"THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU CAN DO."

[marym625]

Our senators and reps are in their home states this week. The most high-impact thing any of us can do is to show up at their offices and deliver this letter. We only have a few days until Sunday. Will you go and deliver this letter to them? While you're there, take a photo and tweet it to #SunsetthePatriotActor email:

https://www.sunsetthepatriotact.com/?ref=fftf&dropoff=1#dropoff&t=dXNlcmlkPTU1NDU3NDQ1LGVtYWlsaWQ9OTc5Mw==

Email from FIGHT FOR THE FUTURE

Oh snap! It just happened again.

DC people keep telling us that our goal is impossible. Stopping SOPA. Winning net neutrality. It’s always, “Well that’s never going to happen, so what’s your compromise?”

On fighting the NSA, this time last week, even we started to think it was impossible. The Senate was set to ignore the Snowden revelations, reauthorize the PATRIOT Act, or pass a compromise called “USA Freedom" that makes things even worse.

Then, out of the blue, we won an unheard of victory against Obama’s NSA. Now we just have to make it stick.

If you’ve ever thought NSA surveillance went too far and wanted to do something about it, we really need you to do this now, or share it with others who can.

This is what happened. Last week, NSA-loving Senate leaders failed to renew the PATRIOT Act in time to keep NSA programs operational. The Guardian is reporting that on June 1st, for the first time in nearly 14 years, people in the US will be able to make calls *without* getting tracked by their government.

If you’re an American who turned 18 after October 2001, you will have more privacy next week than at any point in your adult life.

To the DC establishment, this win was unthinkable. Now, we need to make it stick.

Click here to drop-in unannounced at your Senators’ offices with a copy of the Constitution in hand. If we show our conviction, courage is contagious.

The drama last weekend was unbelievable. Mitch McConnell tried to use the June 1st deadline to strong-arm his colleagues. But an epic 13-hour filibuster by Rand Paul kept the Senate in session until early Saturday morning… and they didn’t vote to renew! With the holiday approaching and his plan crumbling, McConnell moved debate to this coming Sunday at 4pm, just 8 hours before the deadline.

A single Senator has a lot of power to block bills, so Rand Paul’s (actually pretty badass) opposition to the PATRIOT Act has been crucial. To win, we need to make sure Paul has as much encouragement and as many allies as possible on the Senate floor this Sunday.

Bottom line: we have until this Sunday night to change some Senators’ minds, and give them the courage to do what’s right.If we succeed, our impossible victory becomes much harder to roll back.

The memorial day recess means Senators are home right now. That means we can *own* their time and attention as never before. Click here to print out the US Constitution and the address of their office.

Victory is so close you can almost smell it.

On 4pm Sunday May 31st, just hours before the deadline, the Senate will have a special session where the goal is to push these measures through no matter what. We have to change their minds, and a “drop-in” is one of the most powerful weapons we have.

Spontaneously “dropping-in” (just showing up) at a Senate office is one of the most effective ways to show Congress the strength of your conviction and hold them to account. And when Senators are home from DC (e.g. this week!) it works even better. If the office is far or you can’t leave home, a mailed handwritten letter can be just as powerful.

Can you do it? Click here to print out a copy of the 4th Amendment and the reasons why they should let the PATRIOT Act expire, and then make sure they get the message by mailing it or dropping it off in person.

I’m not sure we’ve ever asked every Fight for the Future member to do this before. But these are really exciting times. Hot tip: never let *anyone* tell you something is impossible, if you can see a path to making it happen.

Thanks for being awesome,

– Holmes, Tiff, Susan, Jeff, Evan, Vasjen, Charlie and the whole Fight for the Future team.

P.S. Mega-popular DJ Bassnectar is holding a contest for VIP tickets to the sold out Electric Forest music festival to support ending mass surveillance! You get an exclusive package and a chance to hang out with him! Click here and take action to win! https://www.urgencynetwork.com/campaigns/3673/think-for-yourself/?t=dXNlcmlkPTU1NDU3NDQ1LGVtYWlsaWQ9OTc5Mw==

All the "click here," except the last one which I added into the excerpt, go to the link near the top, the take action to sunset section 215 of the Patriot Act.

[JaneyVee]

1. "Obama's NSA". Isn't the administration responsible for....

Not putting in a request to reauthorize it? I read in the Guardian that they purposely let bulk collection expire.

[marym625]

2. Not exactly

The Obama administration wants the collection by the Internet and phone companies to continue, just that the NSA would need a warrant to collect it.

The Senate, and I and most people who don't want their 4th Amendment rights violated, want the provision to sunset

http://m.wcvb.com/politics/obama-urges-senate-to-return-to-dc-for-nsa-vote/33224356

[rhett o rick]

3. The government has already made a sham out of requiring a warrant. It's easy to

find a conservative judge that will give a blanket warrant without requiring probable cause. And remember that the NSA/CIA Security State insists that they are only "collecting" the data and not using it unless it's really important. But once the data is collected, it's available for possible hacking and misuse.

[dreamnightwind]

4. Agree, the warrant requirement is insufficient

There is no oversight of what gets warrants and what doesn't, and they seem to use things like what you called blanket warrants that cover a wide but undefined range of possible situations instead of requiring a situationally justified warrant for each individual search of a collection.

[rhett o rick]

5. I think the Constitution is clear on this issue. Oops forgot that the Constitution was waved do

to the war on ____________.

[marym625]

7. +1000

I wish I still had a picture of my front yard on Halloween in 2004. It was a grave yard for our civil liberties, rights and humanity

Maybe it was 2003

[rhett o rick]

8. And it get continually worse. I don't think this Democratic president has done

anything to gain those rights back.

[marym625]

10. I honestly can't think of a thing

I have no problem giving credit where credit is due but in this area, there is no credit to give

[rhett o rick]

11. Some people don't seem to understand the frustration of living for 8 years

with Bush and the Republicons walking all over our Constitutional rights, waiting for the day a Democrat would take the WH. Especially one that sounded like a true progressive like candidate Obama did. But no way. I think the Powers That Be were just messin' with us.

[marym625]

12. yep

And they're doing it again

Never forget the 2007 FISA vote. Senator Obama, "yes"

[marym625]

6. absolutely

But II still think we should try to make sure this pos legislation sunsets. At least then, when we are able to find out anything about what they're doing, we might have a fighting chance in the courts. At least for individuals where a secret warrant was obtained.

[rhett o rick]

9. I completely agree. nm

[peecoolyour]

13. The world won't end when it expires.

I can't take anyone seriously who tries to argue it will.

No matter how much I like some of their other policy positions.

[marym625]

14. I haven't seen that one

The power of the NSA is just amazing!

[peecoolyour]

15. They didn't come right out and say the world would end.

But they exhibit a sense of urgency which suggests it might.

Maybe if we promise to do extra patrols around our house and under our bed for ISIS, they'll feel better about it expiring.

[marym625]

16. Oh for sure!

I check under my bed every night. I will be happy to go to houses in the area and check under their beds. Assuming, of course, the owners are cute.