I followed the House of Representatives debate on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act this week, the latest skirmish in an ongoing battle between the Democratic Congress and President Bush.

The Republican Party wants us to believe the debate is about giving intelligence agencies the power to spy on terrorists. That’s nonsense- our intelligence agencies already have that power, even if Congress does nothing. The President wants us to believe it’s about protecting telecom companies that work with intelligence agencies from being sued. That’s also nonsense – I’ll get to that in a moment.

The debate is really about protecting our Constitution, our freedoms and our nation.

It is the sworn duty of any elected official to protect the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic. One of the domestic enemies of the Constitution is unchecked government power.

Our Constitution limits unchecked government power by giving the Courts and Congress the power to oversee the actions of the Executive Branch.

But we’ve seen time and again this Administration prefers to act in secret, above the law and beyond the Constitution.

I oppose any law that grants telecommunication companies retroactive immunity from lawsuits for collaborating with the Bush Administration’s warrantless, illegal wiretapping of Americans’ private conversations.

If the White House won’t explain its warrantless surveillance program, the telephone companies should be asked to explain it in court.

Americans expect privacy in their conversations. We also expect accountability from those on top as well as those at the bottom of the heap. And we expect our government to explain what it’s doing with our tax
dollars.

Those, like Senator Dole and my primary opponent State Senator Hagan who support giving telecom companies immunity from lawsuits are missing the point. The whole issue of shielding telecom companies from zealous trial lawyers is a red herring.

Having worked with many Fortune 500 companies, I’d bet that any agreement the telecom companies made to provide customers’ private records to the Administration included a guarantee that the government, not the companies, would be responsible for any lawsuits that might arise. The telecom companies’ lawyers are smart and tough enough to require that kind of legal immunity.

The Administration, again, is using telecom immunity as a smokescreen to hide its shady backroom dealings from the American people which it profoundly distrusts.

I believe government must be open and accountable to the American people. It’s time that North Carolina has a Democratic Senator who isn’t ashamed to stand for just that – no ifs, and or buts.

Jim Neal