Congress Failing To Act To Restore Liberty
News of Congress today, on this first full day of the Obama presidency, is of what Congress is not doing.
There is not one bill from either the House or Senate attempting to repeal the Patriot Act.
There is not one bill from either the House of Senate attempting to repeal the FISA Amendments Act.
There is one bill attempting to repeal one aspect of the Military Commissions Act. H.R. 64 seeks to restore the jurisdiction of a few courts to hear petitions of habeas corpus made by prisoners at places like Guantanamo Bay. However, the bill, written by Sheila Jackson-Lee, has no cosponsors and has not moved toward serious consideration by the House of Representatives.
The Patriot Act, the Military Commissions Act, and the FISA Amendments Act represent the worst violations of the Constitution put into place under George W. Bush. The authoritarian powers granted by these laws are still in effect – they did not expire just because Barack Obama became President.
Torture, arbitrary imprisonment, government spying and searches without warrants can still take place – and the Democrats in Congress don’t appear to be interested in doing anything about it.
