ONLY These 14 Senators Stood Up to DEFEND PRIVACY RIGHTS Today. Bernie Sanders Was One Of Them.

[Segami]

At the same time that the political theater of the latest Benghazi hearing in the House was going on, the Senate was debating the Cybersecurity Information Sharing Act of 2015, or CISA. Although nominally about cybersecurity, the bill, its critics rightfully argue, would be more accurately called a surveillance bill. Back in April, a group of over 50 advocacy groups and security experts wrote to the Senate opposing the bill and its complement in the House. Here's the Electronic Frontier Foundation explaining why CISA (the Senate bill) and PCNA (the House bill) are bad for civil liberties:

The two bills are part of a slew of cybersecurity bills that have been introduced in Congress this year that are ostensibly intended to facilitate more information sharing about computer security threats from the private sector to the government. But the bills aren't about "information sharing." They're about surveillance. The bill's vague definition and broad legal immunity for new spying powers will facilitate a potentially enormous amount of unrelated personal information to government agencies like the NSA.

The bills' immunity provisions could even increase the militarization of the internet by encouraging companies to conduct computer network exfiltration attacks on adversary's computers.

To make matters worse, companies are granted broad legal immunity leaving them free to share the information without being concerned about what it might be used for. And as one of the letters points out: "CISA allows everyday police to use the information to investigate crimes that have nothing to do with cybersecurity, such as robbery, arson, and carjacking."

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2015/04/eff-congress-stop-cybersurveillance-bills

Ron Wyden (D-OR), the sole dissenting vote in the Senate Intelligence Committee back in April, roundly condemned the bill:

“Any information-sharing legislation that lacks adequate privacy protections is not simply a cybersecurity bill, but a surveillance bill by another name,” Wyden said, in dissenting views on the bill released today. “I opposed this bill because I believe its insufficient privacy protections will lead to large amounts of personal information being shared with the government even when that information is not needed for cybersecurity.”

https://www.wyden.senate.gov/news/press-releases/wyden-cyber-bill-allows-massive-increase-in-government-surveillance-fails-on-security

Tech companies like Apple and the Wikimedia Foundation have also come out against the bill, as has the Computer & Communications Industry Association.

The cloture motion passed 83 to 14.

The 14 dissenting votes consisted of 1 Republican--Rand Paul (R-KY)--and then 13 members of the Democratic caucus.

Here are the 13:

Tammy Baldwin (D-WI)
Cory Booker (D-NJ)
Sherrod Brown (D-OH)
Chris Coons (D-DE)
Al Franken (D-MN)
Pat Leahy (D-VT)
Ed Markey (D-MA)
Bob Menendez (D-NJ)
Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Bernie Sanders (I-VT)
Tom Udall (D-NM)
Elizabeth Warren (D-MA)
Ron Wyden (D-OR)



http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/10/22/1437340/-Only-These-14-Senators-Stood-Up-to-Defend-Privacy-Rights-Today

[randys1]

1. Why wouldnt Boxer be on that list, has to be a reason

[JRLeft]

32. She has some fatal flaws and she's my Senator. Still not nearly as bad as Feinstein.

[fredamae]

2. Speaking of Privacy Rights

How many of these 14 voted Against TPP? Gotta watch these guys..they are coming out For Net Neutrality/Privacy/Environmental BS Now after Supporting TPP etc that Already demonstrates the Giveaway "rights/protections" of most if not all of these things. Many are hoping we'll Forget all that and focus upon what they're "saying" now.

[Bluenorthwest]

12. It was a vote on TPA and the answer is two of these 14 voted for TPA, Ron Wyden and Chris Coons.

nt

[WillyT]

3. HUGE K & R !!! - THANK YOU !!!

[artislife]

4. My wa senators are missing.

I voted for them in every election. Pffft.

[bbgrunt]

5. k and r

[jfern]

6. Hillary would have been sure to be in the other 86

[mhatrw]

7. That's OK. Hillary has her own server. nt

[Fawke Em]

14. More accurately: the FBI has her server.

[Uncle Joe]

8. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, Segami.

[restorefreedom]

9. damn thats a short list

but go bernie!

[charliea]

10. Damn, I can't complain to my Senators!

'cause I live in the only state where both Senators voted the right way.

[Art_from_Ark]

17. Actually there were three states like that--

Vermont, Massachusetts and Oregon.

[George II]

11. I guess we should bookmark this for the next time Sanders says he ALWAYS votes with....

.....the Democratic caucus.

[Fawke Em]

15. .

[Segami]

18. ...

[sabrina 1]

13. That's what they do isn't it, use the media to distract people from is actually going on

in congress.

Only 14 Reps defending the PEOPLE from Corporations, again. Yes, spying on the American people is big business. Like Private Prisons.

What a sad country, pretending to be a democracy.

[Fawke Em]

16. And this effects us far more than the Benghazi hearing.

Ironically, I think it will be cybersecurity that will actually harm Clinton worse.

[sabrina 1]

22. These hearings should be about LIBYA! What are we doing there? WHY did we invade an

African Nation that was none of our business? Notice that NEITHER side is talking about THAT.

