Sign Something

I did and I got a letter back.  Sure it is a generic response, but at least I know they saw my name

November 6, 2009

Dear Mr. Graham:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the state of civil liberties and constitutional principles in the United States. I appreciate hearing from you on this critically important issue.

I firmly believe that we must make every effort to protect our country from potential threats to our national security. However, we risk losing our moral compass as a nation if we deviate from the rule of law and our democratic ideals when confronting our enemies. I was therefore dismayed by the Bush Administration’s repeated attempts during its tenure in office to undermine the rule of law in this country. In my view, it is essential that we attempt to repair the harm done by many of these failed policies.

To that end, I was proud to support a number of legislative initiatives during the 110th Congress to stem the erosion of civil liberties and the rule of law in this country. On February 17, 2007, I introduced S. 576, the Restoring the Constitution Act. This legislation would have restored habeas corpus rights for all individuals detained by the United States, limited the President’s authority to interpret the meaning and application of the Geneva Conventions, and prohibited the use of evidence gained through torture. In addition, I supported legislation that would have closed the Department of Defense detention facility at Guantanamo Bay and ended the practice of extraordinary rendition to countries that engage in torture. I also strongly opposed attempts to grant retroactive immunity to telecommunications companies who cooperated with the Bush Administration’s warrantless surveillance program as part of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) Amendments Act of 2008.

As you may know, on January 22, 2009, President Obama signed several Executive Orders that reversed some of the Bush Administration’s most damaging and controversial policies in this area. Specifically, President Obama ordered the closure of the Guantanamo Bay detention facility within a year, ordered the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to close secret detention facilities, and mandated that all interrogations of terror suspects follow the rules laid out in the Army Field Manual. With these policy changes, I believe the United States has taken an important first step toward restoring our moral authority and reasserting our nation’s commitment and adherence to the rule of law. Please be assured that I will continue to support efforts to restore the constitutional principles that form the foundation of American democracy.

Thank you again for contacting me. If you would like to stay in touch with me on this and other issues of importance, please visit my website at http://dodd.senate.gov and subscribe to receive my regular e-mail issue alerts. Please do not hesitate to contact me again if I may be of assistance to you in any way.