WASHINGTON, DC - Senator and Presidential Candidate Chris Dodd released the following statement in reaction to President Bush today announcing that he had found "common ground" with Congress on giving immunity to the "the phone companies that allegedly helped [his administration]" procure the telephone records of thousands of American citizens without judicial authorization and in violation of the Constitution (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2007/10/20071017.html).
"While the President may think that it's right to offer immunity to those who break the law and violate the right to privacy of thousands of law-abiding Americans, I want to assure him it is not a value we have in common and I hope the same can be said of my fellow Democrats in the Senate.
"For too long we have failed to respect the rule of law and failed to protect our fundamental civil liberties. I will do what I can to see to it that no telecommunications giant that was complicit in this Administration's assault on the Constitution is given a get-out-of-jail-free card."