4 Americans tragically died in Libya.

But our racist Foreign Policies are so evident in these hearings. There is no one representing LIBYANS there.

How many Libyans died and are still dying and trying to get out of the TRAGIC MESS we created in an African nation that was among the most advanced on the Continent??

What they are talking about is one small fraction of the number of HUMAN BEINGS slaughtered because of the ill conceived invasion under the pretense of 'humanitarian intervention'. Really? So where is NATO now when the situation on the ground for most Libyans who didn't already leave or die, is thousands of times worse than it was when Imperial Western nations pretended to care about them, until they secured the oil?

Theater is all it is. I don't even bother watching these shows anymore.

[Art_from_Ark]

30. It's kind of interesting that just before the Iraq War,

Saddam had announced that he would be accepting euros in payment for his oil.

And just before he was deposed, Gaddafi was promoting an oil-for-gold plan, rather than oil-for-dollars.

[sabrina 1]

31. Yes, and he was proposing an AFrican version of NATO to keep the Imperial Western NATO

out of Africa. Anyone who doesn't know the tragedy of Western Imperialism in Africa, is willfully blind. We cannot ALLOW those Brown people in the ME or Africa or S. America to be Independent of the west.

I am stunned by Democrats who supported that horrible invasion which was based on as many lies as Iraq was.

The lack of knowledge of the cultures of other nations and continents in the US is what allows for the indoctrination to succeed.

Bishop Tutu and Nelson Mandela loved Gadaffi. They knew him in a different way to the way the White Western World did. Their culture is entirely different, their history frought and still suffering from Western Imperialism.

What happened to the Anti War Left? We knew Libya was on the PNAC list back when Bush was occupying the WH.

The amnesia over the past several years is simply stunning.

I remember the sickening cheer leading that went on re Libya 'we are going to liberate them'. It sounded just like the Bush crowd re Iraq.

I thought we knew better. Liberate them? I have not seen a single post here about the great liberation of Libya since the predictions of what was really going to happen, have come horribly true for those unfortunate people. Where have all the cheer leaders gone?

We Western Imperialists won't tolerate any 'arrogant' African or ME or S. American leaders and we sure do teach them a lesson not to 'mess with us'. The old British Empire fell but they are tagging along with us to try to regain some of that old 'glory'.

[dreamnightwind]

37. Mostly off-topic, but truly excellent points you make

Thank you. As I'm sure you know, the Benghazi attack was likely to have been at least in part a response to CIA actions in the Benghazi "consulate" which was at least in part a CIA front. Apparently arms were being movedd through there to Syrian insurgents, and we may have held Libyan prisoners in the CIA station housed in the consulate. If I have these details wrong hopefully you or someone else will correct me, but I believe that's the gist of it.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10027277145

[arcane1]

27. Funny how that works, isn't it?

[Fawke Em]

19. This is the hearing that should have been on TV all day.

[senz]

23. True. This one actually affects the American people.

[liberal_at_heart]

43. I agree.

[Vattel]

20. I am glad we have a few good senators

[Art_from_Ark]

21. Far too few

[senz]

24. K&R. Thanks, Segami. Bernie is one of the best Senators we have.

[sabrina 1]

40. Bernie will be the next president of the US because of issues like this!

[Fawke Em]

25. Kicking this again.

Because it's far more important than that idiotic dog and pony show that was all over the boob tube today.

This actually effects people.

Benghazi - not so much.

[sabrina 1]

41. The wrongful invasion of Libya should have been the focus of the hearings. We know now for sure

that like Iraq, the reasons given were false. We did not go there for 'humanitarian' reasons. We CREATED a humanitarian crisis of mammoth proportions.

What those hearings demonstrated to me was that both sides are on the same side regarding the neocon wars and the PNAC.

They are using this incident to score points, or not, politically.

But I heard not a single question, could have missed it as I did not watch the whole show, about the legitimacy of that invasion and the REAL reasons, not told to the Amercan people, why it happened in the first place.

[liberal_at_heart]

26. but but there's no difference between Bernie and Hillary.

[TheKentuckian]

28. These folks aren't too much on the Bill of Rights and quaint stuff like that.

Votes like that land somewhere between disdain and yawning.

[snot]

29. K & f---ing R'd !!!!!

[mhatrw]

33. BENG-OZZY

Our "democracy" is now officially a Crazy Train.

[Warren DeMontague]

34. Merkeley and Wyden. Right on.

[rhett o rick]

35. The Democratic Senators from the great state of Washington (we've got pot) both voted with the

Republicons on this.

[MineralMan]

36. Well, one of my Senators, Al Franken, is on that list.

The other, Amy Klobuchar, isn't. 50% isn't so bad.

[dreamnightwind]

38. I just called Barbara Boxer's office, left voice-mail

Disappointed that she isn't already committed to voting against this, hopefully she will do so. Any other Californians out there would do well to call her too, can't hurt.

[phone]

[azmom]

39. Yesterday's political theater was an embarrassment.

Republicans and democrats hating on each other is not what this nation needs.

Thank you for posting on something that really matters. Let's tweet this out.

[closeupready]

42. Obviously Apple opposes. Given a choice between hackable or non-hackable devices,

all else being equal, guess which ones 99% of consumers would pick.