Majority Leader Harry Reid has just pulled the FISA bill from consideration in this session. It will be brought up at some point next month.
Without Senator Dodd's leadership today, it is safe to assume that retroactive immunity would have passed.
This is a great victory for the American people. His outspoken opposition to retroactive immunity and the Intelligence Committee's FISA bill made it impossible to move forward now. From a process standpoint, that took the persistent shadow of a Dodd filibuster on this legislative process, a "hold" against any legislation that included retroactive immunity, and today, a refusal to grant unanimous consent to rules of debate that would have made it harder to strip retroactive immunity from the Intel Committee's bill through the Dodd-Feingold Amendment. He brought along some of the Senate's most passionate voices -- Senator's Feingold, Kennedy, Boxer, Wyden, Brown and Bill Nelson joined him to stand up to the President today.
Throughout the day Senator Dodd stood on the Senate floor and spoke out against the Bush administration's abuse of executive powers. He spoke out against granting retroactive immunity for telecom companies who helped the Bush administration spy on Americans without warrant - noting that if we grant immunity now, we may never know the full extent of what happened behind closed doors and what arguments were used to justify warrantless surveillance.
For now, the FISA debate is over. It will come up again down the road, but for now everyone who supported Senator Dodd's leadership against retroactive immunity and supported his promise to filibuster should be proud of their work to defend the Constitution and the rule of law.
Comments
Thank you Matt, and Senator Dodd. You all are heroes today.
Thank you, Sir.
Congratulations to the citizens of this country for the victory that was achieved today. Senator Dodd has served all of us well in his refusal to back down in his defense of our civil liberties and constitutional protections. He has upheld his oath to honor, protect and defend the Constitution of the US. He has shown leadership when the leaders themselves have capitulated. He has been present in Washington DC fighting for us and earning our votes while others have remained in Iowa and elsewhere fighting amongst themselves for our votes. He lives a politics of hope while others merely talk.
The fight is not over. Our constitutional protections, secured for the moment, will be challenged again soon enough. Senator Dodd has shown today what can happen when good people do something.
My god! Finally a statesman has been found in Washington. Thank you Senator Dodd for standing up for the fundamental principles that this country was founded upon. This is the first thing in a long time that has given me hope that someone would stand up to this lying, criminal administration. May your star rise and thank you from the American people for a job well done sir!
Senator Dodd, you rock. Matt, you rock. Citizens of the United States who called and blogged and talked to their neighbors and raised a ruckus, you rock.
Senator Chris Dodd demonstrated true leadership today, leading a coalition that put a halt to anti-constitutional nonsense. Senator Chris Dodd demonstrated true statesmanship, engaging his colleagues in conversation and using the stage of his position to bring to light a series of serious problems. Through the force of his will and the rectitude of his position, Senator Dodd carried the day. Isn't that what we want from our next president?
Meanwhile, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and Joseph Biden spent their broken promise of a day giving speeches to crowds in Iowa on the subject of how wonderful they are. What a contrast.
Thank you Chris for showing what real leadership is like. While the junior senator from CT was proving exactly why he lost the primary last year this morning (and does not deserve the invented moniker of Independent Democrat), you proved yourself as a lawmaker who really understands what the Constitution is.
Thank you Senator Dodd. I wish I lived in Iowa today!
Dear Senator Dodd,
Thank you, sir. You are a true patriot.
Sen. Dodd,
Thank you for taking the time and energy to put a halt to this ridiculous bill. I am all for LEGAL surveillance as it is necessary to fight crime and prevent terrorist attacks, but too often this administration has lied and asked for more power, while at the same time showing an incredible amount of inability to do their jobs. I just wish more of your colleagues had the same intestinal fortitude.
CD
Thank you Senator Dodd, you truly represented us today.
Thank you, Senator Dodd, for showing what real leadership looks like today. Thank you for taking a stand, for not backing down, and for fighting not for what is expedient, but for what is right.
Please, Senator, don't let it end here. Fight when the bill comes back in January, and continue fighting for what is right against this administration who would frighten its citizens and strip us of our rights and civil liberties.
