the Rule Of Law

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 10, 2008 3:50 PM

CONTACT: Senator Russ Feingold Zach Lowe (202) 224-8657

WASHINGTON - September 10 - U.S. Senator Russ Feingold, Chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee, will hold a hearing on Tuesday, September 16, on "Restoring the Rule of Law." During the hearing, the Subcommittee will hear testimony from legal and historical experts on what steps the next president and the next Congress must take to repair the damage done by the Bush Administration to the rule of law.

The hearing is an effort to provide the next president with a full range of recommendations for reestablishing appropriate checks and balances in a variety of areas, including warrantless wiretapping, interrogation standards, detention policy, abuse of executive privilege, excessive government secrecy, violations of privacy and misleading Congress.

In addition to the testimony of the witnesses at the hearing, Senator Feingold has solicited suggestions from a host of law professors, historians, advocates and other experts to offer a blueprint to the next president and Congress for what must be done, starting in January 2009, to reverse the previous administration's abuses. The submitted testimony will be available at http://feingold.senate.gov prior to the hearing.

Who: Senator Russ Feingold, Chairman, Constitution Subcommittee of the Senate Judiciary Committee

What: Hearing on "Restoring the Rule of Law"

When: Tuesday, September 16^th - 10:15 a.m. ET

Where: Hart Senate Office Building - Room 216

Witnesses:

Walter Dellinger

Douglas B. Maggs Professor Emeritus of Law, Duke University School of Law

Solicitor General of the United States 1996-1997

Mickey Edwards

Board of Directors, The Constitution Project

Lecturer, Woodrow Wilson School of Public Policy, Princeton University

Former Member of Congress (R-OK), 1977-1993

Harold Koh

Dean and Gerard C. & Bernice Latrobe Smith Professor of International Law

Yale Law School

Elisa Massimino

Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director

Human Rights First

John D. Podesta

President and CEO, Center for American Progress Action Fund

Chief of Staff to President William J. Clinton, 1998-2001

Frederick A.O Schwarz Jr.

Senior Counsel

Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law

Suzanne E. Spaulding

Principal

Bingham Consulting Group

Charles J. Cooper

Partner, Cooper & Kirk, PLLC

Patrick F. Philbin Partner

Kirkland & Ellis LLP

Kyndra Rotunda

Visiting Assistant Professor of Law

Chapman University School of Law

Robert Turner

Professor, General Faculty Associate Director, Center for National Security Law

University of Virginia School of Law

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

"Bush Broke The Law"

No kidding!


Sen. Feingold: FISA a mistake, Bush broke the law

A BUZZFLASH NEWS ALERT
by Amy Weiss

In a streaming press conference hosted by The Washington Note, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) outlined the recent Feingold-Hagel bill proposing the creation of an independent intelligence commission and also admitted his outrage at the revised Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) that passed the House last week and is expected to pass the Senate.

After explaining the need for a commission to assess and improve intelligence gathering procedures, Sen. Feingold took questions that immediately went to FISA. When asked what he thought about Republicans and many Democrats willing to sign the bill, Feingold expressed deep disappointment and frustration.

"This legislation gets it totally wrong," he said. He acknowledged that the primary source of media attention has been immunity for the telecommunications companies, something he calls a "farce."

He feels the rest of the bill, however, is equally if not more reprehensible.

"The president ran an illegal program -- equivalent to an impeachable offense," he said, later adding, "I'm blue in the face already trying to tell people this has happened to you."

Feingold continued to express his contempt for the bill, and his aggravation with many "rank and file" Democrats who approved it. He wouldn't speak directly to the possibility of a filibuster, but said he and Senator Chris Dodd (D-CT) planned on spending a lot of time on the Senate floor talking about the problems with FISA and are "not going to let it quickly pass."

He responded to one question referencing an op-ed piece he wrote in Friday's Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. He said he hopes the next president will be Barack Obama, but either way he hopes the next administration will return to an equal executive branch as the founders intended and roll back some of the outrageous policies of the Bush Administration.

In the op-ed, he wrote:

"The speech we hear in January, I hope, will be many things: honest, hopeful, inspirational. But above all, I hope it will be candid about the need to reverse the Bush administration's abuse of executive power and to uphold the presidential oath of office that our framers crafted so simply and so well."

In response to a question that addressed statements that claim this FISA deal is in fact a compromise and an improvement in many areas, Feingold responded: "Anybody who says this is an okay bill, I question if they've even read it."

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.

Felingold Calls For Censure of The Big Three

It's hard to believe that censure is the only option we might have in holding the most corrupt, criminal administration we have ever had accountable for their many, many crimes. It's even harder to believe that censure won't happen either.

Why are Congress-critters so scared of the Bushites? Or are they just complicit? Or is it some combination of the two?

Whatever the answer, the USA is finished as a world leader for the foreseeable future and that, in my mind is a good thing. We have far too many serious problems in this country, which have gone ignored for far too long. Our focus, now, must turn more within; as someone once said, get the plank out of our own eye rather than worry ourselves about the splinter in the eye of other nations.

Newsday.com

Feingold introduces resolutions censuring Bush, others

By FREDERIC J. FROMMER

Associated Press Writer

5:36 PM EDT, August 6, 2007

WASHINGTON

Sen. Russ Feingold has introduced resolutions that would censure President Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for what Feingold calls the Bush administration's misleading the nation into war, and undermining the rule of law.

In the House, Rep. Maurice Hinchey, D-N.Y., introduced companion resolutions.

"Congress cannot stay silent when the American people are demanding that this administration be held accountable for its blatant misconduct regarding Iraq and its attack on the rule of law," Feingold, D-Wis., said in a statement Monday.

"From misleading this country into invading Iraq to establishing a warrantless domestic spy program, this White House has continuously misled and deceived the American people while disregarding the rule of law that guides our democracy," Hinchey said in a statement Monday,

Feingold announced last month that he would introduce the two resolutions.

One would censure Bush and Cheney for what it calls misleading the country about the threat posed by Saddam Hussein's regime, and inadequate planning for military action in Iraq, among other things.

The other would censure Bush and Gonzales for the warrantless surveillance program against suspected terrorists, and what the resolution calls misleading Congress about the firings of U.S. attorneys, among other things.

Taken together, the measures would amount to a formal condemnation of Bush, Cheney and Gonzales.

White House spokesman Alex Conant responded: "We know Senator Feingold does not care much for the president's policies, but we would welcome the opportunity to work with him and his colleagues on the important issues facing our nation. Perhaps after calls for censure and investigations, Congress will turn its attention to important issues like funding our troops, making health care more affordable, and extending tax relief."

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, co-sponsored both Senate resolutions, while Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., co-sponsored the one about Iraq. Nineteen House Democrats, including Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, co-sponsored the House resolutions.

Copyright © 2007, The Associated Press

(In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. I.U. has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is I.U endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)


The Nazis, Fascists and Communists were political parties before they became enemies of liberty and mass murderers.