Reps. Gabbard (D-HI) and Massie (R-KY) have introduced H.R. 8970, the Protect Our Civil Liberties Act, which would repeal both the USA PATRIOT Act and the FISA Amendments Act of 2008, two laws which dishonor us and injure our civilization every day they're left on the books. H.R. 8970 would also ban retaliation against whistleblowers who expose government spying and ban the kind of "back doors" our government is always pressuring software developers to build into their privacy software. Getting a warrant from a judge was good enough for over 200 years, but then an incompetent Administration (George W. Bush's, this time) took over and failed dismally in its duty to protect good Americans from terrorist attacks; their attempts to "fix" their mistakes haven't just made us less safe, they've made us less free, and Osama bin Laden laughs at us from beyond the grave. So call your Reps and Senators and tell them to undo these injuries and pass this bill; they'll never see it coming.
Meanwhile, our soon-to-be-departed Administration has proposed gutting the long-standing Migratory Bird Treaty Act by letting corporations off the hook whenever they "incidentally" kill birds with their drilling and construction practices. If you've ever seen birds get electrocuted by high wires or trapped under fishing nets, you know this is a real thing, and if you question whether big corporations should really be punished for killing birds when they don't actually intend to kill birds, note well that involuntary manslaughter is a crime in America and that polluters who don't "intend" to befoul our air and water still face punishment. And, you know, this Administration wasn't very good at changing the rules when they had all the time in the world; what's the chance they'll be good at it now that they're rushing? Environmental Action helps you tell our Fish and Wildlife Service to reject its own proposal to let big corporations off the hook yet again for their unlawful damage to birds.
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