Senator Al Franken's Letter Regarding Opposition to NDAA

ATS Peeps!

I signed a petition via Demand Progress regarding the travesty of justice known as the NDAA, and it automatically sent letters to all of my congresspeople here in MN. As expected, the clueless offices of Klobuchar & Bachman responded with some form-fill garbage (they both voted for it). However Al Franken's response was extremely encouraging and enlightening.

One may not agree with all of Franken's stances, but he is one of the few people in DC along with the Pauls, Bernie Sanders and a couple others who are rightfully concerned about the assault on our civil liberties by the Bush/Obama administrations. Unfortunately senators like Franken are in the extreme minority, which shows how corrupt and brainwashed our government has become.

Pay particular attention to the part about how his amendments to strip the controversial parts of the NDAA weren't even heard on the floor! If you are looking for a conspiracy, look no further. Congress and the Executive Branch are actively plotting to strip away our natural born rights. And they are doing it right in front of our faces. Letter is below:

reply to post by TheReligiousHoax


Dear XXXXX,

Thank you for contacting me about the detainee provisions in the National Defense Authorization Act. I appreciate hearing from you on this very important issue.

On December 15, 2011, the Senate passed a bill including provisions on detention that I found simply unacceptable. These provisions are inconsistent with the liberties and freedoms that are at the core of the system our Founders established. And while I did in fact vote for an earlier version of the legislation, I did so with the hope that the final version would be significantly improved. That didn't happen, and so I could not support the final bill.

The bill that passed included several problematic provisions, the worst of which could allow the military to detain Americans indefinitely, without charge or trial, even if they're on U.S. soil. Another provision requires the military-not civilian law enforcement agencies like the FBI-to detain anyone that it believes to be a member of al Qaeda or an associated force and who helped plan or carry out an attack on the U.S. or its allies. At their core, these provisions will radically alter how we investigate, arrest, and detain individuals suspected of terrorism. This leaves it unclear what role the FBI and other law enforcement agencies are to play, despite their proven effectiveness at preventing attacks on our homeland since September 11th. This comes despite deep concerns voiced by FBI Director Robert Mueller before the Senate Judiciary Committee, of which I'm a member. What's more, these provisions could undermine the safety of our troops stationed abroad.

During consideration of the National Defense Authorization Act, I expressed my strong opposition to these provisions on the floor of the Senate. I filed two amendments to strip each of the provisions, but unfortunately neither received a vote. I also voted in favor of several amendments that would have made significant improvements to the provisions; none of these passed.

September 11th irrevocably and unalterably changed our lives. But it is exactly in these difficult moments, in these periods of war, when our country is under attack, that we must be doubly vigilant about protecting what makes us Americans. The Founders who crafted our Constitution and Bill of Rights were careful to draft a Constitution of limited powers-one that would protect Americans' liberty at all times-both in war, and in peace.
As we reflect on what this bill will do, I think it is important to pause and remember some of the mistakes this country has made when we have been fearful of enemy attack. Most notably, we made a grave, indefensible mistake during World War II, when President Roosevelt ordered the incarceration of more than 110,000 people of Japanese origin, as well as approximately 11,000 German-Americans and 3,000 Italian-Americans.

In 1971, President Richard Nixon signed into law the Non-Detention Act to make sure the U.S. government would never again subject any Americans to the unnecessary and unjustifiable imprisonment that so many Japanese-Americans, German-Americans, and Italian-Americans had to endure. It wasn't until 1988, 46 years after the internment, when President Reagan signed the Civil Liberties Act, that the government formally acknowledged and apologized for the grave injustice that was done to citizens and permanent residents of Japanese ancestry. These were dark, dark periods in American history. And it is easy today to think that is all behind us.

But I fear the detention provisions in the bill forget the lessons we learned from the mistakes we made when we interned thousands of innocent Japanese, Germans, and Italians. With this National Defense Authorization Act, Congress will for the first time in 60 years authorize the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without charge or trial-according to its advocates. This would be the first time that Congress has deviated from President Nixon's Non-Detention Act. And what we are talking about here is that Americans could be subjected to life imprisonment without ever being charged, tried, or convicted of a crime, without ever having an opportunity to prove their innocence to a judge or a jury of their peers. And without the government ever having to prove their guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Cont...

reply to post by TheReligiousHoax


I think that is highly problematic. It ignores what our Founders intended when they created a civilian, non-military justice system for trying and punishing people for crimes committed on U.S. soil. Our Founders were fearful of the military-and they purposely created a system of checks and balances to ensure we did not become a country under military rule. This bill undermines that core principle, which is why I could not support it.

On the same day that I voted against this legislation, I joined a number of my colleagues in introducing the Due Process Guarantee Act, which would explicitly prohibit the military from holding Americans caught in the U.S. in indefinite detention without charge or trial. I will be working to get this important legislation enacted into law.
Thank you again for contacting me, and please don't hesitate doing so in the future regarding this or any other matter of concern to you.

Sincerely,

Al Franken
United States Senator

I will read this and get back to you. Shortly.






Hooray for Mr. Franken! Nice to see him standing up for Americans.

Anyone hear about the GA GOP convention?



A motion to denounce 1021 was overwhelmingly supported. It was voted on (majority Aye) but before the Nay vote was amended to say that the GA GOP would not endorse any candidate which supports 1021. That passed overwhelmingly. Then before the conclusion of the adoption someone said WAIT we won't be able to support Romney!

The GA GOP then withdrew the original resolution according to the new rules which allowed the resolution committee to withdraw any resolution which was amended that it did not agree with.

WE ARE AGAINST 1021

BUT WE WILL SUPPORT a PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE that SUPPORTS IT!

Hypocrisy at its finest.

I hate this guy but damn...he has done a couple of good things. What gives? A politician with a sense of patriotism? Weird. Guess I gotta give him a thumbs up on this one.

reply to post by Nite_wing


I hear ya. I detest 99.9% of ALL politicians, GOP and Democrats alike. Franken has written some pretty audacious books in the past. Couple this with his skits on SNL back in the day, its very easy to write this guy off as a kook and/or limousine liberal, which is why this letter was so shocking to me. This letter proves at the very least that he is a true patriot, intelligent, and well versed in US history. Three qualities that determine a good legislator.

I posted this letter not only to help show resistance to the NDAA provisions, but to also show how most people probably had Al Franken all wrong. I know I did, and I stand corrected.

No offense OP but that response is highly uncharacteristic of Franken. If it was truly his words I've got to say I'm shocked. He comes across like Kucinich in a way. Plenty of big talk and NO action.

I'm glad you took the time to actually write in an effort to be heard!! For that!!

Can't stand Franken so i am left wondering

What is his angle?

Originally posted by jibeho
No offense OP but that response is highly uncharacteristic of Franken. If it was truly his words I've got to say I'm shocked. He comes across like Kucinich in a way. Plenty of big talk and NO action.

I'm glad you took the time to actually write in an effort to be heard!!

For that!!

edit on 22-5-2012 by jibeho because: (no reason given)

No offense taken. I was of the same mindset when I first saw this email. But yep! It is indeed from him!

@ Neo:

I am not sure if there is any angle at play here. Franken is one of only a handful in congress who oppose this bill. If anything his opposition to this would ostracize him from the rest of congress. I fail to see any benefit he will receive from this.