Williams Acknowledges Sestak for Reversing Course on FISA, Protections for Telephone Companies

Press Release

Williams Acknowledges Sestak for Reversing Course on FISA, Protections for Telephone Companies

Earlier this year, Republican Congressional candidate Craig Williams criticized Joe Sestak for putting special interests ahead of national security by failing to support the extension of and amendments to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). Following his repeated votes against the bill, and statements to the press that he did not support warrantless wiretaps on wholly overseas communications between suspected terrorits and also immunity for telecommunications companies, Sestak voted on Friday for an amended version of the bill that accomplished exactly those ends.

"Up until now, Joe Sestak was in favor of allowing multi-billion dollar class-action lawsuits against telephone companies that assisted our government in the aftermath of 9/11 in the wiretapping of phone calls of foreign terrorists operating overseas, while allowing the authority of our intelligence community to intercept completely overseas communications to expire," said Williams. "Sestak was clearly pandering to the trial lawyers and left wing organizations that filed those lawsuits. In the wake of those votes, I worked to educate Sestak about the impact those lawsuits would have the next time our government needed assistance from companies in combating terrorists."

"Perhaps Sestak will also reconsider his vote against extending the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, which will increase taxes by an average of $2,796 per taxpayer in the Seventh Congressional District," said Williams. "Maybe he will also work to eliminate the hundreds of millions in pork barrel spending that he and his colleagues add to government spending bills and return some of that money to taxpayers. Maybe he will allow the border-security bill -- a bill written by a Democrat -- to come to the floor of Congress for a vote. Maybe he will allow just one of the Republican energy bills, which permit exploration and development of our own natural resources, to come to the floor of Congress for debate and a vote."

In March 2008, Sestak and his House Democrat colleagues refused to approve an update and extension of the Foreign Intelligence and Surveillance Act, instead going on a two-week vacation while our intelligence-gathering capabilities against foreign terrorists was greatly compromised.

From the beginning, the Senate version of the FISA amendments -- which passed by a bi-partisan majority -- gave intelligence agencies the ability to monitor completely overseas communications without a warrant from a federal court (as long as the communications did not involve an American citizen) and also gave retroactive protection from lawsuits to the telephone companies who answered the call of their country. Because the President and the Senate have said that they would not approve legislation that exposes the telephone companies to these frivilous lawsuits, the House Democrats were in effect poisoning the legislation that would give our troops the support they need.

USA Today reported that the language of the bill "would have a federal district court review certifications from the attorney general saying the telecommunications companies received presidential orders telling them wiretaps were needed to detect or prevent a terrorist attack. If the paperwork were in order, the judge would dismiss the lawsuit." (Source: USA Today, "Lawmakers agree to shelter telecom companies.")

Allen Weiner, a Stanford University law professor specializing in Internet and security issues said that Democrat claims that the language was a compromise was not true. "It's a face-saving technique that let's some people claim there was a compromise. But on this issue of telecom immunity, it is not a compromise, it's a capitulation." (Source: The Washington Independent: "Democrats cave on telecom immunity.")

"While Joe Sestak may be trying to save-face and claim that this version of the bill had substantial changes on the issue of immunity for telecommunications companies, this vote is in reality a victory for Republicans," said Williams. "We were right on this issue from the beginning and Joe Sestak and other Democrats ultimately had to cave in to right reason and public pressure."

Craig Williams is running for Congress the 7th Congressional District of Pennsylvania, comprising of most of Delaware County and parts of Montgomery and Chester Counties. Williams is a former federal prosecutor, Marine combat veteran, and former active duty Deputy Legal Counsel to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He lives in Concord Township, Delaware County, with his wife Jennifer, daughter and two step-children. The 7th District is his home - where he lives, where his kids go to school, where he pays taxes, where he attends church, and where he intends to spend the rest of his life.

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