It becomes so disheartening to see this administration break the law and trample over the people time and again without consequence. So thank you for taking this fight to their front door, and for standing firm and resolute.
Dak
Senator Dodd is a true hero! I can't express the enormity of my gratitude for him holding his ground and standing up for The Constitution.
I'm so thrilled! Thank you so much, Senator Dodd! If you had not stood up, blanket warrants would be legal right now, and the telecoms would face no penalties for their illegal activities.
And by the way, even though the Bush administration has been acting in violation of the original FISA since early 2001, they did not protect us against the attacks of September 11. Perhaps, if they had devoted their attention to gathering and analysing intelligence, rather than to finding ways to break the law, they might have prevented the September 11 attacks.
Thank you Sen. Dodd. You are the kind of leader we need in the Democratic party. Harry Reid has been a real disappointment for us, and of course some of the other senators were too busy campaigning to do their jobs, but you stood up for us. I personally will not forget you.
Senator Dodd,
You are a man I can point to, when telling my two young daughters, what integrity, and backbone actually means.
Thank you Senator Dodd.
You rock.
One day the forces of darkness may rise again to strip away the Liberty we were born into..The Liberty that so many have given their lives to protect..But Not This Day...Thank you Senator Dodd for fighting the good fight!
Sen. Dodd, thank-you thank-you thank-you !
For the bravery and leadership you have shown, you deserve to be the front-running Democratic presidential candidate.
I have made a contribution to your campaign.
Bless you, you true patriot.
Thank you Senator Dodd for your extra effort. You are a true defender of the constituton.
Thank you, Senator Dodd. Today you showed true courage and true patriotism. I hope some of it rubs off on your fellow senators.
Thank you for (1)standing against the tyranny of the executive branch in its attempt to supplant the other two. (2)opposing the further captulation of elected officials to corporate interests. (3)putting Harry Reid, Obama, and Clinton in a new, and rather unflattering light. You sir, are a statesman; the other three are just polititians. What now, can I do for you?
Good job, Senator Dodd. We could use a senator like you here in Arizona. Better yet, you could serve us Arizonans in another capacity. Good luck, and thanks!
I just wanted to say "Thank YOU Chris Dodd"
Though I can hardly believe it, we now live in a world where Senator Jeff Sessions has the unbelievable audacity to come to the floor and utter: “The civil libertarians among us would rather defend the constitution than protect our nation’s security.”
It is a statement that takes one's breath away.
Thank you Senator Dodd. For standing up to the maddness. To actually protecting everything this nation stands for. You have set yourself apart this day.
Thank you.
Thank you, Senator Dodd.
Thank you Senator Dodd for always being a patriot since day one of your public service career.
Hopefully, other politicians will wake up and become patriots again.
Thank you, Senator Dodd. You are not only the last man standing, but the first. Actions don't just speak louder than words. They are the only sound there is. That wins my vote. Keep standing. Keep fighting. The fight has just begun.
Thank you Senator Dodd! This is what leadership and patriotism looks like.
Thank you Senator Dodd.
I cannot believe how reluctant the Democratic majority in Congress has been to hold the Bush Administration responsible for eroding our sacred Constitution. I sincerely hope that your courage today will show what can be done in reclaiming our government.
Thank you.
mk
Well Senator Dodd, you just got my vote in the primaries. If you are willing to stand up for us like this as president I am with you all the way... Just don't pull a Kucinich and pick Ron Paul as your running mate.
Thank you, Senator Dodd, for showing us a 21st Century Profile in Courage. And where were your fellow senators, the ones who've lately talked extensively about the importance of leadership -- Senators Clinton and Obama? Their absence speaks volumes.
Senator Dodd, you're my hero! Thank you so much for speaking so eloquently about this issue and for your efforts to protect the Constitution from any more onslaughts. Right now, we are seeing so few who are willing to stand up and do what is right. Sometimes I think that there is no one left in power who truly believes in what this country once stood for. I'm so glad to be proven wrong. You won't be forgotten!
Senator Dodd, I am glad that I live in Connecticut.
