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from: Wired

Call for Reader Help: Where Does Your Senator Stand on Spying Immunity?

By Ryan Singel
October 16, 2007

Two key Senate committees are working on introducing a measure reworking what powers the government has to wiretap communications transiting phone and internet switches, and the administration and the nation's telecoms are pushing for immunity from lawsuits alleging the companies massively violated the nation's privacy laws by aiding the government's secret spying programs.

The House Judiciary and Intelligence Committees have both passed their versions, which don't grant immunity to the companies. Their bill could get a full vote from the House as early as this week.

But little is known about what the Senate plans to do. The Senate Intelligence Committee, reportedly sympathetic to the telecoms' arguments that the lawsuits aren't fair, is headed by Jay Rockefeller (D-West Virginia) who counts proposed immunity beneficiaries and their trade organization in his top ten donor list. The Senate Judiciary, by contrast, is headed by Patrick Leahy, the fiery Vermont Democrat whose attempts to get wiretapping documents from the White House and Justice Department have been repeatedly blocked.

THREAT LEVEL wants an unofficial cheat sheet on what senators on these two key committees are thinking.

So we are asking U.S-based readers to check if a senator from their state is on either committee and then call or email to ask whether they believe Congress should grant the nation's telecoms immunity from lawsuits for their participation in the government's secret spying programs.

Feel free after getting an answer to register your opinion with your representative (this being a free country and all), but this isn't a lobbying exercise.

THREAT LEVEL wants to know the odds.

Drop findings to me via email (ryan_singel ATSIGNHERE wired.com) or in the comments, and I'll update the lists below with a spreadsheet regularly with your findings.

Senate Judiciary:

* Leahy, Patrick J.- (D - Vermont) Chairman - Told CNN on Tuesday that he won't support retroactive immunity without more information
(202) 224-4242
E-mail: senator_leahy@leahy.senate.gov
* Kennedy, Edward M.- (D - Massachusetts)
(202) 224-4543
Contact
* Specter, Arlen- (R - Pennsylvania) Ranking Member - Told CNN Wednesday "I'm not going to buy a pig in poke and commit to retroactive immunity when I don't know what went on. They've kept that from us."
(202) 224-4254
Contact
* Biden, Joseph R., Jr.- (D - Delaware)
(202) 224-5042
Contact
* Hatch, Orrin G.- (R - Utah)
(202) 224-5251
Contact
* Kohl, Herb- (D - Wisconsin)
(202) 224-5653
Contact
* Grassley, Chuck- (R - Iowa)
(202) 224-3744
Contact
* Feinstein, Dianne- (D - California)
(202) 224-3841
Contact
* Kyl, Jon- (R - Arizona)
(202) 224-4521
Contact
* Feingold, Russell D. - (D - Wisconsin)
(202) 224-5323
Contact
* Sessions, Jeff- (R - Alabama)
(202) 224-4124
Contact
* Schumer, Charles E.- (D - New York)
(202) 224-6542
Contact
* Graham, Lindsey- (R - South Carolina)
(202) 224-5972
Contact
* Durbin, Richard- (D - Illinois)
(202) 224-2152
Contact
* Cornyn, John- (R - Texas)
(202) 224-2934
Contact
* Cardin, Benjamin L.- (D - Maryland)
(202) 224-4524
Contact
* Brownback, Sam- (R - Kansas)
(202) 224-6521
Contact
* Whitehouse, Sheldon- (D - Rhode Island)
(202) 224-2921
Contact
* Coburn, Tom- (R - Oklahoma)
(202) 224-5754
Contact

Senate Intelligence Committee

* Chairman: Rockefeller, John D. , IV- (D - West Virginia)
(202) 224-6472
Contact
* Bond, Christopher S.- (R - Missouri)
(202) 224-5721
Contact
* Feinstein, Dianne- (D - California)
(202) 224-3841
Contact
* Warner, John- (R - Virginia)
(202) 224-2023
Contact
* Wyden, Ron- (D - Oregon)
(202) 224-5244
Contact
* Hagel, Chuck- (R - Nebraska)
(202) 224-4224
Contact
* Bayh, Evan- (D - Indiana)
(202) 224-5623
Contact
* Chambliss, Saxby- (R - Georgia)
(202) 224-3521
Contact
* Mikulski, Barbara A.- (D - Maryland)
(202) 224-4654
Contact
* Hatch, Orrin G.- (R - Utah)
(202) 224-5251
Contact
* Feingold, Russell D. - (D - Wisconsin)
(202) 224-5323
Contact
* Snowe, Olympia J.- (R - Maine)
(202) 224-5344
Contact
* Nelson, Bill- (D - Florida)
(202) 224-5274
Contact
* Burr, Richard- (R - North Carolina)
(202) 224-3154
Contact
* Whitehouse, Sheldon- (D - RI)
(202) 224-2921
Contact