THANK YOU SENATOR DODD FOR STANDING UP TO THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION AND TO HARRY REID AND THE REST OF THE DISAPPOINTING DEMOCRATIC PUSHOVERS!!! I AM TIRED OF THEIR EXCUSES AND SO APPRECIATE YOUR STANDING UP TO HIM TODAY AND HIS EFFORT TO KEEP YOU FROM FILIBUSTERING!!! WHAT DID HE WANT TO DO, GO HOME???? NOTHING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PROTECTING OUR CIVIL LIBERTIES AND OUR CONSTITUTION AND WE HAVE YOU TO THANK FOR IT!!!
Thank you, Senator, for fighting hard for us in defense of the principle that in our Country, prosecution of illegal violations of private American citizens' civil liberties shall not be brushed off or bought off.
The White House, Attorney General, and GOP have said a lot about their sincere concerns over potential unfairness to the telecom corporations. Please keep reminding them that it would be grossly unfair to all American citizens who are potential victims of any illegal spying to prematurely deny them the lawful right to their day in court.
Your inspiring remarks on the floor today should be played for all of the Presidential candidates who were too busy on the campaign trail to make the vote.
Over the last seven years, I, like so many, have slowly lost hope. The dark days of scandal, secrecy, senseless war and corruption have cost tax paying Americans more than just trillions of dollars and thousands upon thousands of lives. They have cost us in hope, and trust.
Your actions today have helped restore my hope for America, and my hope for a transparent, accountable American government.
I salute you, Senator Dodd.
I have never felt so excited and proud to be watching C-SPAN as I did today. Bravo!
Last night there was one person out there who was saying on behalf of the American people, not this member, not while I'm here. While watching, I was filled with hope, and a patriotism I have not felt in years. Thank you Sen. Dodd for listening to the people and doing something. Maybe one person can make a difference. Thank you!!
Senator Dodd,
You and your colleagues did the right thing in standing up to a President who has no regard for the Constitution. Well done.
Today the march of fascism in the U.S.A. has been slowed.
I am sooooooooo happy about this, and I congratulate the Senator on his leadership. It feel very, very good to use that word in conjunction with the present Congress. I share the disappointment of many others that the promise of the 2006 election has not been fulfilled. Yesterday, howevwer, I saw a glimmer of hope.
The Senator's display of leadership on this issue prompted me to contribute this morning, and has secured for him my primary vote in New York.
Thank you!
Nathan
From Glenn Greenwald's blog:
"Whatever else is true, Chris Dodd took a principled stand today, sacrificing his presidential campaign and alienating his long-time colleagues to do so, and he won. He demonstrated what "leadership" is in action, rather than "rhetoric." Acts of that kind on our national political stage are rare indeed. "
Congratulations and HUGE thanks to Chris Dodd. I had begun to despair of ever seeing a Senator take a stand on the lawlessness of this Administration. I truly hope that Senator Dodd is rewarded for his actions.
Senator Dodd's legacy will be one of principled personal sacrifice in effort toward turning the tide against this Administration's assault on the rule of law. Our Constitution MUST be protected; our Founding Father's intended its construction to be the base of law for our great country. Americans are strong because of their past efforts. NOW, as of this moment, is the time to reclaim our values through the efforts of great statesmen like Senator Chris Dodd, who follow their passion and support our Constitution!
I am so proud of you, Senator Dodd -- you are truly a hero!
Matt,
Please convey to Senator Dodd my sincerest gratitude for his leadership, perseverance and hard work in standing up to protect the rule of law and the fundamental principles of our constitutional democracy. That the freedoms the citizens of the United States hold so dear were in dire peril, there can be no doubt.
Phil
Thank you, Senator Dodd. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
Thank you Senator Dodd. Finally someone brings some sanity to the senate floor.
"Chris Dodd believes the time for giving President Bush blank checks is over and that we should begin safely redeploying U.S. combat troops out of Iraq, beginning immediately and completed within eight to ten months"
The American people want our troops redeployed "HOME" not to Afghanistan, not to Iran, but HOME. The "war on terror" is a self inflicted wound, nothing more. Although I think your FISA victory today is noble, for you to capture the hearts and minds of the American people you need to speak out against this bogus war on terror that is serving to promote globalist corporate interests. Until you do that Edwards is the only choice for me.
Dodd and Kucinich.